00:00:02
the Middle East a region scarred by
00:00:06
conflicts Wars and implacable hatred
00:00:09
constantly stoked by the political
00:00:11
interests of global powers
00:00:15
I think
00:00:17
I think that in recent decades we've
00:00:20
been trying to solve problems that we
00:00:21
ourselves created namely in 1918 1919
00:00:26
the first world war the original
00:00:29
catastrophe of the 20th century not only
00:00:32
for Europe but above all for the Middle
00:00:34
East carried by the hope of Independence
00:00:37
Arab tribes rebel against the Ottoman
00:00:39
Empire
00:00:40
as a quid pro quo the Allies have
00:00:43
promised them their own kingdom
00:00:45
but to the big peace conference they
00:00:47
draw borders with ruler and pencil that
00:00:50
continue to have an effect today
00:00:52
in the Paris suburb of sever the fate of
00:00:55
a whole region is sealed imnan Austin
00:00:58
zip in the Middle East it's obvious that
00:01:00
the arbitrary dividing up of the former
00:01:03
Ottoman Empire will be the stuff of
00:01:05
enormous conflicts
00:01:08
thus is propaganda makes Capital out of
00:01:12
a secret agreement of the time called
00:01:14
Sykes piku
00:01:17
as you can see this is the so-called
00:01:19
border of sex Pico
00:01:21
alhamdulillah we don't recognize it and
00:01:23
we will never recognize it
00:01:25
even today in the Arab world the
00:01:27
expression Sykes Pico stands for the
00:01:29
infamous interest-based politics of
00:01:31
Western States it's a useful shorthand
00:01:34
and it expresses the frustration and
00:01:36
fury of the Arabs and the other peoples
00:01:38
in the Middle East that nobody consulted
00:01:40
them when those borders were drawn
00:01:42
for 10 years the German historian Robert
00:01:44
gervart has studied the after effects of
00:01:47
the post-war period
00:01:54
is deeply entrenched in the public
00:01:56
Consciousness everywhere in the Muslim
00:01:58
World
00:01:59
in Turkey too the server agreement which
00:02:02
sealed the breakup still plays a
00:02:05
decisive part in society and politics
00:02:08
had been successful they would have
00:02:11
forced something on us that would have
00:02:13
made us long for sale
00:02:18
at the end of the first world war is
00:02:21
associated with further humiliation the
00:02:24
significance of this period cannot be
00:02:26
underestimated I think it's important to
00:02:28
understand that in order to better
00:02:30
analyze conflicts in the region today
00:02:39
foreign
00:02:43
[Music]
00:02:49
Paris in January 1919
00:02:53
in the months to come the Metropolis on
00:02:55
the scene is at the center of global
00:02:57
politics
00:02:58
in the French capital and its suburbs
00:03:00
the Victorious Powers want to create a
00:03:03
new world order
00:03:04
[Music]
00:03:08
the Great War plunged not only Europe
00:03:10
into chaos but raged in many other
00:03:13
regions too
00:03:14
thus delegations have assembled from far
00:03:17
away countries
00:03:18
they're looking for recognition
00:03:20
Independence and freedom
00:03:25
it was one of the biggest International
00:03:27
meetings of the 20th century and indeed
00:03:30
of the 19th century and what was
00:03:32
interesting about the Paris peace
00:03:33
conference among much else was that it
00:03:36
was truly a global conference there were
00:03:37
countries from the Americas there were
00:03:39
countries from Asia Japan was there
00:03:41
Thailand was there she was dealing with
00:03:43
the Middle East it was dealing with
00:03:44
colonies in Africa and Asia and its
00:03:46
impact was felt around the world
00:03:49
in Versailles in 1919 Germany signs what
00:03:53
must be the most notorious agreement of
00:03:55
the 20th century
00:03:59
cord puts everything else that is
00:04:01
negotiated in the following months in
00:04:03
Paris in the shade
00:04:04
[Music]
00:04:10
to one side and then look at the other
00:04:13
agreements to see how it is in Europe as
00:04:16
a whole and when we talk about Europe
00:04:19
then this includes the whole Middle East
00:04:22
the region was completely redesigned by
00:04:25
these treaties sometimes for the good
00:04:28
but often enough for the bad
00:04:33
the versaillp treaty is only one of five
00:04:36
that are signed in Paris
00:04:38
all the defeated states that fought
00:04:40
alongside Germany have to submit to the
00:04:42
will of the allies
00:04:44
from the point of view of the victors
00:04:46
the defeated central powers are
00:04:48
responsible for the catastrophe that
00:04:50
brought starvation death and suffering
00:04:53
to Europe and the world
00:04:55
and now they should atone for it
00:04:57
first and foremost the Ottoman Empire
00:05:01
you took in 1918 turkey and Germany are
00:05:04
two of the defeated states of the first
00:05:06
world war the various treaties that were
00:05:08
drawn up in Paris were signed in the
00:05:10
suburbs of Paris and the treaty signed
00:05:12
with the Ottoman Empire was signed in
00:05:13
Sev which is where of course the famous
00:05:15
serve of porcelain is made
00:05:20
in 1920 this porcelain Factory in the
00:05:24
Paris suburb of Seville the course is
00:05:27
set for the future of a huge swave of
00:05:30
the world
00:05:32
the Ottoman Empire signs an agreement
00:05:34
under protest that seals its fate the
00:05:38
effects of which are still felt today
00:05:43
[Music]
00:05:44
and it was actually signed in the
00:05:47
showroom of the Sarah porcelain Factory
00:05:48
which I've always thought is appropriate
00:05:50
because that porcelain is very beautiful
00:05:52
it's very fine but it is quite fragile
00:05:54
and if you drop it on the floor it'll
00:05:55
smash into a lot of pieces and that's
00:05:57
essentially what was happening in the
00:05:59
Ottoman Empire
00:06:07
the Ottoman Empire ruled for hundreds of
00:06:10
years over huge parts of Europe and
00:06:13
North Africa
00:06:14
but by the 19th century the Empire had
00:06:17
lost many of its territories on the
00:06:19
European continent
00:06:20
following Bulgaria's Independence in
00:06:23
1908 the Ottomans lose the last parts of
00:06:26
their empire in southern Europe in the
00:06:28
Balkan Wars
00:06:31
the tottering Empire is governed from
00:06:33
Constantinople today Istanbul
