Treaties of Sevres and Lausanne

[MJ]

Treaty of Peace Between The Allied & Associated Powers and Turkey Signed at Sevres - August 10, 1920

Note: Includes Peace Treaty of Versailles 28 June, 1919.

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The Treaty of Sevres, 1920

 

 

(from: The Treaties of Peace 1919-1923, Vol. II, Carnegie Endowment

for International Peace, New York, 1924.)

 

 

Section I, Articles 1-260

 

 

THE TREATY OF PEACE BETWEEN THE ALLIED AND ASSOCIATED POWERS

AND TURKEY

SIGNED AT SEVRES

AUGUST 10, 1920

 

THE BRITISH EMPIRE, FRANCE, ITALY AND JAPAN,

 

These Powers being described in the present Treaty as the Principal

Allied Powers;

 

ARMENIA, BELGIUM, GREECE, THE HEDJAZ, POLAND, PORTUGAL, ROUMANIA, THE

SERB-CROAT-SLOVENE STATE AND CZECHO-SLOVAKIA,

 

These Powers constituting, with the Principal Powers mentioned above,

the Allied Powers, of the one part;

 

AND TURKEY,

 

of the other part;

 

Whereas on the request of the Imperial Ottoman Government an Armistice

was granted to Turkey on October 30, 1918, by the Principal Allied

Powers in order that a Treaty of Peace might be concluded, and

 

Whereas the Allied Powers are equally desirous that the war in which

certain among them were successively involved, directly or indirectly,

against Turkey, and which originated in the declaration of war against

Serbia on July 28, I914, by the former Imperial and Royal

Austro-Hungarian Government, and in the hostilities opened by Turkey

against the Allied Powers on October 29, 1914, and conducted by

Germany in alliance with Turkey, should be replaced by a firm, just

and durable Peace,

 

For this purpose the HIGH CONTRACTING PARTIES have appointed as their

Plenipotentiaries:

 

HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND

AND OF THE BRITISH DOMINIONS BEYOND TIIE SEAS, EMPEROR OF INDIA:

Sir George Dixon GRAHAME, K. C. V. O., Minister Plenipotentiary of His

Britannic Majesty at Paris;

 

for the DOMINION of CANADA:

The Honourable Sir George Halsey PERLEY, K.C. M. G

High Commissioner for Canada in the United Kingdom;

 

for the COMMONWEALTH of AUSTRALIA:

The Right Honourable Andrew FISHER, High Commissioner for Australia in

the United Kingdom;

 

for the DOMINION of NEW ZEALAND:

Sir George Dixon GRAHAME, K. C. V. O., Minister Plenipotentiary of His

Britannic Majesty at Paris;

 

for the UNION of SOUTH AFRICA:

Mr. Reginald Andrew BLANKENBERG, O. B. E., Acting High Commissioner

for the Union of South Africa in the United Kingdom;

 

for INDIA:

Sir Arthur HIRTZEL, K. C. B., Assistant Under Secretary of State for India;

 

THE PRESIDENT OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC:

Mr. Alexandre MILLERAND, President of the Council, Minister for Foreign Affairs

Mr. Frederic FRANCOIS-MARSAL, Minister of Finance

Mr. Auguste Paul-Louis ISAAC, Minister of Commerce and Industry;

Mr. Jules CAMBON, Ambassador of France

Mr. Georges Maurice PALEOLOGUE, Ambassador of France, Secretary-General

of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs;

 

Hls MAJESTY THE KING OF ITALY:

Count LELIO BONIN LONGARE, Senator of the Kingdom

 

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of H. M. the King of

Italy at Paris

General Giovanni MARIETTI, Italian Military Representative on the

Supreme War Council;

 

Hls MAJESTY THE EMPEROR OF JAPAN:

Viscount CHINDA, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of

H. M. the Emperor of Japan at London;

Mr. K. MATSUI, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of

H. M. the Emperor of Japan at Paris;

 

ARMENIA:

Mr. Avetis AHARONIAN, President of the Delegation of the Armenian Republic;

 

HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF THE BELGIANS:

Mr. Jules VAN DEN HEUVEL, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary,

Minister of State;

Mr. ROLIN JAEQUEMYNS, Member of the Institute of Private International

Law, Secretary-General of the Belgian Delegation;

 

HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF THE HELLENES:

Mr. Eleftherios K. VENIZELOS, President of the Council of Ministers;

Mr. Athos ROMANOS, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of

H. M. the King of the Hellenes at Paris;

 

HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF THE HEDJAZ:

 

THE PRESIDENT OF THE POLISH REPUBLIC:

Count Maurice ZAMOYSKI, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary

of the Polish Republic at Paris;

Mr. Erasme PILTZ;

 

THE PRESIDENT OF THE PORTUGUESE REPUBLIC:

Dr. Affonso da COSTA, formerly President of the Council of Ministers;

 

His MAJESTY THE KING OF ROUMANIA:

Mr. Nicolae TITULESCU, Minister of Finance;

 

