[LAST PROTOCOL OF THE IRANIAN & OTTOMAN BOUNDARY] 4/17 Tesrînisâni 1913 tarihinde Dersaadet'te imza olunan Devlet-i Âliye - Iran Tahdîd-i Hudûd Protokolu tercümesi = Protocole relatif a la dêlimitation de la frontiere Turco-Persane...

[N. A.], Hariciye Nezareti Nesriyâti / Matbaa-yi Osmaniye [= Publications of the Foreign Relations of the Imperial Ottoman / Imprimerie Osmanie], Dersaadet - Istanbul (Constantinople), [AH 1330] = 1914.

COMPLETE TITLE: [LAST PROTOCOL OF THE IRANIAN & OTTOMAN BOUNDARY] 4/17 Tesrînisâni 1913 tarihinde Dersaadet'te imza olunan Devlet-i Âliye - Iran Tahdîd-i Hudûd Protokolu tercümesi = Protocole relatif a la dêlimitation de la frontiere Turco-Persane, signe a Constantinople le 4/17 Novembre 1913. [i.e. Protocol relating to the delimitation of the Turkish-Persian frontier, signed at Constantinople on November 4/17, 1913]

Original wrappers. Roy. 8vo. (24 x 17 cm). In French and Ottoman script (Old Turkish with Arabic letters). 20, 23 p.

First and only edition of this extremely rare booklet of the Constantinople Protocol established by a four-nation boundary commission from November 1913 - October 1914 providing a detailed description of the entire Iranian and Ottoman boundaries.

For many years the Iranian government contested the interpretations placed on the protocol of 1331/1913, especially the clauses that placed control of the navigable Shatt al-Arab in Ottoman hands. It argued, first, that the protocol was invalid because it had not been ratified by the Iranian Majlis and, second, that it was based on the second Treaty of Erzurum, which had previously been renounced by the Iranian authorities. (Britannica).

The Ottoman Empire had conquered much of what is now Iraq from Safavid Persia in the Ottoman-Safavid War of 1532-1555. The war concluded with the Peace of Amasya, by which Ottoman rule over the region was confirmed. Ottoman control of Mesopotamia and eastern Turkey was confirmed following the Ottoman-Safavid War (1623-1639), which was ended by the Treaty of Zuhab. The Zuhab treaty stipulated that the boundary between the two empires would run between the Zagros Mountains and the Tigris River, though a precise line was not drawn at that time.

During the Ottoman-Hotaki War (1722-1727) the Ottomans invaded Iran in league with Russia, gaining large parts of north-west Iran via the Treaty of Hamedan. Another war followed in the 1740s which was ended by the Treaty of Kerden in 1746, which restored Iran's western provinces and re-affirmed the 1639 Zuhab border.

The Ottoman-Persian War (1821-1823) ended with the signing of the First Treaty of Erzurum, which reaffirmed the 1639 Zuhab border. A boundary commission involving Iranian, Ottoman, Russian and British officials assisted with the boundary delimitation, resulting in the Second Treaty of Erzurum of 1847 which affirmed the 1639 border with some small modifications. The four-way boundary commission resumed its work in the following years, and after much work and cartographic disputation, a detailed map was produced in 1869. Some small modifications were made in the vicinity of Qotur as a result of the Treaty of Berlin (1878).

Despite the work of the commission, disputes concerning the precise boundary alignment continued. The Ottomans and Iran agreed to work on a more precise demarcation in 1911 at the urging of Russia and Britain, both of whom had colonial aspirations in the region. From November 1913-October 1914 a boundary commission established the Constantinople Protocol, providing a detailed delimitation of the entire boundary. (Wikipedia).

Özege 3918.; TBTK 8587.; OCLC shows 10 copies: 6501793.