00:06:36
on the Bosphorus Sultan meshmed V and
00:06:40
his multi-ethnic State faced threats
00:06:42
from both inside and out
00:06:45
in the past it was only with difficulty
00:06:47
that the ruler had managed to keep the
00:06:49
differing ethnic groups peaceful and
00:06:51
hold his empire together
00:06:53
one important prop in this was the
00:06:55
military
00:06:59
they're now awesome for them in the
00:07:01
Middle East before the first world war
00:07:02
was in turmoil and there were many
00:07:04
conflicts between individual ethnic
00:07:06
groups and minorities but it's not the
00:07:09
case that the Ottoman Empire which at
00:07:10
that time was in control of this part of
00:07:12
the world was already doomed to
00:07:15
failure since the beginning of the 20th
00:07:19
century the Ottoman Empire has been seen
00:07:21
by many Christian nations as the sick
00:07:23
man of the Bosphorus and an Empire where
00:07:25
one can practically help oneself
00:07:28
foreign
00:07:30
with the outbreak of the first world war
00:07:33
the political agenda shifts once and for
00:07:35
all
00:07:36
but the battles on the Western and
00:07:38
Eastern fronts are only one part of this
00:07:41
bloody conflict
00:07:44
in August 1914 the Empire of meshmed V
00:07:47
joins the war on the side of the Central
00:07:49
Powers for the fragile Empire the
00:07:53
alliance with Germany and
00:07:54
Austria-Hungary is both a risk and an
00:07:57
opportunity
00:07:58
with the support of Germany it is
00:08:00
intended to modernize the badly equipped
00:08:03
military in the hope that Victory will
00:08:05
result in a newly strengthened ottoman
00:08:07
rule
00:08:09
the Sultan's troops are mainly occupied
00:08:11
fighting soldiers from all over the
00:08:13
British Empire which is also pushing for
00:08:16
influence in the Middle East
00:08:21
to weaken the enemy from the inside
00:08:22
since 1915 British diplomats have been
00:08:26
seeking Coalition Partners in the region
00:08:29
the holy city of Mecca then under
00:08:31
ottoman rule is governed by Sharif
00:08:33
Hussein bin Ali A man with great
00:08:36
Ambitions for himself and his powerful
00:08:38
family
00:08:41
his son faisa is an emerging political
00:08:44
Talent
00:08:46
families
00:08:47
family was a family of Ottoman officials
00:08:50
who had even served in the ottoman
00:08:52
Parliament this means that they had long
00:08:54
identified with the Ottoman Empire and
00:08:56
were part of the system the British
00:08:59
wanted to get the family of the Sharif
00:09:00
of Mecca and their son Faisal on board
00:09:03
in their plan for an Arab Uprising which
00:09:05
would Ambush the Ottoman Empire from the
00:09:07
real moment the family Sees In This
00:09:10
Moment a chance the chance that really
00:09:12
is historic and they never come again
00:09:14
that the mightiest power in the world
00:09:16
will give its full battle to an uprising
00:09:18
and lead the Arabs against the Ottomans
00:09:25
in return the British promised the
00:09:27
Sharif and his son Pfizer a kingdom
00:09:30
which will extend across huge swathes of
00:09:32
the Middle East
00:09:37
Faisal dreams of having his own Empire
00:09:39
but Damascus as the center of power
00:09:45
is a historic model was the Great era of
00:09:49
a mired rule that of the first Islamic
00:09:52
Empire's Capital as that had also been
00:09:55
the capital of that Empire
00:09:58
the government in London assigns Faisal
00:10:01
an officer to assist him who will later
00:10:03
become famous as Lawrence of Arabia
00:10:07
foreign
00:10:08
the plan is that together they will use
00:10:11
a tax to occupy ottoman troops and thus
00:10:14
help the British to Victory
00:10:18
but the Arabs are unaware of their
00:10:19
allies real intentions they are merely
00:10:22
Pawns in the game of the great powers
00:10:30
promises were made that the Allies never
00:10:33
had any intention of keeping
00:10:35
this was an Allied war strategy there
00:10:39
was no intention at least not in the
00:10:41
short term of creating an Arab state in
00:10:43
the regions
00:10:44
it was merely a matter of stirring up
00:10:46
the Arab population of the Ottoman
00:10:48
Empire against the government against
00:10:49
the sultan
00:10:54
and the British plan works more and more
00:10:58
tribes joined the Arab revolt
00:11:06
sounds
00:11:11
but there is enormous symbolic value
00:11:14
it was also designed to act as a kind of
00:11:17
Lighthouse for other minorities who were
00:11:19
agree of door who are being oppressed or
00:11:22
for other parts of the population to
00:11:23
rise up against the foreign
00:11:27
together with British troops the rebels
00:11:30
destroy important ottoman supply routes
00:11:32
but the Arab Revolt is only one part of
00:11:35
a bigger plan to bring the sultan to his
00:11:37
knees
00:11:46
the idea was to attack the Ottomans from
00:11:49
three sides on one side with Indian
00:11:51
troops from Iraq on another from the
00:11:53
Suez Canal with faisal's troops and his
00:11:55
Arab guerrillas and the third was an
00:11:57
attack on Constantinople but under
00:11:59
thinking was that if these attacks could
00:12:01
be achieved at the same time then the
00:12:03
Ottoman Empire would be finished
00:12:08
but the attack in the north on
00:12:10
Constantinople ends in disaster
00:12:13
when Allied troops land at Gallipoli on
00:12:16
the Dardanelles they are surprisingly
00:12:18
beaten back by ultimate ottoman forces
00:12:21
the offensive fails
00:12:25
[Applause]
00:12:30
Faisal and his Revolt meanwhile are
00:12:32
making impressive progress which no one
00:12:35
could have foreseen
00:12:49
this is a situation that the British
00:12:51
haven't imagined that maybe even Faisal
00:12:54
and his family haven't imagined that
00:12:56
that part of the planet has succeeded to
00:12:58
such an extent that they now suddenly
00:13:00
have to keep their promise
00:13:05
faisal's success puts the British in the
00:13:08
Dilemma as they had long agreed with the
00:13:11
French to rule the region politically
00:13:13
and exploit it economically
00:13:18
even back then it was all about oil
00:13:24
but these imperialistic thoughts
00:13:26
presupposed a victory
00:13:28
and that is a long way away in 1916.