Prince DIMITRIE GHIKA, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary

of H. M. the King of Roumania at Paris;

 

Hls MAJESTY THE KING OF THE SERBS, THE CROATS AND THE SLOVENES:

 

Mr. Nicolas P. PACHITCH, formerly President of the Council of Ministers;

Mr. Ante TRUMBIC, Minister for Foreign Affairs;

 

THE PRESIDENT OF THE CZECHO-SLOVAK REPUBLIC:

Mr. Edward BENES, Minister for Foreign Affairs;

Mr. Stephen OSUSKY, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary

of the Czecho-Slovak Republic at London;

 

TURKEY:

General HAADI *****, Senator;

RIZA TEVFIK Bey, Senator;

RECHAD HALISS Bey, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of

Turkey at Berne; WHO, having communicated their full powers, found in

good and due form, have AGREED AS FOLLOWS:

 

From the coming into force of the present Treaty the state of war will

terminate.

 

From that moment and subject to the provisions of the present Treaty,

officiai relations will exist between the Allied Powers and Turkey.

 

 

PART I.

THE COVENANT OF THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS.

ARTICLES 1 TO 26 AND ANNEX

See Part I, Treaty of Versailles, Pages 10-23.

 

 

[ Groong Note: We include this reference to the Versailles Treaty

in the Sevres Treaty here, in indented form, as it is an

integral and legally binding part of the treaty. ]

 

Peace Treaty of Versailles 28 June, 1919

 

Articles 1 - 26 and Annex The Covenant of the League of Nations

 

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

THE COVENANT OF THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS.

 

THE HIGH CONTRACTING PARTIES, In order to promote international co-

operation and to achieve international peace and security by the

acceptance of obligations not to resort to war by the prescription of

open, just and honourable relations between nations by the firm

establishment of the understandings of international law as the actual

rule of conduct among Governments, and by the maintenance of justice

and a scrupulous respect for all treaty obligations in the dealings of

organised peoples with one another Agree to this Covenant of the

League of Nations.

 

ARTICLE 1.

 

The original Members of the League of Nations shall be those of the

Signatories which are named in the Annex to this Covenant and also

such of those other States named in the Annex as shall accede without

reservation to this Covenant. Such accession shall be effected by a

Declaration deposited with the Secretariat within two months of the

coming into force of the Covenant Notice thereof shall be sent to all

other Members of the League. Any fully self- governing State,

Dominion, or Colony not named in the Annex may become a Member of the

League if its admission is agreed to by two- thirds of the Assembly

provided that it shall give effective guarantees of its sincere

intention to observe its international obligations, and shall accept

such regulations as may be prescribed by the League in regard to its

military, naval, and air forces and armaments. Any Member of the

League may, after two years' notice of its intention so to do,

withdraw from the League, provided that all its international

obligations and all its obligations under this Covenant shall have

been fulfilled at the time of its withdrawal.

 

ARTICLE 2.

 

The action of the League under this Covenant shall be effected through

the instrumentality of an Assembly and of a Council, with a permanent

Secretariat.

 

ARTICLE 3.

 

The Assembly shall consist of Representatives of the Members of the

League. The Assembly shall meet at stated intervals and from time to

time as occasion may require at the Seat of the League or at such

other place as may be decided upon. The Assembly may deal at its

meetings with any matter within the sphere of action of the League or

affecting the peace of the world. At meetings of the Assembly each

Member of the League shall have one vote, and may not have more than

three Representatives.

 

ARTICLE 4.

 

The Council shall consist of Representatives of the Principal Allied

and Associated Powers, together with Representatives of four other

Members of the League. These four Members of the League shall be

selected by the Assembly from time to time in its discretion. Until

the appointment of the Representatives of the four Members of the

League first selected by the Assembly, Representatives of Belgium,

Brazil, Spain, and Greece shall be members of the Council. With the

approval of the majority of the Assembly, the Council may name

additional Members of the League whose Representatives shall always be

members of the Council; the Council with like approval may increase

the number of Members of the League to be selected by the Assembly for

representation on the Council. The Council shall meet from time to

time as occasion may require, and at least once a year, at the Seat of

the League, or at such other place as may be decided upon. The Council

may deal at its meetings with any matter within the sphere of action

of the League or affecting the peace of the world. Any Member of the

League not represented on the Council shall be invited to send a

Representative to sit as a member at any meeting of the Council during

the consideration of matters specially affecting the interests of that

Member of the League. At meetings of the Council, each Member of the

League represented on the Council shall have one vote, and may have

not more than one Representative.

 

ARTICLE 5.

 

Except where otherwise expressly provided in this Covenant or by the

terms of the present Treaty, decisions at any meeting of the Assembly

or of the Council shall require the agreement of all the Members of

the League represented at the meeting. All matters of procedure at

meetings of the Assembly or of the Council, including the appointment

of Committees to investigate particular matters, shall be regulated by

the Assembly or by the Council and may be decided by a majority of the

Members of the League represented at the meeting. The first meeting of

the Assembly and the first meeting of the Council shall be summoned by

the President of the United States of America.

