890g.6363 T 84/36
The British Ambassador (Geddes) to the Secretary of State
Sir: In the note which the Acting Secretary of State was so good as to address to me on February 27th, in regard to an article which appeared in the International Petroleum Reporter of January 25th, 1922, relating to the ownership of stock in the Turkish Petroleum Company, Mr. Fletcher referred to the sum of £40,000 which the British Board of Trade had invested in this Company up to September 30th, 1921. I have the honour to inform you that this holding of His Majesty’s Government in the Turkish Petroleum Company is a temporary one, representing, as explained in my previous note of February 11th, (No. 99), the twenty-five per cent ex-German [Page 337] share now standing in the name of a nominee of His Majesty’s Government for ultimate transfer to French interests. It is represented by 40,000 shares of £1 each which are fully paid. I am prompted to repeat the above statement by a desire to dispel any possible misunderstanding on this particular point.
In the last paragraph of Mr. Fletcher’s note referred to, reference was made by him to certain questions in connection with the mandate for Mesopotamia and the Turkish Petroleum Company. These questions are, I understand, being dealt with separately between the United States Ambassador in London and His Majesty’s Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and His Majesty’s Government feel that confusion might arise if they were to be discussed simultaneously between the State Department and this Embassy.
I have [etc.]