00:13:32
on the Western Front German troops are
00:13:34
wearing out the Allies in devastating
00:13:37
trench warfare
00:13:40
the war was going very badly for the
00:13:42
allies and they had tried their great
00:13:44
breakthrough at the Battle of the psalm
00:13:45
in 1916 and it hadn't gone well and
00:13:48
there was a view that they had to win
00:13:49
over a neutral opinion particularly in
00:13:52
the United States
00:13:53
but on the other side of the Atlantic
00:13:55
there is little enthusiasm for sending
00:13:58
troops to far away Europe
00:14:00
U.S President Wilson hesitates as he has
00:14:03
no domestic support for such a plan
00:14:06
the Allies then try and get one
00:14:09
particularly influential part of
00:14:11
American society on their side
00:14:13
the American Jews with their support U.S
00:14:17
government opinion could be swayed
00:14:19
this is at least the thinking of the
00:14:22
British Premier Lloyd George and the
00:14:24
foreign minister Balfour
00:14:26
I think Balfour and Lloyd George had an
00:14:29
exaggerated view of how powerful Jews
00:14:31
were it they they had this belief that
00:14:33
the Jews were enormously powerful there
00:14:35
were all those Jewish bankers and
00:14:36
financiers in a way I've always thought
00:14:38
it's a form of anti-Semitism it's it's
00:14:40
making assumptions about Jewish power
00:14:42
which go way back into European history
00:14:44
but I think they felt that if the Jews
00:14:47
in the United States for example where
00:14:49
the British were borrowing a lot of
00:14:50
money if the Jews thought that Britain
00:14:52
was on their side that would help in the
00:14:54
war effort
00:14:56
balfa publishes a declaration of intent
00:14:58
to the Zionist movement
00:15:00
it stands in direct contradiction to the
00:15:03
promise made to Faisal and the Arabs
00:15:06
with far-reaching consequences it goes
00:15:09
down in history as the Balfour
00:15:11
Declaration
00:15:14
the Balfour Declaration gave British
00:15:16
support for the establishment of a
00:15:18
Jewish homeland in Palestine which was
00:15:20
part of the Ottoman Empire
00:15:21
it didn't say a country but I think a
00:15:24
lot of people knew that that was
00:15:25
probably what was implied in the long
00:15:26
run
00:15:27
foreign
00:15:35
these promises had the purpose of
00:15:37
securing victory over the Central Powers
00:15:40
us the interests of certain ethnic
00:15:43
groups were subordinated to the general
00:15:44
aim of winning the first world war
00:15:47
this of course can be described as
00:15:50
cynical which it doubtles was
00:15:55
under the growing pressure of events in
00:15:58
the war in 1917 the USA comes in on the
00:16:01
side of the Allies after years of
00:16:04
stalemate on the Western Front The Tide
00:16:06
must now turn everything else is
00:16:09
subordinated to this goal
00:16:13
the fastest
00:16:15
the almost simultaneous promises made to
00:16:18
both Arabs and zionists could not have
00:16:20
been realized in this form anyway
00:16:23
that's not something that particularly
00:16:25
concerns anyone at the moment it's a
00:16:28
problem that is put off and put off
00:16:32
the thinking is once the war is won
00:16:34
there'll be a peace conference where we
00:16:36
can then talk about the implementation
00:16:38
of certain political goals
00:16:43
the USA's entry into the war helps the
00:16:46
Allies on the Western Front make
00:16:48
decisive progress
00:16:53
and in the Middle East too the central
00:16:55
powers are now with their backs to the
00:16:57
war
00:16:59
Faisal and his Rebels Advance as far as
00:17:01
Damascus
00:17:03
they have kept their side of the bargain
00:17:06
the Ottoman Empire capitulates in
00:17:09
October 1918.
00:17:11
Allied warships arrive in Constantinople
00:17:14
the government there is toppled
00:17:17
the over 600 year old Ottoman Dynasty
00:17:20
seems to be history
00:17:26
it was clear by the by the end of the
00:17:28
first world war that the Ottoman Empire
00:17:29
was was finished it was falling to
00:17:31
pieces the Arabs had revolted in the
00:17:34
course of the of the first world war and
00:17:35
and the government in Istanbul wasn't
00:17:37
able really to hang on any longer
00:17:39
what had been held together for
00:17:41
centuries now falls apart
00:17:44
very different ethnic groupings of the
00:17:46
doomed Empire now start hoping for
00:17:48
Independence among them those Armenians
00:17:51
who survived the terrible genocide from
00:17:53
1915 onwards at the hands of the
00:17:55
Ottomans
00:17:57
the Kurds and the Arabs who now expect
00:17:59
the promises made to them to be uphelda
00:18:03
government for many groups in the Middle
00:18:05
East this was an historic opportunity to
00:18:07
realize their own projects to bring
00:18:10
their own identity into Focus found
00:18:12
their own States and Achieve autonomy at
00:18:15
the moment the idea of Nation States
00:18:16
became on Vogue and expectations were
00:18:19
aroused the problems began
00:18:23
these hopes were given particular
00:18:25
sustenance by U.S President Wilson
00:18:28
in point 12 of his famous 14 points
00:18:31
about the goals of the piece he wanted
00:18:33
to create a comprehensive new order for
00:18:36
the entire Middle East the peoples of
00:18:38
the Ottoman Empire were intended to
00:18:40
decide their own destiny
00:18:42
and this is precisely what Faisal is
00:18:45
counting on
00:18:46
skip to I know that's what you might
00:18:47
call a certain revolution of expectation
00:18:49
in all the countries that participated
00:18:51
in the war this means High demands are
00:18:54
made and expectations aroused as far as
00:18:56
the peace treaty is concerned
00:18:58
in Paris in 1919 troops of the Arab
00:19:02
Revolt take part in the parade through
00:19:04
the actor Triumph
00:19:07
Faisal himself appears with his own
00:19:09
delegation and tries to turn his
00:19:11
military success into Political facts
00:19:13
through diplomatic means
00:19:15
[Music]
00:19:21
Faisal comes into contact with
00:19:24
International politics and with the help
00:19:26
of his advisors quickly grasps how
00:19:28
everything works there are negotiations
00:19:30