 

ARTICLE 6.

 

The permanent Secretariat shall be established at the Seat of the

League. The Secretariat shall comprise a Secretary General and such

secretaries and staff as may be required. The first Secretary General

shall be the person named in the Annex; thereafter the Secretary

General shall be appointed by the Council with the approval of the

majority of the Assembly. The secretaries and staff of the Secretariat

shall be appointed by the Secretary General with the approval of the

Council. The Secretary General shall act in that capacity at all

meetings of the Assembly and of the Council. The expenses of the

Secretariat shall be borne by the Members of the League in accordance

with the apportionment of the expenses of the International Bureau of

the Universal Postal Union.

 

ARTICLE 7.

 

The Seat of the League is established at Geneva. The Council may at

any time decide that the Seat of the League shall be established

elsewhere. All positions under or in connection with the League,

including he Secretariat, shall be open equally to men and

women. Representatives of the Members of the League and officials of

he League when engaged on the business of the League shall enjoy

diplomatic privileges and immunities. The buildings and other property

occupied by the League or its officials or by Representatives

attending its meetings shall be inviolable.

 

ARTICLE 8.

 

The Members of the League recognise that the maintenance of peace

requires the reduction of national armaments to the lowest point

consistent with national safety and the enforcement by common action

of international obligations. The Council, taking account of the

geographical situation and circumstances of each State, shall

formulate plans for such reduction for the consideration and action of

the several Governments. Such plans shall be subject to

reconsideration and revision at least every ten years. After these

plans shall have been adopted by the several Governments, the limits

of armaments therein fixed shall not be exceeded without the

concurrence of the Council. The Members of the League agree that the

manufacture by private enterprise of munitions and implements of war

is open to grave objections. The Council shall advise how the evil

effects attendant upon such manufacture can be prevented, due regard

being had to the necessities of those Members of the League which are

not able to manufacture the munitions and implements of war necessary

for their safety. The Members of the League undertake to interchange

full and frank information as to the scale of their armaments, their

military, naval, and air programmes and the condition of such of their

industries as are adaptable to war-like purposes.

 

ARTICLE 9.

 

A permanent Commission shall be constituted to advise the Council on

the execution of the provisions of Articles 1 and 8 and on military,

naval, and air questions generally.

 

ARTICLE 10.

 

The Members of the League undertake to respect and preserve as against

external aggression the territorial integrity and existing political

independence of all Members of the League. In case of any such

aggression or in case of any threat or danger of such aggression the

Council shall advise upon the means by which this obligation shall be

fulfilled.

 

ARTICLE 11.

 

Any war or threat of war, whether immediately affecting any of the

Members of the League or not, is hereby declared a matter of concern

to the whole League, and the League shall take any action that may be

deemed wise and effectual to safeguard the peace of nations. In case

any such emergency should arise the Secretary General shall on the

request of any Member of the League forthwith summon a meeting of the

Council. It is also declared to be the friendly right of each Member

of the League to bring to the attention of the Assembly or of the

Council any circumstance whatever affecting international relations

which threatens to disturb international peace or the good

understanding between nations upon which peace depends.

 

ARTICLE 12.

 

The Members of the League agree that if there should arise between

them any dispute likely to lead to a rupture, they will submit the

matter either to arbitration or to inquiry by the Council, and they

agree in no case to resort to war until three months after the award

by the arbitrators or the report by the Council. In any case under

this Article the award of the arbitrators shall be made within a

reasonable time, and the report of the Council shall be made within

six months after the submission of the dispute.

 

ARTICLE 13.

 

The Members of the League agree that whenever any dispute shall arise

between them which they recognise to be suitable for submission to

arbitration and which cannot be satisfactorily settled by diplomacy,

they will submit the whole subject-matter to arbitration. Disputes as

to the interpretation of a treaty, as to any question of international

law, as to the existence of any fact which if established would

constitute a breach of any international obligation, or as to the

extent and nature of the reparation to be made or any such breach, are

declared to be among those which are generally suitable for submission

to arbitration. For the consideration of any such dispute the court of

arbitration to which the case is referred shall be the Court agreed on

by the parties to the dispute or stipulated in any convention existing

between them. The Members of the League agree that they will carry out

in full good faith any award that may be rendered, and that they will

not resort to war against a Member of the League which complies

therewith. In the event of any failure to carry out such an award, the

Council shall propose what steps should be taken to give effect

thereto.

 

ARTICLE 14.

 

The Council shall formulate and submit to the Members of the League

for adoption plans for the establishment of a Permanent Court of

International Justice. The Court shall be competent to hear and

determine any dispute of an international character which the parties

thereto submit to it. The Court may also give an advisory opinion upon

any dispute or question referred to it by the Council or by the

Assembly.

 

ARTICLE 15.

