Mosul Is Lost

The League of Nations made Mosul a part of Iraq under British mandate, and its duration was extended to 25 years while originally it was to last only 5 years. It was also decided that the economic matters should be resolved between the two countries through various agreements.

The main reasons why the Mosul dispute was resolved against Turkey's argument can be listed as follows:

1- Turkey was not a member of the League of Nations,

2- Great Britain was the most influential member of the League (indeed, many called the League a British council),

3- The Estonian general who went to the region to carry out examinations wasn't allowed to go to the north of the Brussels Line that defined the Turkish-Iraqi border, which made it impossible to carry out an unbiased investigation,

4- Turkey couldn't send a representative to Permanent Court of Justice,

5- Sheikh Said Rebellion, which was provoked by the British deep state, put Turkey in a difficult position.

Although Turkey objected to the decision, to maintain the newly emerged 'peace atmosphere' and to not violate the former resolutions accepted, she was forced to recognize the decision. The Turkish administration had serious difficulty during that time because the British deep state, which was very influential, fought tooth and nail for Mosul and was adamant on making no compromises on that issue during the negotiations. This was important for the British deep state because in the following years, the British deep state widely used Kurds to carry out its sinister plans for the Middle East and Turkey. The fabricated Turkish-Kurdish divide that was started with the Mosul issue marked the beginning of this exploitation of Kurds.

Although Turkey maintained that the decision about Mosul was unjust, due to its foreign policy of pursuing peaceful means to resolve problems, it refrained from further escalating the issue and voiced its protest through diplomacy in line with the circumstances of the day. As a part of this strategy, it signed a Treaty of Friendship and Neutrality with the Soviet Union on December 17, 1925. This treaty was a 'natural agreement' based on the rapprochement of two countries, which started during the Turkish War of Independence. However, it is noteworthy that it was signed the day after the League of Nations' decision on Mosul. In that sense, it was a continuation of the Soviet-Turkish Treaty of Friendship signed on March 16, 1921, the Treaty of Kars signed with Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan on October 13, 1921, which were Soviet Republics then, and finally the Treaty of Friendship and Brotherhood signed with Ukraine on January 2, 1922. It was also a reaction against the Mosul decision.