with the Zionist movement he sits down
00:19:33
with the French he participates in an
00:19:36
International Conference yeah
00:19:38
that's the famous photo of Faisal in
00:19:41
Versailles
00:19:43
but Faisal now knows that his interests
00:19:46
contradict those of his allies
00:19:49
the British and French aren't interested
00:19:51
in an independent Arab Kingdom
00:19:54
the hopes of promises made now coming
00:19:57
true rest with President Wilson
00:20:00
but he turns out to be a very different
00:20:02
political leader than hoped
00:20:07
internet what Wilson actually wants is
00:20:10
misunderstood all over the world when he
00:20:12
talks of people's rights as
00:20:14
self-determination for Nations he's
00:20:16
speaking relatively explicitly of white
00:20:18
Europeans Wilson is today an extremely
00:20:21
controversial figure as he was the
00:20:23
president who introduced racial
00:20:25
segregation in the federal institutions
00:20:26
of the United States
00:20:31
times will be seen as a racist
00:20:36
in Paris Faisal is confronted with the
00:20:39
Imperial mentality of his former allies
00:20:43
this is characterized by their tradition
00:20:45
of subjugating Colonial peoples
00:20:48
both the British and the French felt
00:20:49
that the people of the Middle East had
00:20:51
been under the Ottomans they weren't
00:20:53
ready to be independent I mean there was
00:20:55
a sort of really I think a racist
00:20:57
imperialist attitude that these people
00:20:58
were simply inferior and they couldn't
00:21:00
probably rule themselves and they
00:21:02
shouldn't rule themselves because they
00:21:04
would make a mess of it if we look at
00:21:06
the news reporting at the time we see
00:21:08
that when one talked about Arabs one
00:21:10
imagined Jihad Bedouins on Horseback
00:21:12
armed with swords attacking an ottoman
00:21:15
artillery unit shouting
00:21:17
I wasn't thinking of the advanced
00:21:19
culture that existed in Arab cities
00:21:21
which were in part already sophisticated
00:21:23
by Western standards the idea that the
00:21:26
Orient is somehow different to us the
00:21:29
Orient isn't rational the Orient is a
00:21:32
tribal society when it comes down to it
00:21:34
the people there need to be ruled by
00:21:35
someone
00:21:36
they're not capable of organizing
00:21:38
themselves politically
00:21:42
Faisal has almost no political capital
00:21:45
he is at the mercy of the Victor's whims
00:21:48
Damascus is claimed by the French
00:21:51
what remains is a trade-off that has
00:21:54
nothing to do with an independent Arab
00:21:56
Empire
00:21:59
[Music]
00:22:03
the
00:22:05
britainham's wishes regarding his
00:22:07
kingdom in Damascus came to nothing
00:22:09
because the French had been promised
00:22:11
mandate rule over Syria
00:22:13
so the British sent him to Iraq and made
00:22:16
him a puppet
00:22:19
they're deeply disappointed Faisal rules
00:22:23
until his death in 1933 before his
00:22:26
family's Dynasty comes to an abrupt end
00:22:28
in a putch 20 years later
00:22:34
after the removal of Faisal the Paris
00:22:37
conference runs according to the wishes
00:22:39
of the powerful victors
00:22:44
they have a free hand to divide up the
00:22:47
Middle East just as they had planned
00:22:49
from the start and practiced in the past
00:22:53
[Music]
00:22:57
well they've done it throughout the 19th
00:22:59
century I mean the Europeans took over
00:23:00
what they saw as open bits of the world
00:23:03
and that very much the attitude I think
00:23:05
with which they approached the Middle
00:23:06
East that here was territory which
00:23:08
needed to be claimed it was up for grabs
00:23:10
they should grab it
00:23:12
already during the war the French
00:23:14
diplomat Francois Piko and his British
00:23:17
counterpart Mark Sykes agreed on how the
00:23:20
Middle East should look according to
00:23:22
their idea
00:23:23
[Music]
00:23:26
using a ruler the various different
00:23:28
claims are ruthlessly staked this secret
00:23:31
agreement is called Sykes be cool
00:23:35
of course battalions
00:23:38
economic interests lie in the region
00:23:41
around mosul and they know if the oil
00:23:43
deposits there and they want to secure
00:23:45
them
00:23:47
and there's the protection of the Suez
00:23:50
Canal
00:23:51
France on the other hand has a historic
00:23:54
interest in Syria because France has
00:23:56
traditionally seen itself as the
00:23:57
supporting power of the Syrian
00:23:59
Christians
00:24:00
psyched Pico went through various
00:24:02
changes and iterations it was an
00:24:04
understanding the real caravap of the
00:24:06
Middle East was done when the British
00:24:07
and the French sat down and Drew the
00:24:09
lines on the map
00:24:12
foreign
00:24:14
Factory in severe the seal is put on
00:24:17
agreements that from now on will cause
00:24:19
insoluble problems in the Middle East
00:24:26
the resolutions are anything but a
00:24:28
finely balanced political strategy but
00:24:31
represent instead the rigorous pursuit
00:24:33
of Imperial interests at the expense of
00:24:36
the regional population
00:24:41
thank you
00:24:43
foreign
00:24:47
receives a mandate to rule over Syria
00:24:50
and the Lebanon Great Britain helps
00:24:52
itself to Iraq and Palestine
00:24:55
the Arab Sharif of Mecca can only keep
00:24:58
what he already owned anyway
00:25:00
[Music]
00:25:05
and they did this without any
00:25:07
consideration of the peoples living
00:25:08
there the French took a big chunk of
00:25:10
Syria and put it into Lebanon for their
00:25:11
own purposes which has of course caused
00:25:13
trouble ever since and the British
00:25:15
created transjordan as Jordan used to be
00:25:18
called and of course they allowed the
00:25:20
establishment of a Jewish homeland in
00:25:22
Palestine which was also going to cause
00:25:24
intense conflict and problems of course
00:25:27
throughout the 20th century
00:25:30
basically they didn't waste very much
00:25:33
time thinking about the long-term After
00:25:35
Effects and asking the first priority
00:25:37
was creating new administrative units
00:25:40
that were then divided up amongst
00:25:41
themselves in the form of mandates from
00:25:43