 

If there should arise between Members of the League any dispute likely

to lead to a rupture, which is not submitted to arbitration in

accordance with Article 13, the Members of the League agree that they

will submit the matter to the Council. Any party to the dispute may

effect such submission by giving notice of the existence of the

dispute to the Secretary General, who will make all necessary

arrangements for a full investigation and consideration thereof. For

this purpose the parties to the dispute will communicate to the

Secretary General, as promptly as possible, statements of their case

with all the relevant facts and papers, and the Council may forthwith

direct the publication thereof. The Council shall endeavour to effect

a settlement of the dispute, and if such efforts are successful, a

statement shall be made public giving such facts and explanations

regarding the dispute and the terms of settlement thereof as the

Council may deem appropriate. If the dispute is not thus settled, the

Council either unanimously or by a majority vote shall make and

publish a report containing a statement of the facts of the dispute

and the recommendations which are deemed just and proper in regard

thereto Any Member of the League represented on the Council may make

public a statement of the facts of the dispute and of its conclusions

regarding the same. If a report by the Council is unanimously agreed

to by the members thereof other than the Representatives of one or

more of the parties to the dispute, the Members of the League agree

that they will not go to war with any party to the dispute which

complies with the recommendations of the report. If the Council fails

to reach a report which is unanimously agreed to by the members

thereof, other than the Representatives of one or more of the parties

to the dispute, the Members of the League reserve to themselves the

right to take such action as they shall consider necessary for the

maintenance of right and justice. If the dispute between the parties

is claimed by one of them, and is found by the Council, to arise out

of a matter which by international law is solely within the domestic

jurisdiction of that party, the Council shall so report, and shall

make no recommendation as to its settlement. The Council may in any

case under this Article refer the dispute to the Assembly. The dispute

shall be so referred at the request of either party to the dispute,

provided that such request be made within fourteen days after the

submission of the dispute to the Council. In any case referred to the

Assembly, all the provisions of this Article and of Article 12

relating to the action and powers of the Council shall apply to the

action and powers of the Assembly, provided that a report made by the

Assembly, if concurred in by the Representatives of those Members of

the League represented on the Council and of a majority of the other

Members of the League, exclusive in each case of the Representatives

of the parties to the dispute shall have the same force as a report by

the Council concurred in by all the members thereof other than the

Representatives of one or more of the parties to the dispute.

 

ARTICLE 16.

 

Should any Member of the League resort to war in disregard of its

covenants under Articles 12, 13, or 15, it shall ipso facto be deemed

to have committed an act of war against all other Members of the

League, which hereby undertake immediately to subject it to the

severance of all trade or financial relations, the prohibition of all

intercourse between their nations and the nationals of the

covenant-breaking State, and the prevention of all financial,

commercial, or personal intercourse between the nationals of the

covenant-breaking State and the nationals of any other State, whether

a Member of the League or not. It shall be the duty of the Council in

such case to recommend to the several Governments concerned what

effective military, naval, or air force the Members of the League

shall severally contribute to the armed forces to be used to protect

the covenants of the League. The Members of the League agree, further,

that they will mutually support one another in the financial and

economic measures which are taken under this Article, in order to

minimise the loss and inconvenience resulting from the above measures,

and that they will mutually support one another in resisting any

special measures aimed at one of their number by the covenant breaking

State, and that they will take the necessary steps to afford passage

through their territory to the forces of any of the Members of the

League which are co-operating to protect the covenants of the

League. Any Member of the League which has violated any covenant of

the League may be declared to be no longer a Member of the League by a

vote of the Council concurred in by the Representatives of all the

other Members of the League represented thereon.

 

ARTICLE 17.

 

In the event of a dispute between a Member of the League and a State

which is not a Member of the League, or between States not Members of

the League, the State or States, not Members of the League shall be

invited to accept the obligations of membership in the League for the

purposes of such dispute, upon such conditions as the Council may deem

just. If such invitation is accepted, the provisions of Articles 12 to

16 inclusive shall be applied with such modifications as may be deemed

necessary by the Council. Upon such invitation being given the Council

shall immediately institute an inquiry into the circumstances of the

dispute and recommend such action as may seem best and most effectual

in the circumstances. If a State so invited shall refuse to accept the

obligations of membership in the League for the purposes of such

dispute, and shall resort to war against a Member of the League, the

provisions of Article 16 shall be applicable as against the State

taking such action. If both parties to the dispute when so invited

refuse to accept the obligations of membership in the League for the

purpose of such dispute, the Council may take such measures and make

such recommendations as will prevent hostilities and will result in

the settlement of the dispute.

 

ARTICLE 18.

 

Every treaty or international engagement entered into hereafter by any

Member of the League shall be forthwith registered with the

Secretariat and shall as soon as possible be published by it. No such

treaty or international engagement shall be binding until so

registered.

 

ARTICLE 19.

 

The Assembly may from time to time advise the reconsideration by

Members of the League of treaties which have become inapplicable and

the consideration of international conditions whose continuance might

endanger the peace of the world.

 

 

ARTICLE 20.

