THE Sykes-Picot Agreement was a secret 1916 convention between Britain and France, with assent from Russia, determining how to divide the Arab Middle East after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in the First World War. It heavily influenced modern Middle Eastern bor-ders but sparked long-lasting regional resentment. The effects of this accord are influencing events in the Middle East even more than a hundred years after it was signed in 1917. This accord was in fact signed in 1916 in the middle of World War One. Britain and France carved up the defeated Ottoman Empire. France grabbed Syria and Lebanon and Britain took Iraq, Jordan, Haifa, Acre and Palestine was placed under international administration a phrase that became a festering wound for the poor displaced people of Palestine. The Arabs were promised independence but were betrayed by the powers that be. For over a century these borders have existed enforced by mandates, troops and imposed monarchs. Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan are in fact British inventions. The borders of the present Middle East were demarcated during WW! By a British called Mark Sykes and a Frenchman known as Francois Picot and these two individuals divided the entire Middle East one of the most volatile regions of the world into different nation states that cut through ethnic and religious groups.
This accord, later kwon as the Sykes-Picot Treaty, was signed by Britain and France on 16th May 1916 and became the basis on which the Middle East was shaped for over a century. Even after a century the Middle East suffers from the consequences of this treaty and many Arab leaders and intellectuals keep blaming the present violence in the Middle East from the conditions in Palestine to the rise of the extremely violent Islamic State of Iraq and Syria ISIL or Daesh on the Sykes-Picot treaty. The mighty Ottoman Empire lasted for over centuries that is from 1516 to 1924 but in its last days just before the final collapse it had lost control over many of its territories and colonies to the might of the colonial powers like Britain and France. France took control of Algeria in 1830 and Tunisia in 1881, Italy took over Libya in 1911and Britain grabbed Aden in 1939, Oman in 1881, the Gulf countries in 1820 and Kuwait in 1899. During most of this time the powerful Ottoman Ruler Muhammed Ali Ruled Egypt and then his sons succeeded him until the country fell into British hands in 1882.
This treaty between France and Britain decided how the Ottoman Empire will be carved and broken up after the defeat of Germany in the First World War. Although signed in 1916 de-tails were first made public in 1917 and even today this treaty remains one of the most con-troversial diplomatic documents in modern history because of its profound impact on the political geography of the Middle East and the lasting tensions and fissures it has created. It was in WW1 That Turkey had joined Germany in the war against Britain, France and Russia. Even before the end of the war the allied leaders had anticipated the defeat of Germany and its ally Turkey and determined how the Turkish territories will be distributed among the victorious European powers, Britain and France had long standing imperial interests in the region and wanted strategic and economic advantages even before the war ended. Under the terms of the Sykes-Picot agreement the entire Middle East was divided into zones of influence. The French Zone of Influence was the present day Syria and Lebanon and Britain will take control of Iraq, Persian Gulf and Palestine was to be designated for international control because of its religious importance for Muslims, Christians and Jews. Many other areas were assigned as spheres of influence where local Arab rulers were allowed to govern under the guidance of either Britain or France.
This agreement contradicted all the promises made to the Arab Leaders by the British Govt. through its representatives like Col. T.E. Lawrence known as Lawrence of Arabia, The Brit-ish Govt. had encouraged the Arabian tribes to rise up in revolt against the Ottoman rules in the Arabian deserts which they did with remarkable success one of the leading Arab personality was Sharif Hussein of Makkah who sincerely believed that his cooperation with the British will result in the creation f an independent Arab country. After the Treaty of Versailles the Colonial powers took one son of Sharif Hussein and made him the king of the newly created country of Trans Jordan he was called Prince Abdullah the great grandfather of the present King Abdullah of Jordan. Another son of Sharif Hussein Called Prince Faisal was placed on the throne of Iraq where monarchy ended in a bloody coup in 1958 led by General Karim Kasim when Prince Faisal and his family were all brutally killed. After the communist revolution in Russia the new government published and exposed many secret treaties made by the previous government including the Sykes Picot agreement. Publication f these documents shocked many Arab leaders and they felt deceived by Britain because the war time promises made to them had been sacrificed to imperial ambitions.
—The writer is Professor of History, based in Islamabad.