the League of Nations
00:25:45
the thinking was to create certain
00:25:47
economic dependencies before these newly
00:25:50
formed States could be granted their
00:25:51
independence
00:25:56
but it still had consequences because at
00:25:59
the time talks were deciding how the
00:26:01
spheres of influence and the regions of
00:26:03
the Middle East could be divided up
00:26:05
among Western European States
00:26:10
nonetheless the Middle East has been
00:26:12
politically more highly charged in
00:26:14
recent years than we've seen for decades
00:26:18
the Demons of savory keep returning to
00:26:21
the theaters of war in the Middle East
00:26:23
in 2014 the terror organization Islamic
00:26:26
State overruns large parts of Iraq
00:26:34
then in June in the city of mosul the
00:26:38
highest leader al-baghdadi proclaims a
00:26:40
new caliphate
00:26:46
foreign
00:26:51
after the end of the first world war is
00:26:54
something that is seen by many Muslims
00:26:55
in the larger context of the breaking up
00:26:57
of the Ottoman Empire
00:27:02
Islamic State promised to reverse this
00:27:04
situation
00:27:05
this is another reason for their
00:27:07
popularity in certain quarters
00:27:13
thus the is propaganda uses the
00:27:16
humiliation of old for its own claims to
00:27:18
power
00:27:19
at the height of their success in an act
00:27:22
of powerful symbolism the Islamic State
00:27:25
crossed the Iraqi Syrian border
00:27:30
Sykes be cool the agreement of the
00:27:33
diplomats is by no means forgotten in
00:27:35
the Arab world
00:27:38
every child in the Arab world knows
00:27:42
it's a symbol and is seen in the Middle
00:27:45
East as the epitome of the West's
00:27:48
deviousness cunning and disingenuousness
00:27:57
as you can see this is the so-called
00:27:58
border of sex Pico
00:28:01
alhamdulillah we don't recognize it and
00:28:03
we will never recognize it
00:28:05
and as you can see here it's a sign for
00:28:06
the Islamic State the borders of the
00:28:08
Middle East are a symbol of Ruthless
00:28:10
Western interest driven politics
00:28:14
well I will break the barrier of Iraq
00:28:16
Jordan
00:28:19
until we reached
00:28:22
this is the first merist of many bears
00:28:24
will break
00:28:29
to this day it's a popular device in the
00:28:32
Arab world to blame all transgressions
00:28:34
all negative developments all
00:28:36
self-inflicted developments on Sykes
00:28:38
picots it's all down to Sykes people it
00:28:42
all began with what the British and the
00:28:44
French did back then at the end of the
00:28:46
day they opened the gates of hell and
00:28:48
haven't been able to close them again
00:28:51
my own feeling is that they need also to
00:28:54
look at some of the other reasons I mean
00:28:56
they have had in many countries bad
00:28:57
leadership corrupt leadership leadership
00:29:00
by very few people they've had the
00:29:01
military interfering in politics and I
00:29:04
think just focusing on Sykes Pico is
00:29:05
perhaps distracting attention much
00:29:08
needed attention from some of the other
00:29:10
causes of instability and unfairness and
00:29:13
Injustice in the Middle East
00:29:15
also in Turkey the successor state to
00:29:18
the Ottoman Empire the sevra agreement
00:29:20
has remained a powerful memory
00:29:22
[Music]
00:29:25
let us be honest turkey faces its
00:29:29
biggest struggle since the war for
00:29:30
independence
00:29:32
this struggle is a struggle of a single
00:29:35
nation
00:29:36
single flag a single Homeland a single
00:29:40
state
00:29:41
dear brothers and sisters if we quit in
00:29:44
this critical phase of the rebuilding of
00:29:46
the world and our region we will return
00:29:48
to the conditions we had at sever
00:29:51
foreign
00:30:11
1920.
00:30:15
it would not only change the Middle East
00:30:17
substantially
00:30:22
the Allies resolved to break up the
00:30:24
Ottoman Empire
00:30:26
of which the Turkish Homeland is apart
00:30:34
in the eyes of the British premiere the
00:30:37
once Mighty caliphate has no future and
00:30:39
should be wiped off the map of the world
00:30:41
forever
00:30:46
the British Prime Minister David Lloyd
00:30:47
George was an old-fashioned liberal and
00:30:51
the view of the Liberals in the 19th
00:30:52
century was the Ottoman Empire was a
00:30:55
Despicable and backward organizations
00:30:57
there are statements from the British
00:31:00
prime minister saying that this
00:31:01
agreement will satisfy turkey's worst
00:31:03
enemies if one were to put together a
00:31:06
list of the worst anti-turkish
00:31:08
statements then David Lloyd George would
00:31:11
probably be in first place
00:31:15
and David Lloyd George follows up his
00:31:17
words with actions at sevra the Allies
00:31:21
forced the Turkish government to accept
00:31:23
an agreement more drastic than the one
00:31:25
forced on the Germans at Versailles
00:31:29
on the 10th of August the delegation
00:31:32
from the Metropolis of Constantinople
00:31:34
arrived in the Paris suburb and is
00:31:36
called into the porcelain Factory's
00:31:38
magnificent Hall
00:31:41
the political breakup is sealed
00:31:45
basically the ottoman State loses its
00:31:48
sovereignty over parts of Anatolia which
00:31:50
is seen as part of the Turkish Homeland
00:31:54
[Music]
00:31:55
while Armenia is awarded territory in
00:31:58
the Northeast Southern and Southeastern
00:32:00
turkey are divided up into British
00:32:02
French and Italian zones of influence
00:32:06
in the west turkey has to seed territory
00:32:08
to Greece
00:32:11
in contrast to the Treaty of Versailles
00:32:14
in which the Allies wanted to make sure
00:32:16
that Germany wouldn't be able to make a
00:32:18
comeback quickly but nevertheless
00:32:20
recognized that a country is also a
00:32:22
people with whom one will have to deal
00:32:23
in the future and save her they really
00:32:26
did try to choke the life out of the
00:32:28
Ottoman Empire
00:32:31
foreign
00:32:33
the Greek government in Athens also has
00:32:35
a desire for Retribution the country was
00:32:38
ruled by the Ottomans in the 19th
00:32:40
century
00:32:43
it didn't regain sovereignty until the
00:32:46
end of the war of independence in 1832.
