His foreign policy adviser, Edward House, was then informed of the agreement by the British Foreign Secretary, Arthur Balfour, who, 18 months later, was to give his name to a statement that would have even more fatal consequences for the region. The following eleven points included the formal agreements between Great Britain, France and Russia. Prior to the centenary of Sykes-Picot in 2016, the media[109] and scientists[110] generated strong interest in the long-term effects of the agreement. The agreement is often cited as “artificial” borders in the Middle East, “without regard to ethnic or sectarian characteristics, which has led to endless conflicts.” [111] The question of the extent to which Sykes-Picot has really marked the borders of the modern Middle East is controversial. [112] [113] Numerous sources claim that Sykes-Picot came into conflict with the Hussein-McMahon correspondence of 1915-1916 and that the publication of the agreement in November 1917 led to the resignation of Sir Henry McMahon. [107] There were several differences, iraq being the most obvious in the British red territory, and less obvious, the idea that British and French advisers would have control of the area designated as an Arab state. Finally, while the correspondence did not mention Palestine, Haifa and Acre should be British and the brown territory (a reduced Palestine) should become internationalized. [108] Hussein`s letter of February 18, 1916, McMahon appealed for 50,000 pounds of gold, more weapons, ammunition and food, saying Feisal was waiting for “no less than 100,000 people” to arrive for the planned revolt and McMahon`s response of 10 March 1916 confirming British approval of the applications and concluding the ten letters from correspondents. In April and May, Sykes discussed the benefits of a meeting in which Picot and the Arabs participated to network each other`s wishes. At the same time, logistics have been dealt with in the context of the promised revolt, and there has been growing impatience with what Hussein should do.
Finally, at the end of April, McMahon was informed of the terms of Sykes-Picot and Grey and agreed that they would not be disclosed to the Arabs. [54] [55]:57-60 The agreement was based on the premise that the Triple Agreement was deployed during the First World War and was part of a series of secret agreements that reflected on its division. The first negotiations that led to the agreement took place between 23 November 1915 and 3 January 1916, during which British and French diplomats Mark Sykes and François Georges-Picot signed an agreed memorandum. [3] The agreement was ratified by their respective governments on 9 and 16 May 1916. [4] Indeed, virtually none of the current borders of the Middle East were demarcated in the document closed on 16 May 1916 by British and French diplomats Mark Sykes and François Georges-Picot.