 

The Members of the League severally agree that this Covenant is

accepted as abrogating all obligations or understandings inter se

which are inconsistent with the terms thereof, and solemnly undertake

that they will not hereafter enter into any engagements inconsistent

with the terms thereof. In case any Member of the League shall, before

becoming a Member of the League, have undertaken any obligations

inconsistent with the terms of this Covenant, it shall be the duty of

such Member to take immediate steps to procure its release from such

obligations.

 

ARTICLE 21.

 

Nothing in this Covenant shall be deemed to affect the validity of

international engagements, such as treaties of arbitration or regional

understandings like the Monroe doctrine, for securing the maintenance

of peace.

 

ARTICLE 22.

 

To those colonies and territories which as a consequence of the late

war have ceased to be under the sovereignty of the States which

formerly governed them and which are inhabited by peoples not yet able

to stand by themselves under the strenuous conditions of the modern

world, there should be applied the principle that the well-being and

development of such peoples form a sacred trust of civilisation and

that securities for the performance of this trust should be embodied

in this Covenant. The best method of giving practical effect to this

principle is that the tutelage of such peoples should be entrusted to

advanced nations who by reason of their resources, their experience or

their geographical position can best undertake this responsibility,

and who are willing to accept it, and that this tutelage should be

exercised by them as Mandatories on behalf of the League. The

character of the mandate must differ according to the stage of the

development of the people, the geographical situation of the

territory, its economic conditions, and other similar circumstances.

Certain communities formerly belonging to the Turkish Empire have

reached a stage of development where their existence as independent

nations can be provisionally recognised subject to the rendering of

administrative advice and assistance by a Mandatory until such time as

they are able to stand alone. The wishes of these communities must be

a principal consideration in the selection of the Mandatory. Other

peoples, especially those of Central Africa, are at such a stage that

the Mandatory must be responsible for the administration of the

territory under conditions which will guarantee freedom of conscience

and religion, subject only to the maintenance of public order and

morals, the prohibition of abuses such as the slave trade, the arms

traffic, and the liquor traffic, and the prevention of the

establishment of fortifications or military and naval bases and of

military training of the natives for other than police purposes and

the defence of territory, and will also secure equal opportunities for

the trade and commerce of other Members of the League. There are

territories, such as South-West Africa and certain of the South

Pacific Islands, which, owing to the sparseness of their population,

or their small size, or their remoteness from the centres of

civilisation, or their geographical contiguity to the territory of the

Mandatory, and other circumstances, can be best administered under the

laws of the Mandatory as integral portions of its territory, subject

to the safeguards above mentioned in the interests of the indigenous

population. In every case of mandate, the Mandatory shall render to

the Council an annual report in reference to the territory committed

to its charge. The degree of authority, control, or administration to

be exercised by the Mandatory shall, if not previously agreed upon by

the Members of the League, be explicitly defined in each case by the

Council. A permanent Commission shall be constituted to receive and

examine the annual reports of the Mandatories and to advise the

Council on all matters relating to the observance of the mandates.

 

ARTICLE 23.

 

Subject to and in accordance with the provisions of international

conventions existing or hereafter to be agreed upon, the Members of

the League: (a) will endeavour to secure and maintain fair and humane

conditions of labour for men, women, and children, both in their own

countries and in all countries to which their commercial and

industrial relations extend, and for that purpose will establish and

maintain the necessary international organisations; ( undertake to

secure just treatment of the native inhabitants of territories under

their control; =A9 will entrust the League with the general

supervision over the execution of agreements with regard to the

traffic in women and children, and the traffic in opium and other

dangerous drugs; (d) will entrust the League with the general

supervision of the trade in arms and ammunition with the countries in

which the control of this traffic is necessary in the common interest;

(e) will make provision to secure and maintain freedom of

communications and of transit and equitable treatment for the commerce

of all Members of the League. In this connection, the special

necessities of the regions devastated during the war of 1914-1918

shall be borne in mind; (f) will endeavour to take steps in matters of

international concern for the prevention and control of disease.

 

ARTICLE 24.

 

There shall be placed under the direction of the League all

international bureaux already established by general treaties if the

parties to such treaties consent. All such international bureaux and

all commissions for the regulation of matters of international

interest hereafter constituted shall be placed under the direction of

the League. In all matters of international interest which are

regulated by general conventions but which are not placed under the

control of international bureaux or commissions, the Secretariat of

the League shall, subject to the consent of the Council and if desired

by the parties, collect and distribute all relevant information and

shall render any other assistance which may be necessary or

desirable. The Council may include as part of the expenses of the

Secretariat the expenses of any bureau or commission which is placed

under the direction of the League.

 

ARTICLE 25.

 

The Members of the League agree to encourage and promote the

establishment and co-operation of duly authorised voluntary national

Red Cross organisations having as purposes the improvement of health,

the prevention of disease, and the mitigation of suffering throughout

the world.

 

ARTICLE 26.

 

Amendments to this Covenant will take effect when ratified by the

Members of the League whose representatives compose the Council and by

a majority of the Members of the League whose Representatives compose

the Assembly. No such amendment shall bind any Member of the League

which signifies its dissent therefrom, but in that case it shall cease

to be a Member of the League.

