Mosul throughout History

Mosul has been a Turkish land since the Seljuks captured it in 1055. After Sultan Selim I's Chaldiran victory in 1514, it became a part of the Ottoman Empire and then a state in 1534, following Sultan Suleiman I's campaign in Baghdad. This made Mosul the center of a province (vilayet) that consisted of Sulaymaniyah, Kirkuk and Mosul sanjaks.³⁴² This province was surrounded by Iran in the east, Diyarbakır in the north, Baghdad in the south, Damascus in the west, Aleppo and Zor Sanjak in northwest.

However, an imperialist power with sly goals was emerging in the 1800s with dirty plans for this region, which had remained under Turkish rule for around 1000 years and 400 years under Ottoman rule: it was the British deep state…

Mosul was important to Britain due to the latter's imperialist exploitation policies. In the early 19^th century, Britain had the highest number of Muslim colonies, and saw Iraq and Arabia, en route to India, strategically crucial to its Middle East policy. The British colonial empire believed that the safety of its borders and transportation routes, as well as the future expansion of its hegemony across the world, depended on being able to get to the open seas, maintain the power balance in Europe and control the world's oil policy.³⁴³ Mosul, naturally, was a crucial part of this plan due to its strategic position.

In addition to its geo-strategic location, Mosul was extremely valuable because underneath its virgin soil laid millions of barrels' worth of oil.

These were indispensable factors for the British deep state. More important was coming up with a strategy to end the Turkish presence in Europe and Anatolia for good. Mosul was at the heart of this strategy, which following pages will be focusing on in more detail.

In 1890, the investigation ordered by Sultan Abdul Hamid II revealed that Mosul and Baghdad were home to rich oil resources. As a result, the Sultan, by decrees issued in 1890 and 1898, declared these regions 'Magnificent Lands' (Memalik-i Şahane) and made them his personal property.³⁴⁴

However, when the Young Turks dethroned Abdul Hamid II on April 27, 1909, the ownership of Mosul and Baghdad were transferred to the Ministry of Finance. This development suited the interests of the British deep state and influenced their later strategies.

In 1909, Britain signed a deal with the Ottoman Empire and founded a bank named 'National Bank of Turkey', with 100% British capital, to create capital for its oil surveys and most importantly, to keep a look-out for British interests. In 1912, a group led by Sir Ernest Cassel started the 'Turkish Petroleum Company', once again with complete British capital, and to search for oil in Ottoman lands and run the oil business.³⁴⁵ At this point, it will be useful to remember how the British deep state first uses financial systems to build its hegemony. Once again, this strategy was in place as a means to strengthen the British deep state domination of the already weak Ottoman Empire. The scenario was oddly similar to what happened in India.