National Bank of Turkey

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Not to be confused with Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey.

The National Bank of Turkey was a commercial bank in Turkey founded in 1909.[1] The majority capital came from founding shareholders Sir Ernest Cassel, Lord Revelstoke and Sir Alexander Henderson.[2] The initial impetus for the bank's creation came about as a result of the Young Turk Revolution.[3] The bank operated until 1931.[1]

Background of British Interests

Britain and France had signed the

Imperial Ottoman Bank leading to an attempt to improve the British position via the creation of a new Anglo-French financial enterprise, the Ottoman Society.[1]: 368  Progress was slow due to French reluctance to dilute their competitive position and then overtaken by news in late 1908 of the proposed National Bank of Turkey (NBT) which, according to the Foreign Office was "not initiated or suggested by us, and is carried out independently of us".[1]: 369–370  Cassel, who was to have been involved in the Ottoman Society, also turned out to be involved with NBT, later bringing in Henderson and then Revelstoke. The Foreign office was kept informed at all stages and Edward Grey later in 1909 played a part in securing the services of Henry Babington Smith
as President of NBT, later saying in a memorandum of an interview with a member of the London Committee of the Ottoman Bank:

"... we had no interest in Sir Ernest Cassel's Bank. The Turks had taken the initiative and had arranged the matter independently with Sir Ernest Cassel... I had certainly supported the scheme to the extent of encouraging Sir Henry Babington Smith to accept Sir Ernest Cassel's offer. The selection had been made by Sir Ernest Cassel himself."

and when asked whether the Foreign Office intended to give exclusive support to Cassel's Bank in obtaining concessions at Constantinople, Grey replied:

"..that if need be, we should certainly represent to the Turks that an institution which had been brought into existence as a direct result of their own initiative and representations ought not to be excluded from concessions. But when occasion arose for me to support the Bank's claims I should do what I could to encourage co-operation with French finance."[1]: 370–372 

Founding

The

Royal Dutch Shell.[3]
: 1 

Mesopotamian Oil

In the early 1900s

Young Turk revolution, everybody had to start over. In 1908, D'Arcy incorporated as D'Arcy Exploration Co. and transferred all his oil claims in Mesopotamia and Persia to Anglo-Persian Oil Company
(APOC). More interested parties and more schemes appeared on the scene, though by 1912, nothing had really changed.

During 1912, Gulbenkian was setting the foundation for a new scheme, the

Turkish Petroleum Company
, owned as to 50% by NBT (inclusive 15% nonvoting beneficial to Gulbenkian), 25% RDS and 25% Deutsche Bank (in consideration of their oil claims).

On 19 March 1914, the British and German governments signed an agreement whereby the interest of NBT in TPC was transferred to APOC.[5]: 269 

Later Developments

In 1918-1919 the NBT was acquired by the

Anglo-International Bank
. What remained of the NBT was eventually wound up in 1931.

See also

Notes

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Marian Kent (1975). Agent of Empire? The National Bank of Turkey and British Foreign Policy. The Historical Journal, 18, pp 367-389 doi:10.1017/ S0018246X00023736
  2. ^ John Burman Politics and Profit:The National Bank of Turkey Revisited Oriens (Brill) Vol.37 (2009) pp = 225-236 jstor= 25759078
  3. ^ a b Jonathan Conlin (2016): Debt, diplomacy and dreadnoughts: the National Bank of Turkey, 1909–1919, Middle Eastern Studies, DOI: 10.1080/00263206.2015.1124418
  4. ISBN 9781349020812
  5. ^ Earle, Edward Meade (1924) The Turkish Petroleum Company:A Study in Oleaginous Diplomacy, Political Science Quarterly, vol 39, no.2,pp.265-279
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