The Treaty of Erzurum

December 21, 1911

The Persian and Ottoman Governments, inspired by a common desire to avoid henceforward any subjects of controversy in respect of their common frontiers, having instructed the Persian Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Turkish Ambassador at Tehran, respectively, to establish the bases of negotiations and the procedure to be followed for the delimitation of the said frontiers, the undersigned, after discussion, have agreed on the following points:
I. A Commission consisting of an equal number of delegates of either Party shall meet as early as possible at Constantinople.
II. The delegates of the two Governments, furnished with all the documents and evidence in support of their claims, shall be instructed to establish the boundary line separating the two countries in a spirit of sincere impartiality; after which a technical commission shall have merely to apply the definite delimitation on the spot, on the basis laid down by the former commission.
III. The work of the Joint Commission, which will meet at Constantinople, shall be based on the clauses of the treaty known as the Treaty of Erzerum, concluded in 1847.
IV. Should the delegates of the two Parties fail to agree on the interpretation and application of certain clauses of that treaty, it is agreed that, at the end of a period of six months of negotiation, in order completely to settle the question of the delimitation of the frontiers, all the points on which any divergence exists shall be submitted together to the Court of Arbitration at The Hague, in order that the entire question may thus be definitely settled.
V. It is understood that neither of the two Parties may adduce the military occupation of the territories in dispute as a legal argument.
Done in duplicate and exchanged in original between the undersigned acting on behalf of their Governments.
The Imperial Ottoman Embassy, Tehran, 21 December 1911
(signed) Wossughed-Dowleh (signed) H. Hassib.

al-Izzi, 206-207

The Treaty of Erzurum

May 31, 1847

Article 1
The two Mussulman Powers waive the totality of their existing pecuniary claims on one another provided always that nothing in this arrangement shall affect the provisions made for the settlement of the claim to which Article 4 relates.

Article 2
The Persian Government undertake to cede to the Ottoman Government all the lowlands - that is to say, the land in the western part of the province of Zohab; and the Ottoman Government undertakes to cede to the Persian Government the eastern - that is to say, all the mountainous - part of the said province, including the Kirind Valley.
The Persian Government abandons all claim to the city and province of Suleimani, and formally undertake not to interfere with or infringe the sovereign rights of the Ottoman Government over the said province.
The Ottoman Government formally recognizes the unrestricted sovereignty of the Persian Government over the city and port of Muhammara, the island of Khizr, the anchorage, and the land on the eastern bank - that is to say, the left bank - of the Shatt-al-Arab, which are in the possession of tribes recognized as belonging to Persia. Further, Persian vessels shall have the right to navigate freely without let or hindrance on the Shatt-al-Arab from the mouth of the same to the point of contact of the frontiers of the two Parties.

Article 3
The two contracting Parties, having abandoned their other territorial claims, as by the present treaty, entangle themselves to immediately nominate commissioners and engineers from both sides, as to determine the frontiers between the two states, and this in conformity with the precedent article.

Article 4
It is respectively decided that commissioners will be immediately nominated from each side, to judge and regulate equitably the questions of damages endured by both sides, since the acceptance of the amiable propositions traced and communicated by the two Big Power mediators, in the month of Jemazigyu-al-awal 1261, as well as those of the right of pasture since the year when (their payment) was deferred.

Article 5
The Ottoman Government promises to fix at Brousse the residence of the fugitif Persian Princes, and not to allow them to absent themselves from the above-mentioned place, neither to entertain clandestine relationships with Persia. As the two High Powers engage themselves in conformity with the precedent Treaty of Erzurum, the other fugitives are restored.

Article 6
Persian merchants shall pay the customs' dues on their goods, in kind or in cash, according to the current present value of such goods, in the manner specified in the article relating to trade in the Treaty of Erzurum concluded in 1238. No additional charge whatsoever shall be levied over and above the amounts fixed in the said Treaty.

Article 7
The Ottoman Government undertakes to accord the requisite privileges to enable Persian pilgrims, in accordance with the former treaties, to visit the Holy Places in the Ottoman dominions in complete safety and without vexatious treatment of any kind. Further, the Ottoman Government, being desirous of strengthening and consolidating the bonds of friendship and concord which should subsist between the two Mussulman Powers and between their respective subjects, undertakes to adopt such measures as may be most appropriate to ensure the participation, not only of Persian pilgrims, but of all other Persian subjects, in all the said privileges in the Ottoman dominions, in such manner as to protect them from any sort of injustice, molestation, or incivility, whether in respect of their commercial activities or in any other respect.
Furthermore, the Ottoman Government undertakes to recognize Consuls to be appointed by the Persian Government in places in the Ottoman dominions where their presence may be required on account of commercial interests, or for the protection of Persian merchants and other Persian subjects, save only in Mecca the Revered and Medina the Resplendent, and to respect in the case of the said Consuls all the privileges due in virtue of their official character and accorded to Consuls of other friendly Powers.
The Persian Government, for its part, undertakes to accord reciprocity of treatment in every respect to Consuls to be appointed by the Ottoman Government in places in Persia in which the latter may consider the appointment of Consuls to be necessary, as also to Ottoman merchants and other Ottoman subjects visiting Persia.

Article 8
The two High Contracting Mussulman Powers undertake to adopt and enforce the measures necessary to prevent and punish theft and brigandage on the part of the tribes and peoples settled on the frontier, to which end they will quarter troops in suitable localities. They further undertake to do their duty in respect of all forms of aggressive acts, such as pillage, robbery, or murder, which may occur in their respective territories.
Contested tribes, the suzerainty over which is not known shall be left free by the two high Contracting Powers to choose once for all and specify the localities which they will henceforward always inhabit. Tribes, the suzerainty over which is known shall be compelled to come within the territory of the State to which they belong.

Article 9
All points of articles of previous treaties, and especially of the Treaty concluded at Erzurum in 1238, which are not specifically amended or annulled by the present Treaty, are hereby reaffirmed in respect of any and all of their provisions, as if they were reproduced in their entirety in the present Treaty.
The two High Contracting Powers agree that, when the texts of this Treaty have been exchanged, they will accept and sign the same, and that the ratifications thereof shall be exchanged within the space of two months, or earlier.

Selections from the Iraqi-Iranian Dispute, p127-129