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should recognize the rights of Arabs to self-determination, while claimingto be masters themselves in their own Anatolian homeland.As developments later proved, Atatürk's drastic attitude was not amere bluff but had a very definite bearing on the formation of the Nationalistmovement. This nationalistic spirit was irremovably at the bottom ofhis dealings vvith other states. Regarding his ovvn immediate plans, hevvas to state several times during the next fevv years that it vvas his armisticeexperiences at Adana that decided him on the course he follovvedthence to the creation of the Turkish Republic in 1923. Thus as early asthe first vveek of November 1918, Atatürk vvas able to predict events inthe years to come 30 .On 3 November, in a circular sent to the military and civil authoritiesof southern Anatolia commenting on the armistice clauses stipulating theevacuation of Syria, Atatürk considered as the northern boundary of Syriaa line vvhich began from Ras-Ibn-Han, on the Mediterranean, at 10 kilometersfrom the north of Latakia and covered iskenderun, Antakya, andtheir environs as vvell as a notable part of the Province of Aleppo. Theline betvveen the Turkish and Arabic-speaking populations vvould verycertainly class the region of iskenderun, Antakya and their dependenciesvvith Asia Minör, not vvith Syria 31 . In this conjunction it is signifıcant thatAtatürk's opinion on the determination of the Turkish-Syrian frontier lineis confumed by the British military intelligence sources vvhich indicatedthat a line dravvn from Birecik on the Euphrates vvestvvards to Sajur andthen southvvest to a point on the coast some 16 kilometers north of Latakiavvould roughly coincide vvith the Turkish-Arabic linguistic boundary 32 .On the other hand, the assertions of the Arab nationalists that thenorthern limits of the Arabic-speaking lands extended up to the Taurusrange vvere unrealistic by ali accounts and definitely did not correspondvvith the facts. That certainly vvas not the case.The line laid dovvn by the Franco-Turkish Ankara Agreement of 20October 1921 as the frontier betvveen Turkey and Syria began at a pointsouth of Payas, 15 kilometers north of iskenderun, passed eastvvardsthence to a point on the Baghdad railvvay some 45 kilometers north ofAleppo and thereafter follovved the course of that railvvay to Nusaybin insuch a vvay as to place the actual railvvay line in Turkish territory. Thestations and sidings of the section betvveen Çobanbey and Nusaybin belongedto Turkey as forming parts of the track of the railvvay. From Nusaybinthe nevv frontier turned north-east to the Tigris at Cizre. The Turk-30. Türk Harp Tarihi Vesikaları Dergisi (Turkish Revievv of Documents of War History),9 (1960), document no: 767.31. Ibid. 27 (1959), document no: 715. See also Yunus Nadi Abalıoğlu, Our Grand Chiefand the National Cause, Cumhuriyet, 5 June 1937.32. Handbook of Asia Minör, Naval Staff intelligence Department, Vol. IV, Part 2,London, 1919, p. 109.636