Sykes-Picot Agreement: Dividing Ottoman Empire in WWI shaped Middle East's future conflicts.

During World War I, Britain and France signed the Sykes-Picot Agreement in secret, outlining their plans to divide the Ottoman Empire's Middle Eastern territories between them after the war. Named after British diplomat Sir Mark Sykes and French diplomat François Georges-Picot, the agreement was a pivotal moment in the geopolitics of the region. The deal proposed that France would control southeastern Turkey, northern Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon, while Britain would take over southern Iraq, Jordan, and the area around Haifa and Acre. Palestine was envisaged as an international zone. The Sykes-Picot Agreement was part of broader Allied strategies to manage the post-war world. It reflected the interests and spheres of influence of Britain and France, driven by their desire to protect and expand their colonial holdings. The Russian Empire, which was part of the Triple Entente, was also informed and had a stake in the negotiations, expecting Turkish territories in its vicinity. This division had profound long-term impacts on the Middle East. It disregarded ethnic, religious, and tribal boundaries, sowing the seeds of future conflicts. The artificial borders often grouped together hostile communities or divided homogeneous populations. These decisions led to long-lasting issues of political and social instability in the newly formed nations. Despite the confidentiality of the agreement, it was later leaked by the Bolsheviks after the Russian Revolution, exposing the imperialistic intentions of the involved powers and causing widespread outrage in the Arab world. The betrayal felt by the Arabs, who had been promised independence in return for their support against the Ottoman Turks, fueled distrust towards Western powers. In summarizing, the Sykes-Picot Agreement reshaped the Middle East's political landscape with enduring legacies. #WorldWarI #MiddleEast #Geopolitics #Colonialism #OttomanEmpire #SykesPicot #MoofLife