The Sykes-Picot Agreement (1916): The Secret Pact That Completed Kurdistan’s Partition
- Mero Ranyayi
- May 24
- 7 min read
Introduction
In May 1916, while the First World War raged across Europe and the Middle East, two diplomats — British officer Sir Mark Sykes and French diplomat François Georges-Picot — secretly carved up the Ottoman Empire with a pencil and a map. The agreement they produced, known as the Sykes-Picot Agreement, divided the Arab and Kurdish territories of the Ottoman Empire into British and French spheres of influence. It was conducted in total secrecy, without the knowledge or consent of the peoples whose homelands were being divided — and it scattered the Kurdish nation across four future states, erasing any prospect of Kurdish statehood for a century.
For the Kurdish people, Sykes-Picot is the most infamous treaty in history. It took the partition that had begun at Chaldiran (1514), was formalised at Amasya (1555), made permanent at Zuhab (1639), and internationalised at Erzurum (1847) — and completed it. The Ottoman-controlled portion of Kurdistan, which had at least been unified under one imperial administration, was now subdivided further between British and French zones. When these zones became the mandates of Iraq and Syria, the four-part division of Kurdistan (Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria) was complete. Every border that imprisons the Kurdish people today traces its origin, directly or indirectly, to the lines drawn by Sykes and Picot.
Contents
What Was the Sykes-Picot Agreement?
The Sykes-Picot Agreement (also called the Asia Minor Agreement) was a secret convention concluded in May 1916 between Great Britain and France, with the assent of imperial Russia, for the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire. Negotiations began in November 1915 between Sir Mark Sykes (representing Britain) and François Georges-Picot (representing France), with Sergey Sazonov representing Russia as the third member of the Triple Entente.
The agreement divided the Ottoman Empire’s Arab and Kurdish territories into zones of direct control and spheres of influence. Britain would control areas around Baghdad, Basra, and Haifa. France would control Lebanon, Syria’s Mediterranean coast, and vast tracts of southeastern Turkey. France would also project significant influence over the remainder of Syria and present-day Iraqi Kurdistan. Russia was promised Constantinople and the Armenian provinces, including Kurdish-populated areas around Van, Bitlis, and Erzurum.
Key Takeaways
• Sykes-Picot divided the Ottoman-controlled portion of Kurdistan between British and French zones — completing the four-part partition of Kurdistan (Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria) that persists today.
• The agreement was conducted in total secrecy — no Kurd, no Arab, no one from the region was consulted. The peoples whose homelands were being carved up learned of the agreement only after the Bolsheviks leaked it in November 1917.
• The agreement contradicted promises Britain had made to Arab leaders (the Husayn-McMahon Correspondence) and would later contradict the promise of Kurdish autonomy in the Treaty of Sèvres (1920).
• While the exact provisions of Sykes-Picot were never fully implemented, its underlying logic — placing Kurdish and Arab territories under British and French control — was realised through the League of Nations Mandate system.
Quick Facts
Agreement: Sykes-Picot Agreement (Asia Minor Agreement) Date: May 1916 (negotiations began November 1915) Parties: Great Britain (Sir Mark Sykes), France (François Georges-Picot), Russia (Sergey Sazonov) Type: Secret wartime convention for Ottoman dismemberment Key Provision for Kurds: Kurdish lands split between British zone (southern Kurdistan/Iraq), French zone (northern/western Kurdistan/Syria), and Russian zone (Armenian provinces including Kurdish areas around Van, Bitlis, Erzurum) Exposure: Leaked by Bolshevik Russia in November 1917 Legacy: Foundation for the League of Nations Mandates that created Iraq and Syria, completing Kurdistan’s four-part partition
Historical Context: Carving Up the Sick Man of Europe
By 1915, it was clear that the Ottoman Empire — which had joined the Central Powers alongside Germany and Austria-Hungary — was unlikely to survive the war intact. Britain, France, and Russia began planning the dismemberment of Ottoman territories. Each had their own interests: Russia wanted Constantinople and the Armenian provinces; France wanted Syria, Lebanon, and southeastern Turkey; Britain wanted Mesopotamia (Iraq), the Persian Gulf, and secure access to India via the Suez Canal.
The agreement was made while Britain was simultaneously promising Arab leaders an independent Arab state in exchange for their revolt against the Ottomans (the Husayn-McMahon Correspondence of 1915–1916). Britain was also promising Zionist leaders support for a Jewish homeland in Palestine (the Balfour Declaration of 1917). These three sets of promises were fundamentally contradictory — and the Kurds, who had been promised nothing by anyone, were not even part of the conversation.
The Agreement’s Terms and Kurdish Lands
The Sykes-Picot Agreement divided the Ottoman territories into several zones. Russia would acquire the Armenian provinces of Erzurum, Trebizond, Van, and Bitlis — all of which contained significant Kurdish populations. France would receive Lebanon, Syria’s coast, Adana, Cilicia, and much of southeastern Anatolia, including northern and western Kurdish-inhabited regions. France would also exercise influence over the Mosul region (present-day Iraqi Kurdistan). Britain would receive the areas around Baghdad, Basra, and the Persian Gulf.
