The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1922-12-28
TURKS ARMY SET
To POUNCE UPON
M0suL. OIL AREA
Hold strauetlo Point at piarbekr;
Number $1,000 Well Armed Troops
Commanded by oaIIIlopl
Famed General.
POSSIBLE BATTLE AREA
ONE OLDEST IN HISTORY
Prize Much Coveted Of Present Day
Rivalry Between Turks and
British: Forms One OF Richest
Petroleum Dlstrlcts.
ny EDWARD J. BING

Omitted Press staff Correspondent
New York. Doc. 2s.-while the
Lausanne conference Is facing the
possibility OF It's breakup, owing TO
disagreement over the lIosul oil
question. a powerful Turkish army
Is assembled at Dlarbekr strate-
glc point Of great importance in the
vicinity Of the disputed area, ready
to pounce upon the oil fields.
When ] left the Near East a few
weeks ago that force. which is un-
der the command OF Djeyad Pasha,
one OF Turkeys ablest military lead
ers. OF Gallipoli fame, numbered
about $4,000 fully equipped men.
Mosul is one of the most ancient
centers OF human civilization and
has seen uncountek battles and con-
tests from biblical days TO the pres
ent. just across the Tigris river,
opposite the city, Is hill which
hides from view the remnants OF the
once glorious city of Nineyah, which
passed from splendor to ruin, as the
prophets OF the Old Testament had
predicted.
The territory, which Is the Gov
eted prize of presentday rivalry be-
tween British and Turkish diploma
cy. was successively under the soy
ereignty OF Sumerian-Akkadian King
sargon, who ruled about $500 b. c.;
of Babylon. Assyria, Persia, Alexan-
der the Great, the Selencid empire.
the second Persian empire, the Abb
bassi de Caliphs, among whom lla-
roun AL Rashid OF Arabian Nights
fame was the most remarkable; It
saw the victorious onslaught of Tam
erlans Mongol hordes and has since
formed part of the Turkish empire.
After the British victory in the Near
East in 1918 it was occupied by Eng
lands armies, which soon had to
face a bloody uprising of the natives,
which ultimately forced the, British
to evacuate and to withdraw their
forces to southern Mesopotamia. Mo
sui is'now part of the Mes0potamian
kingdom of England's yassal, King
Feisal of Irak.
While the city Of Mosul is Arabic,
the entire territory of which 1t is the
center, and which is now the subject
Of discussion at Lausanne, is inhab-
tied by the Turks, who claim ALE
glance to Turkey.
This region is one of the richest
oil territories Of the world, and It
is believed that, once exploited, it
will yield a production equaling or
possibly surprising the output of the
Mexican fields.
The richest among the numerous
fields of the region is at Gayara,
Immediately to the south of the city
of Mosul, but there is quite a Sc
ries of exceptionally abundant oil
wells in the neighborhood.
The British claim to the oil fields
is based upon negotiations which
took place before the world war be-
tween the Turkish government and
the Turkish Petroleum company, a
British controlled concern. The
Turks refute the British claims, de-
claring that those conversations had
led to no agreement of any descrIp-
tion because the outbreak Of the
war interrupted the conversations
before any concessions had been
granted. This statement has so far
not been disproved by the British.