 

ANNEX.

 

I. ORIGINAL MEMBERS OF THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS SIGNATORIES OF THE TREATY

OF PEACE.

 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, BELGIUM, BOLIVIA, BRAZIL, BRITISH EMPIRE,

CANADA, AUSTRALIA, SOUTH AFRICA, NEW ZEALAND, INDIA, CHINA, CUBA,

ECUADOR, FRANCE, GREECE, GUATEMALA, HAITI, HEDJAZ, HONDURAS, ITALY,

JAPAN, LIBERIA, NICARAGUA, PANAMA, PERU, POLAND, PORTUGAL, ROUMANIA,

SERB-CROAT-SLOVENE STATE, SIAM, CZECHO-SLOVAKIA, URUGUAY

 

STATES INVITED TO ACCEDE TO THE COVENANT.

 

ARGENTINE REPUBLIC, CHILE, COLOMBIA, DENMARK, NETHERLANDS, NORWAY,

PARAGUAY, PERSIA, SALVADOR, SPAIN, SWEDEN, SWITZERLAND, VENEZUELA.

 

II. FIRST SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS.

 

The Honourable Sir James Eric Drummond, K.C.M.G., C.B.

 

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PART II.

FRONTIERS OF TURKEY.

ARTICLE 27.

 

I. In Europe, the frontiers of Turkey will be laid down as follows:

1. The Black Sea: from the entrance of the Bosphorus to the point

described below.

 

2. With Greece:

From a point to be chosen on the Black Sea near the mouth of the Biyuk

Dere, situated about 7 kilometres north-west of Podima,

south-westwards to the most north-westerly point of the limit of the

basin of the Istranja Dere (about 8 kilometres northwest of Istranja),

a line to be fixed on the ground passing through Kapilja Dagh and

Uchbunar Tepe;

thence south-south-eastwards to a point to be chosen on the railway

from Chorlu to Chatalja about 1 kilometre west of the railway station

of Sinekli, a line following as far as possible the western limit of

the basin of the Istranja Dere;

thence south-eastwards to a point to be chosen between Fener and

Kurfali on the watershed between the basins of those rivers which flow

into Biyuk Chekmeje Geul, on the north-east, and the basin of those

rivers which flow direct into the Sea of Marmora on the south-west, a

line to be fixed on the ground passing south of Sinekli;

thence south-eastwards to a point to be chosen on the Sea of Marmora

about 1 kilometre south-west of Kalikratia, a line following as far as

possible this watershed.

 

3. The Sea of Marmora:

from the point defined above to the entrance of the Bosphorus.

 

II. In Asia, the frontiers of Turkey will be laid down as follows:

1. On the West and South:

From the entrance of the Bosphorus into the Sea of Marmora to a point

described below, situated in the eastern Mediterranean Sea in the

neighbourhood of the Gulf of Alexandretta near Karatash Burun the Sea

of Marmora, the Dardanelles, and the Eastern Mediterranean Sea; the

islands of the Sea of Marmora, and those which are situated within a

distance of 3 miles from the coast, remaining Turkish, subject to the

provisions of Section IV and Articles 84 and 122, Part III (Political

Clauses).

 

2. With Syria:

From a point to be chosen on the eastern bank of the outlet of the

Hassan Dede, about 3 kilometres north-west of Karatash Bu- run,

north-eastwards to a point to be chosen on the Djaihun Irmak about 1

kilometre north of Babeli, a line to be fixed on the ground passing

north of Karatash; thence to Kesik Kale, the course of the Djaihun

Irmak upstream;

thence north-eastwards to a point to be chosen on the Djaihun Irmak

about 15 kilometres east-southeast of Karsbazar, a line to be fixed on

the ground passing north of Kara Tepe;

thence to the bend in the Djaihun Irmak situated west of Duldul Dagh,

the course of the Djaihun Irmak upstream;

thence in a general south-easterly direction to a point to be chosen

on Emir Musi Dagh about 15 kilometres south-south-west of Giaour Geul

a line to be fixed on the ground at a distance of about 18 kilometres

from the railway, and leaving Duldul Dagh to Syria;

thence eastwards to a point to be chosen about 5 kilometres north of

Urfa a generally straight line from west to east to be hxed on the

ground passing north of the roads connecting the towns of Bagh- che,

Aintab, Biridjik, and Urfa and leaving the last three named towns to

Syria;

thence eastwards to the south-western extremity of the bend in the

Tigris about 6 kilometres north of Azekh (27 kilometres west of

Djezire-ibn-Omar), a generally straight line from west to east to be

fixed on the ground leaving the town of Mardin to Syria;

thence to a point to be chosen on the Tigris between the point of

confluence of the Khabur Su with the Tigris and the bend in the Tigris

situated about 10 kilometres north of this point,

the course of the Tigris downstream, leaving the island on which is

situated the town of Djezire-ibn-Omar to Syria.

