§ MR. YOXALL (Nottingham, W.)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State 446 for Foreign Affairs if information has reached the Foreign Office concerning a massacre of Christians by Kurds in the Tiyari district, vilayet of Mosul; whether a Kurdish chief named Reschid Bey, after murdering fifteen Christians in the said district, has, with 1,000 Kurds, withdrawn to the mountains, with the object of attacking other Christians; and whether any representations to the Porte have been or will be made.
§ THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Viscount CRANBORNE, Rochester)The British Consular Agent at Mosul reported towards the end of April that 10,000 Kurds had gone to the Tiyari mountains with the intention of robbing and killing Christians, of whom fifteen were said to have been already massacred. His Majesty's Ambassador at Constantinople at once brought the matter to the notice of the Porte, and was informed that peremptory instructions had been sent to the local authorities to hold the Kurds in check, and to prevent outrages. Sir N. O'Conor has since been informed by the Turkish Government that there had been a long-standing feud between the people of Tiyari and some neighbouring tribes, and that on learning recently that there was danger of an outbreak the Vali of Mosul had taken steps to prevent a collision. He had also addressed a warning to the Kurdish Chief, which had resulted in the removal of the cause of dispute between the two parties. The reported massacre of fifteen Christians was denied.
§ MR. FLYNN (Cork, N.)On the occasion referred to were any Kurds massacred?
§ VISCOUNT CRANBORNEI do not know.