00:32:54
50
00:32:57
ever since the 19th century when Greece
00:33:00
was freed from the ottoman yoke there's
00:33:02
been a new age of Hellenism all over
00:33:04
Europe
00:33:05
um this means that Greece is the Cradle
00:33:09
of Western Civilization the Cradle of
00:33:11
democracy is seen very positively in
00:33:13
large parts of Europe and in particular
00:33:15
in great britons
00:33:21
the Greek delegation in Paris is hoping
00:33:24
for The Rebirth of a great Empire
00:33:26
prime minister eleftherius venezilos
00:33:29
leading the way
00:33:31
the Prime Minister venezuelos was
00:33:33
enormously persuasive and had this
00:33:34
vision of a greater Greece and believed
00:33:37
that the Greeks had the right and the
00:33:39
ability to spread out and he dreamed
00:33:42
also of pushing Greek influence into
00:33:43
Istanbul and possibly into the Black Sea
00:33:46
where there had also been a Greek
00:33:47
presence in the classical time but these
00:33:49
were the Ambitions of a Nation Builder
00:33:52
but for his vision the premier needs the
00:33:55
support of powerful partners and Lloyd
00:33:57
George has once again a plan in mind
00:34:00
which first and foremost serves British
00:34:02
interests
00:34:04
La George dear britisher Lloyd George
00:34:06
the British prime minister sees Greece
00:34:09
as the new strong partner Mediterranean
00:34:11
because if the Ottoman Empire was going
00:34:14
to fail the British needed some sort of
00:34:16
Ally at the Eastern end of the
00:34:18
Mediterranean to protect Egypt and the
00:34:20
route through to India this was very
00:34:22
important for the British the Suez Canal
00:34:24
which goes through Egypt was crucially
00:34:26
important for the British and so they
00:34:28
thought great the Ottoman Empire is gone
00:34:30
we can't prop it up anymore no point
00:34:31
with that
00:34:33
will support a bigger grease which will
00:34:35
be our Ally at the Eastern end of the
00:34:36
Mediterranean it was a disaster
00:34:40
This Disaster takes place shortly after
00:34:42
the first World War
00:34:44
in Smyrna today Izmir Venezuela sends in
00:34:48
an invasion force with the express
00:34:50
support of the British
00:34:56
the city in those days is characterized
00:34:58
by a multitude of ethnicities and
00:35:00
religions mostly living together in
00:35:03
peace
00:35:07
was a commercial city which was
00:35:10
completely multi-ethnic it was a city
00:35:13
with an enormous number of Greeks and
00:35:15
Armenians in other words a large number
00:35:18
of Christians
00:35:22
from the base in Smyrna Greece
00:35:24
increasingly tries to expand its sphere
00:35:26
of influence
00:35:29
the Turkish government in Constantinople
00:35:32
has been weakened and has no means of
00:35:34
resisting its neighbors in vasory
00:35:36
ambitions
00:35:37
the Greek troops quickly Advance into
00:35:39
the hinterland
00:35:42
here they meet the first Turkish
00:35:44
resistance made up of former soldiers of
00:35:46
the Ottoman Empire
00:35:54
their leader mustafikema later known as
00:35:58
atatuk the father of modern turkey
00:36:05
he unifies the scattered units and tries
00:36:08
everything to stop the Greek advance
00:36:17
the Greeks face the opposition of the
00:36:21
Turkish resistance whose strategy was
00:36:23
basically to lure the Greeks ever
00:36:24
further Inland where the weather
00:36:26
conditions were very demanding
00:36:28
foreign
00:36:38
that meant that when large numbers of
00:36:40
troops had to be moved or supplies
00:36:42
brought to the front relatively small
00:36:44
groups of Turkish gorillas could carry
00:36:46
out effective attacks
00:36:52
in a merciless Guerrilla War Mustafa
00:36:54
camel quickly gains decisive advantages
00:36:57
places taken by the Greeks are retaken
00:37:00
Mutual hatred erupts
00:37:03
massacres of the civilian population are
00:37:06
soon part of the tragic reality in this
00:37:08
bloody war
00:37:14
s
00:37:15
the fighting escalates relatively
00:37:18
quickly with attacks on the civilian
00:37:19
population
00:37:21
by the invading Greeks but also on the
00:37:24
Christian minorities by the tax
00:37:26
the situation continues to deteriorate
00:37:29
in a classical escalation scenarios
00:37:33
inhabitants against inhabitants and not
00:37:35
about power struggles this is happening
00:37:38
amongst the population which is actively
00:37:40
involved the inhabitants are
00:37:42
automatically part of the warring
00:37:44
factions due to their ethnicity and
00:37:46
religions
00:37:48
where there are no civilians no
00:37:50
prisoners it's not a question of forcing
00:37:53
the other side to accept one's will but
00:37:56
of liquidating and delegitimizing them
00:38:03
the Greek troops are soon pushed back to
00:38:05
the coast the Army flees leaving behind
00:38:09
a defenseless population
00:38:12
in September 1922 the Turks reached the
00:38:16
port of Smyrna from where the Greek
00:38:18
Invasion began
00:38:20
Ataturk came with his troops the
00:38:22
outskirts of the city and the Greeks
00:38:24
knowing what was going to happen knowing
00:38:26
they were probably going to be
00:38:27
slaughtered and the slaughter was
00:38:28
already starting began to flee towards
00:38:30
the water
00:38:31
in this situation the civilian
00:38:33
population is completely at the mercy of
00:38:35
the enemy who has been politically
00:38:37
radicalized by three years of conflicts
00:38:41
and there had already been attacks on
00:38:43
the Muslim population in Smyrna in 1919.