The effect on Kurdistan was devastating. The Ottoman-controlled portion of Kurdistan — which had at least been unified under one imperial administration since the Treaty of Zuhab (1639) — was now subdivided between three European powers. Kurdish-inhabited areas were assigned to Russian, French, and British zones with no regard for Kurdish ethnic, linguistic, or cultural boundaries. The borders did not follow any logic of self-determination. They followed the logic of European colonial competition.
Exposure and Aftermath: Promises Broken Before They Were Made
The Sykes-Picot Agreement remained secret until November 1917, when the Bolshevik government in Russia — which had seized power in the October Revolution — discovered the text in the Tsarist archives and published it. The exposure caused outrage across the Arab world and deep embarrassment to Britain and France, whose simultaneous promises to Arab leaders were revealed as hollow. For the Kurds, the exposure simply confirmed what they had long suspected: that the great powers regarded Kurdish lands as territory to be allocated, not as a homeland to be respected.
The exact provisions of Sykes-Picot were never fully implemented — the Russian Revolution removed Russia from the equation, and the entry of the United States into the war introduced President Wilson’s rhetoric of self-determination. But the underlying logic of the agreement found expression in the post-war settlement. The San Remo Conference (1920) formally allocated the Mandates for Syria and Iraq to France and Britain respectively. The Treaty of Sèvres (1920) included provisions for an autonomous Kurdistan, but Turkey’s nationalist resistance led to its replacement by the Treaty of Lausanne (1923), which made no mention of Kurdistan whatsoever. The Kurdish people were left divided between Turkey, Iraq, Syria, and Iran — their promised nation erased from the map.
Timeline of Key Events
November 1915 — Negotiations begin between Sykes (Britain) and Picot (France).
May 1916 — Sykes-Picot Agreement concluded; Ottoman territories divided into British, French, and Russian zones.
June 1916 — Arab Revolt begins against the Ottoman Empire, based on British promises of independence.
November 1917 — Bolshevik Russia leaks the agreement; the secret pact is exposed to the world.
April 1920 — San Remo Conference allocates Mandates for Syria and Iraq to France and Britain.
August 1920 — Treaty of Sèvres includes provisions for autonomous Kurdistan — never implemented.
July 1923 — Treaty of Lausanne replaces Sèvres; no mention of Kurdistan. The four-part partition is complete.
Legacy and Significance for Kurdish History
The Sykes-Picot Agreement is the single most destructive treaty in Kurdish history. It completed the partition of Kurdistan by subdividing the Ottoman-controlled portion between British and French colonial zones. The previous partition at Zuhab (1639) had split Kurdistan between two empires; Sykes-Picot split it between four future nation-states. When the dust of the post-war settlement cleared, the Kurdish people found themselves minorities in Turkey, Iraq, Syria, and Iran — the world’s largest stateless nation.
The agreement is also a symbol of European colonial arrogance. Two men — Sykes, a British aristocrat who romanticised the Middle East, and Picot, a French diplomat determined to secure Syria for France — drew lines on a map that determined the fate of millions of Kurds, Arabs, Assyrians, and others. They did so in secret, without consultation, and in contradiction to the promises being made to the peoples of the region at the very same time.
Every moment of political upheaval in the Middle East has been met with declarations of ‘the end of Sykes-Picot’ — from the establishment of the Kurdistan Regional Government in 1992, to the rise of ISIS in 2014, to the Kurdish autonomous zone in northeastern Syria. Yet the borders that Sykes and Picot helped create have proven remarkably durable. The Kurdish struggle for self-determination is, at its core, a struggle against the legacy of a secret agreement made in 1916 by two European diplomats who never asked the Kurdish people what they wanted.
Frequently Asked Questions
What was the Sykes-Picot Agreement?
A secret convention concluded in May 1916 between Britain and France, with Russian assent, that divided the Ottoman Empire’s territories into colonial spheres of influence. It split Kurdish lands between British, French, and Russian zones, laying the foundation for the four-part partition of Kurdistan (Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Iran).
How did Sykes-Picot affect the Kurds?
It subdivided Ottoman Kurdistan between British and French zones, completing the partition that had begun centuries earlier. When these zones became the mandates of Iraq and Syria, the Kurdish people were scattered across four states (Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Iran) with no prospect of self-determination. No Kurd was consulted.
Are the borders created by Sykes-Picot still in effect?
Essentially, yes. While the exact provisions of Sykes-Picot were modified by subsequent treaties and mandates, the underlying division of the Middle East into the states of Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Palestine/Israel follows the logic established by Sykes and Picot. The four-part partition of Kurdistan reflects this legacy directly.
References and Further Reading
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