§ 47. Mrs. McLaughlinasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether Her Majesty's Government still recognise the 1906 designation of Sinai Peninsula as part of Egypt as the title-deed for Egyptian sovereignty over Sinai.
§ Commander NobleHer Majesty's Government have never formally stated that the Exchange of Notes between Her Majesty's Government and the Turkish Government in May, 1906, constituted the "title deed for Egyptian sovereignty over Sinai". As the House was informed on 21st February, 1951,
The grant of the right to administer this territory was confirmed by a firman issued by the Sultan of Turkey to the Khedive Abbas of Egypt on 8th May, 1892, and was later enshrined in Notes exchanged between Her Majesty's Government and the Turkish Government in May. 1906. The eastern frontier of Egypt was never explicitly defined after the First World War, when Egypt became an independent kingdom and by the Treaty of Lausanne, Turkey renounced all rights and titles to territories lying outside her frontiers. Egypt has, however, been in continuous occupation and possession of South Sinai ever since 1922. No Government has ever contested the fact that Egypt exercises effective sovereignty over this area." —[OFFICIAL REPORT, 21st February, 1951; Vol. 484, c. 1263–4.]