§ 7. Lieut.-Commander KENWORTHYasked the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he has any further information about the Chester Concession in Turkey; and whether the Concession affects British interests in Turkey in any way?
§ Lieut.-Colonel BUCKLEYHis Majesty's Government have just received a voluminous document which is stated to comprise the whole of the Chester Concessions. As far as examination has hitherto revealed, British commercial interests in Turkey are only concerned in connection with the construction of the harbour works at Samsoun, for which a 1346 British company claims a preliminary contract concluded with the Turkish Government in 1911; and the construction of a railway extension in Iraq territory to Mosul and Suleimanieh, with mining rights along the line. The Acting British High Commissioner at Constantinople has been instructed to register an emphatic protest against the grant by the Turkish Government of rights within the borders of Iraq, and declare that the validity of any such grant could not be recognised by His Majesty's Government.
§ Captain BERKELEYIs the hon. and gallant Gentleman aware that the terms of the Chester concession have already been published in an American newspaper? Is it not possible for the Government to lay the terms on the Table?
§ Lieut.-Colonel BUCKLEYI will communicate the suggestion to the Under-Secretary.