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 19th
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.
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