00:38:46
now the hour of Retribution has arrived
00:38:51
[Music]
00:38:56
the British observed the drama in Smyrna
00:38:59
from a distance
00:39:04
and there are these Dreadful scenes of
00:39:06
people jumping into the waters trying to
00:39:08
save their children but we don't know
00:39:10
how many people died I think it's 20 or
00:39:11
30 000 at least and Ataturk did nothing
00:39:14
to stop his troops I think the anger
00:39:16
among Turks against the Greeks now was
00:39:18
so great that they were not prepared to
00:39:19
do anything
00:39:22
the once so flourishing Port is the
00:39:24
scene of the bloodiest event of the war
00:39:27
the fires in the Greek and Armenian
00:39:30
quarters burn for days
00:39:31
leaving only ruins
00:39:42
in Greece this catastrophe is still
00:39:44
notorious today
00:39:47
these are only estimates between 1919
00:39:49
and 1922 up to 250 000 people lose their
00:39:54
lives in a conflict often forgotten in
00:39:56
the west nonsense
00:40:00
this terrible episode is remembered very
00:40:02
differently in Turkey
00:40:04
it is the birth of an independent
00:40:06
confident and modern Turkish Society
00:40:10
they have successfully resisted the
00:40:12
imposition of several to this day the
00:40:15
period casts a shadow over relations
00:40:17
with their Greek gamers
00:40:19
with his war of Liberation most of a
00:40:21
camel creates military facts on the
00:40:23
ground and forces the victors of the
00:40:26
first world war to return to the
00:40:28
negotiating table
00:40:30
in lausanne in 1923 he now forces the
00:40:34
Allies to accept his position
00:40:39
s
00:40:43
the second piece Tracy is drawn up in
00:40:45
lausanne which basically makes the
00:40:47
fledgling state of turkey the Turkish
00:40:50
Republic one of the victors of the first
00:40:52
world war where Kamal Ataturk manages
00:40:55
not only to drive back invading Allied
00:40:57
troops and defeat them but also to
00:41:00
consolidate the Integrity of the Turkish
00:41:02
state to Anatolia status
00:41:07
the agreement of several is annulled
00:41:09
Ataturk formed the turkey we know today
00:41:14
and the borders are not the only thing
00:41:15
he establishes
00:41:17
he also wants a homogeneous Turkish
00:41:19
Society
00:41:23
there is still a large Greek minority in
00:41:26
Anatolia and many Turkish inhabitants in
00:41:28
Greece
00:41:29
the lausanne agreement determines that
00:41:32
Greek Orthodox Christians and Muslims
00:41:34
will simply be exchanged
00:41:44
that after the extremely bloody Greek
00:41:47
Turkish conflict stability and peace in
00:41:49
the region can only be preserved if the
00:41:51
different religious communities are
00:41:52
distant angled
00:41:55
at the beginning of the 1920s an
00:41:58
exchange of inhabitants is seen as a
00:42:00
completely logical means of settling
00:42:01
conflicts we just have to split up the
00:42:04
people and resettle them and then peace
00:42:06
will Reigns this has had catastrophic
00:42:09
consequences for the region
00:42:13
more than a million Greeks lose their
00:42:15
homes
00:42:16
Athens faces an unprecedented wave of
00:42:19
refugees
00:42:20
the consequences are homelessness and
00:42:23
starvation
00:42:24
in a new home they've never known
00:42:27
[Music]
00:42:34
this can only be seen as an
00:42:36
extraordinary uprooting for all
00:42:38
concerned and even if you had been a
00:42:41
Greek in Smyrna and of course spoke
00:42:44
Greek and would probably have been a
00:42:46
Christian but your roots your home your
00:42:49
way of life your family came from Smyrna
00:42:52
and suddenly you find yourself in a
00:42:55
suburb of Athens
00:42:57
and you're somewhere where you don't
00:42:59
know anyone in a place you've never seen
00:43:02
before even if it is your country
00:43:05
because you speak the language
00:43:08
is it really your culture
00:43:17
the Armenians on the other hand lose
00:43:19
their sovereignty after only two years
00:43:21
to Soviet Russia
00:43:23
turkey too changes perceptibly during
00:43:25
this period
00:43:27
while a few years before different
00:43:29
ethnic groups lived here together
00:43:31
Ataturk state is now an assimilated
00:43:34
Turkish Muslim Society
00:43:38
diversity was an important part of the
00:43:41
Ottoman order both in the state and in
00:43:43
the cityscape and this gets destroyed in
00:43:47
this period this changed turkey more
00:43:49
dramatically than many events of the
00:43:51
first world war Witnesses
00:43:54
come on this people are no longer Turks
00:43:56
because they are inhabitants of Anatolia
00:43:58
or a subject of the Ottoman Empire now
00:44:01
people are Turks if they have Turkish
00:44:03
blood and are members of the Sunni
00:44:05
Islamic faith everyone else is a guests
00:44:12
although the sever agreement was revoked
00:44:14
it still has enormous significance in
00:44:17
turkey and casts a long Shadow today
00:44:23
this can be seen after the failed putch
00:44:25
of the 15th of July 2016 and members of
00:44:28
the Armed Forces attempted to overthrow
00:44:30
the government
00:44:32
the fear of political influence from
00:44:34
outside along with enemies on the inside
00:44:36
is often Justified with the Old Paris
00:44:40
agreement
00:44:41
in Turkey it is known as sevra syndra
00:44:45
the 15th of July is the second war of
00:44:48
Liberation for the Turkish nation and we
00:44:51
should recognize it as such if this push
00:44:53
had been successful we would have been
00:44:55
forced to accept something that would
00:44:57
have made us long for the sevra
00:44:59
agreement
00:45:03
in the several agreement you can find
00:45:06
everything that can be construed in
00:45:08
turkey as a conspiracy against them and
00:45:11
the sephra agreement has established
00:45:13
itself in the Press popular culture and
00:45:16
films and especially of course in the
00:45:18
propaganda speeches of different heads
00:45:21
of states and in particular erdogan
00:45:26
um
00:45:30
for different nationalities it includes
00:45:34
a Kurdish Stace or statehood which is
