Page 297 - Gulf Precis (V)_Neat

99
403. In reporting the matter to ITcr Majesty’s Secretary of State the
Government of India observed—
" The disposal of this case is to a certain extent .embarssed by the fact that tli
Turk* havo laid some kind of claim to jurisdiction at Bidaa, and at other points on th°
Katr coast, whence Nasir bin Mobarik is believed to be mediating a decent on Bahr in ;
and it has been ascertained that there arc some 130 Turkish soldiers in Bidaa itself.
Direct dealings with the Bidaa Sheikh may possibly, therefore, bring about a remonstrance
from the Turkish authorities.
Under these circumstances, wo havo given tho matter very careful consideration
before the issue of orders. But the result of this consideration has been to conviuce us
that, having regard to tho necessity of defending Bahrein, which is under British protection,
and to the veiws of Her Majesty's Government regardiug the recognition of Turkish juris­
diction on these coasts as announced in Lord Salisbury's despatch to Sir II. Layard of the
5th January 1880, we should, in the event of an expedition against the island being under­
taken from the neighbourhood, not be justified in allowing vague claims of territorial rights—
if unsupported by any practical attempt to discharge the correlative duties which such rights
necessarily imply—to piovent us from taking measures to coerce both Nasir-bin Mobarik and
tne Bidaa Chief. At the same time it s?cmed to us proper that every opportunity should
be afforded to the Turks of using whatever authority they may possess, and may be willing
to exert, upon this part of the coast. We have accordingly issued to tho Political Agent,
Baghdad, and the Rosident, Persian Gulf, the
• 7tb.
telegrams of tho 9th * May which form an en­
closure to this despatch, and we trust that our action in the matter may meet with the ap­
proval and support of Her Majesty's Government."

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