Member Since: 8/30/2012
Posts: 5,537
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Sykes-Picot agreement is 100 years old !
Quote:
Sykes-Picot: The secret deal that changed the Middle East forever
On May 16, 1916, a secret pact carved up the floundering Ottoman Empire into spheres of British and French interest, foreshadowing the future map of the Middle East and, critics say, sowing the seeds of many of its problems a hundred years later.
Britain and France were well established in the region — France through economic and cultural influence in the area known as the Levant, and Britain in Egypt, which London had occupied since 1882.
Territory north of the line would come under French protection, directly or indirectly, and territory to the south would be controlled directly or indirectly by the British.
France would take control of a “Blue Zone” that included Lebanon, the Syrian coast and parts of what is now Turkey.
Within a “Red Zone,” Britain would get southern Mesopotamia, or Iraq including Baghdad, along with the Mediterranean ports of Haifa and Acre.
Between the two, an Arab state or a confederation of Arab states was to be created under French and British protection.
“The two men paid lip service to the promise of Arab independence … but then divided in two the region that the British high commissioner had offered to Hussein,” author James Barr noted in his book “A Line in the Sand.”
In addition, the line traced by Sykes-Picot split the Middle East, flouting regional, ethnic and religious ties, creating nations but reviving rivalries.
In 1922, after subduing revolts in Palestine, Syria and Iraq, the two powers had their mandates confirmed by the League of Nations.
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http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/201...-east-forever/
Pic : http://cdn.static-economist.com/site...1_wom203_0.png
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