00:45:37
not clearly stated
00:45:39
it could be an autonomous area or a
00:45:42
state
00:45:45
but ataturk's Triumph seals the fate of
00:45:49
an independent Kurdish state
00:45:51
in the lausanne agreement there is no
00:45:53
mention of possible Independence for
00:45:56
this ethnic group
00:45:59
s
00:46:03
agreement transformed turkey from a
00:46:05
Vanquish state to a victor of the first
00:46:07
world war and thus buried any hope of
00:46:10
independent statehood
00:46:12
um
00:46:14
the rejection of any right to autonomy
00:46:17
and in particular demands for
00:46:19
independent statehood are basically
00:46:21
conflicts that from this moment onwards
00:46:23
from the first world war onwards and
00:46:26
from the agreements made in Paris still
00:46:28
reverberate today
00:46:32
today between 20 and 30 million Kurds
00:46:35
live on the borders of various States
00:46:43
is thus the largest ethnic group in the
00:46:45
world without its own state
00:46:48
the Kurds are one of these very
00:46:50
unfortunate people who live in a world
00:46:51
that is difficult and have a great many
00:46:54
enemies and none of the governments in
00:46:55
those countries really want an
00:46:57
independent Kurdistan
00:46:59
but the rise of the Islamic State in
00:47:01
2014 creates new political facts
00:47:05
Civil War torn Syria and the weakened
00:47:07
government in Baghdad are not capable of
00:47:10
stopping the extremists triumphant
00:47:12
progress
00:47:13
the International Community seeks new
00:47:15
allies in the fight against the is and
00:47:18
finds them above all in the form of the
00:47:20
Kurds
00:47:27
the
00:47:28
Americans and other powers in the region
00:47:31
aroused expectations in the Kurds by
00:47:33
saying to them you're really the only
00:47:36
good allies we have against the Islamic
00:47:38
State and against the Terror weapons
00:47:40
were supplied advisors dispatched and a
00:47:43
certain level of expectation was
00:47:44
cultivated
00:47:50
the Kurdish Fighters are one of the few
00:47:52
warring parties in the region whose
00:47:54
ground troops can effectively push back
00:47:56
the Islamic State
00:47:58
they liberate and occupy areas in
00:48:00
Northern Syria
00:48:03
by now it's clear that they link their
00:48:05
actions to the long-held hope of
00:48:07
founding their own State as soon as they
00:48:10
have driven the is out of the region
00:48:14
we've taken their ammunition we've
00:48:16
killed a lot of them in this attack we
00:48:19
were successful we have taken this
00:48:21
position back from them now we'll beat
00:48:23
them everywhere and we'll Advance
00:48:26
we'll manage it for the benefit of
00:48:28
everyone we will liberate Kurdistan
00:48:35
for the first time in decades there is
00:48:38
something like a Kurdish state project
00:48:40
in both Syria and Iraq although in very
00:48:43
different forms
00:48:46
one can accuse the Americans and other
00:48:49
powers including the Russians of is that
00:48:52
they have used the Kurds as a playing
00:48:53
card and made promises or aroused vague
00:48:56
expectations as their allies against the
00:48:59
Islamic State
00:49:00
in the end this will cost human lives
00:49:05
because turkey hasn't the slightest
00:49:08
intention of coming even close to
00:49:10
fulfilling such hopes
00:49:12
when the USA withdraws its troops from
00:49:15
northern Syria in 2019 they abandoned
00:49:18
their former allies
00:49:20
there is no longer any talk of moral
00:49:23
responsibility in Washington
00:49:28
you don't have any regret for giving
00:49:30
erdogan a green light to to invade I
00:49:33
didn't give him a green light we paid a
00:49:34
lot of money to the Kurds tremendous
00:49:36
amounts of money we've given them
00:49:38
massive fortunes and you know what it's
00:49:41
wonderful they fought with us but we
00:49:43
paid a lot for them to fight with us we
00:49:45
have a situation where turkey is taking
00:49:49
land from Syria Syria is not happy about
00:49:52
it let them work it out
00:49:54
[Music]
00:49:56
shortly after the American withdrawal
00:49:58
Turkish tanks crossed the border into
00:50:01
Syria
00:50:02
Kurdish areas should now be transformed
00:50:04
into Turkish security zones
00:50:16
the dream of Kurdistan has once again
00:50:19
evaporated
00:50:20
[Music]
00:50:25
you often hear comparisons and memories
00:50:27
from Kurds of the time after the first
00:50:30
World War
00:50:31
[Music]
00:50:35
we are basically the Eternal Losers of
00:50:38
political power games and intrigues and
00:50:40
rivalry in the Middle East
00:50:45
power games that reach their peak in
00:50:48
Paris after the first World War
00:50:51
the victors didn't create order and
00:50:53
peace in the Middle East in Anatolia but
00:50:56
instead made false promises disappointed
00:50:59
allies
00:51:04
new states were created which had
00:51:07
enormous potential for conflict and
00:51:09
which if you look from 1918 to the
00:51:11
present keep returning to the political
00:51:13
agenda
00:51:16
um
00:51:19
the wounds of the past have not healed
00:51:21
but are in fact still open and bleeding
00:51:27
and no one knows how this conflict can
00:51:30
ever be brought to an end
00:51:33
we only talk in terms of powder kegs and
00:51:36
conflagrations
00:51:37
all the Expressions that we associate
00:51:40
with the Middle East the perception that
00:51:43
this region will never have peace
00:51:44
creates facts on the ground in the
00:51:47
politics in the powerful way people
00:51:49
conduct politics in the region and they
00:51:52
don't look at the big pictures they
00:51:54
don't start to think creatively they
00:51:55
only think of short-term interests and
00:51:59
it's my impression that this attitude
00:52:00
this view of the region is a consequence
00:52:03
of this period of the several agreement
00:52:05
of the post-war order after the first
00:52:07
world
00:52:12
the bloody Legacy of several
00:52:15
the porcelain Factory is a symbol of
00:52:18
just how fragile the world in the Middle
00:52:20
East remains today