 

3. With Mesopotamia:

Thence in a general easterly direction to a point to be chosen on the

northern boundary of the vilayet of Mosul,

a line to be fixed on the ground;

thence eastwards to the point where it meets the frontier between

Turkey and Persia,

the northern boundary of the vilayet of Mosul, modified, however, so

as to pass south of Amadia.

 

4. On the East and the North East:

From the point above defined to the Black Sea, the existing frontier

between Turkey and Persia, then the former frontier between Turkey and

Russia, subject to the provisions of Article 89.

 

5. The Black Sea.

ARTICLE 28.

 

The frontiers described by the present Treaty are traced on the one in

a million maps attached to the present Treaty. In case of differences

between the text and the map, the text will prevail. [see

Introduction.]

 

ARTICLE 29.

 

Boundary Commissions, whose composition is or will be fixed in the

present Treaty or in Treaties supplementary thereto, will have to

trace these frontiers on the ground.

 

They shall have the power, not only of fixing those portions which are

defined as "a line to be fixed on the ground," but also, if the

Commission considers it necessary, of revising in matters of detail

portions defined by administrative boundaries or otherwise. They shall

endeavour in all cases to follow as nearly as possible the

descriptions given in the Treaties, taking into account, as far as

possible, administrative boundaries and local economic interests.

 

The decisions of the Commissions will be taken by a majority, and

shall be binding on the parties concerned.

 

The expenses of the Boundary Commissions will be borne in equal shares

by the parties concerned.

 

ARTICLE 30.

 

In so far as frontiers defined by a waterway are concerned, the

phrases "course" or "channel" used in the descriptions of the present

Treaty signify, as regards non-navigable rivers, the median line of

the waterway or of its principal branch, and, as regards navigable

rivers, the median line of the principal channel of navigation. It

will rest with the Boundary Commissions provided for by the present

Treaty to specify whether the frontier line shall follow any changes

of the course or channel which may take place, or whether it shall be

definitely fixed by the position of the course or channel at the time

when the present Treaty comes into force.

 

In the absence of provisions to the contrary in the present Treaty,

islands and islets Iying within three miles of the coast are included

within the frontier of the coastal State.

 

ARTICLE 31.

 

The various States concerned undertake to furnish to the Commissions

all documents necessary for their tasks, especially authentic copies

of agreements fixing existing or old frontiers, all large scale maps

in existence, geodetic data, surveys completed but unpublished, and

information concerning the changes of frontier watercourses. The maps,

geodetic data, and surveys, even if unpublished, which are in the

possession of the Turkish authorities must be delivered at

Constantinople, within thirty days from the coming into force of the

present Treaty, to such representative of the Commissions concerned as

may be appointed by the principal Allied Powers.

 

The States concerned also undertake to instruct the local authorities

to communicate to the Commissions all documents, especially plans,

cadastral and land books, and to furnish on demand all details

regarding property, existing economic conditions, and other necessary

information.

 

ARTICLE 32.

 

The various States interested undertake to give every assistance to

the Boundary Commissions, whether directly or through local

authorities, in everything that concerns transport, accommodation,

labour, materials (sign-posts, boundary pillars) necessary for the

accomplishment of their mission.

 

In particular the Turkish Government undertakes to furnish to the

Principal Allied Powers such technical personnel as they may consider

necessary to assist the Boundary Commissions in the accomplishment of

their mission.

 

ARTICLE 33.

 

The various States interested undertake to safeguard the

trigonometrical points, signals, posts or frontier marks erected by

the Commissions.

 

ARTICLE 34

 

The pillars will be placed so as to be intervisible; they will be

numbered, and their position and their number will be noted on a

cartographic document.

 

ARTICLE 35.

 

The protocols defining the boundary and the maps and documents

attached thereto will be made out in triplicate, of which two copies

will be forwarded to the Governments of the limitrophe States, and the

third to the Government of the French Republic, which will deliver

authentic copies to the Powers who sign the present Treaty.

 

PART III.

 

POLITICAL CLAUSES.

SECTION I.

CONSTANTINOPLE.

ARTICLE 36.

 

Subject to the provisions of the present Treaty, the High Contracting

Parties agree that the rights and title of the Turkish Government over

Constantinople shall not be affected, and that the said Government and

His Majesty the Sultan shall be entitled to reside there and to

maintain there the capital of the Turkish State.

 

Nevertheless, in the event of Turkey failing to observe faithfully the

provisions of the present Treaty, or of any treaties or conventions

supplementary thereto, particularly as regards the protection of the

rights of racial, religious or linguistic minorities, the Allied

Powers expressly reserve the right to modify the above provisions, and

Turkey hereby agrees to accept any dispositions which may be taken in

this connection.

 

SECTION I I .

 

STRAITS.

 

ARTICLE 37.

 

The navigation of the Straits, including the Dardanelles, the Sea of

Marmora and the Bosphorus, shall in future be open, both in peace and

war, to every vessel of commerce or of war and to military and

commercial aircraft, without distinction of flag.

 

These waters shall not be subject to blockade, nor shall any

belligerent right be exercised nor any act of hostility be committed

within them, unless in pursuance of a decision of the Council of the

League of Nations.

