Sultan Abdulhamid Ii Had Oil Map

[Aubépine]

Sultan Abdulhamid II had Oil Map

By Economy News Desk

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

zaman.com

 

http://www.zaman.com/2006/11/07/abdulhamid_b.jpg

 

An map that charts likely oil sources prepared by a group of Turkish and foreign engineers under instruction and personally financed by Sultan Abdulhamid II has come to light.

 

Published in this week’s Aksiyon magazine, “The oil map of the Sultan” indicates that much of southeast Anatolia contains large oil reserves.

 

A group of engineers led by the German engineer Paul Groskoph and Turk Habib Necip Efendi in the early 20th century conducted painstaking, months-long research on the shores of the Tigris River. Surveying was carried out on a raft as well as on horse and donkey back.

 

A report presented to Sultan Abdulhamid II on October 22, 1901 shows important oil reserves along the shores of what is called the Bitlis stream.

 

The oil map covers almost all of southeast Anatolia and a part of east Anatolia. It claims that there are important oil reserves in a large number of places, such as Diyarbakir, Mardin, Bismil, Batman, the Tigris region, Midyat and Siirt.

 

Groskoph noted in the report that, “There are rich and important oil reserves in the basins of Euphrates and Tigris Rivers. In order for these to be tapped, there is a great need for a railway that would extend up to Baghdad. The railway whose construction began in 1889 and ended in 1902 will carry the oil to Anatolia. A few more lines to be constructed in addition to the main line would meet the demand.”

 

The head engineer also argued in the report that if put to good and effective use, the oil reserves would make the region one of the most important oil centers in the world.

 

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