 

ARTICLE 33.

 

The Turkish Government recognises that it is necessary to take further

measures to ensure the freedom of navigation provided for in Article

37, and accordingly delegates, so far as it is concerned, to a

Commission to be called the "Commission of the Straits," and

hereinafter referred to as 'the Commission," the control of the waters

specified in Article 39.

 

The Greek Government, so far as it is concerned, delegates to the

Commission the same powers and undertakes to give it in all respects

the same facilities.

 

Such control shall be exercised in the name of the Turkish and Greek

Governments respectively, and in the manner provided in this Section.

 

ARTICLE 39.

 

The authority of the Commission will extend to all the waters between

the Mediterranean mouth of the Dardanelles and the Black Sea mouth of

the Bosphorus, and to the waters within three miles of each of these

mouths.

 

This authority may be exercised on shore to such extent as may be

necessary for the execution of the provisions of this Section.

 

ARTICLE 40.

 

The Commission shall be composed of representatives appointed

respectively by the United States of America (if and when that

Government is willing to participate), the British Empire, France,

Italy, Japan, Russia (if and when Russia becomes a member of the

League of Nations), Greece, Roumania, and Bulgaria and Turkey (if and

when the two latter States become members of the League of

Nations). Each Power shall appoint one representative. The

representatives of the United States of America, the British Empire,

France, Italy, Japan and Russia shall each have two votes. The

representatives of Greece, Roumania, and Bulgaria and Turkey shall

each have one vote. Each Commissioner shall be removable only by the

Government which appointed him.

 

ARTICLE 41.

 

The Commissioners shall enjoy, within the limits specified in Article

39, diplomatic privileges and immunities.

 

ARTICLE 42.

 

The Commission will exercise the powers conferred on it by the present

Treaty in complete independence of the local author ity. It will have

its own flag, its own budget and its separate organisation.

 

ARTICLE 43.

 

Within the limits of its jurisdiction as laid down in Article 39 the

Commission will be charged with the following duties:

 

(a) the execution of any works considered necessary for the improvement

of the channels or the approaches to harbours;

( the lighting and buoying of the channels;

© the control of pilotage and towage;

(d) the control of anchorages;

(e) the control necessary to assure the application in the ports of

Constantinople and Haidar ***** of the regime prescribed in Articles

335 to 344, Part XI (Ports, Waterways and Railways) of the present

Treaty;

(f) the control of all matters relating to wrecks and salvage;

(g) the control of lighterage;

 

ARTICLE 44.

 

In the event of the Commission finding that the liberty of passage is

being interfered with, it will inform the representatives at

Constantinople of the Allied Powers providing the occupying forces

provided for in Article 178. These representatives will thereupon

concert with the naval and military commanders of the said forces such

measures as may be deemed necessary to preserve the freedom of the

Straits. Similar action shall be taken by the said representatives in

the event of any external action threatening the liberty of passage of

the Straits.

 

ARTICLE 45.

 

For the purpose of the acquisition of any property or the execution of

any permanent works which may be required, the Commission shall be

entitled to raise such loans as it may consider necessary. These loans

will be secured, so far as possible, on the dues to be levied on the

shipping using the Straits, as provided in Article 53.

 

ARTICLE 46.

 

The functions previously exercised by the Constantinople Superior

Council of Health and the Turkish Sanitary Administration which was

directed by the said Council, and the functions exercised by the

National Life-boat Service of the Bosphorus will within the limits

specified in Article 39 be discharged under the control of the

Commission and in such manner as it may direct.

 

The Commission will co-operate in the execution of any common policy

adopted by the League of Nations for preventing and combating disease.

 

ARTICLE 47.

 

Subject to the general powers of control conferred upon the

Commission, the rights of any persons or companies now holding

concessions relating to lighthouses, docks, quays or similar matters

shall be maintained; but the Commission shall be entitled if it thinks

it necessary in the general interest to buy out or modify such rights

upon the conditions laid down in Article 311 Part IX (Economic

Clauses) of the present Treaty, or itself to take up a new concession.

 

ARTICLE 48.

 

In order to facilitate the execution of the duties with which it is

entrusted by this Section, the Commission shall have power to organise

such a force of special police as may be necessary. This force shall

be drawn so far as possible from the native population of the zone of

the Straits and islands referred to in Article 178, Part V (Military,

Naval and Air Clauses), excluding the islands of Lemnos, Imbros,

Samothrace, Tenedos and Mitylene. The said force shall be commanded by

foreign police officers appointed by the Commission.

 

ARTICLE 49.

 

In the portion of the zone of the Straits, including the islands of

the Sea of Marmora, which remains Turkish, and pending the coming into

force of the reform of the Turkish judicial system provided for in

Article I36, all infringements of the regulations and by-laws made by

the Commission, committed by nationals of capitulatory Powers, shall

be dealt with by the Consular Courts of the said Powers. The Allied

Powers agree to make such infringements justiciable before their

Consular Courts or authorities. Infringements committed by Turkish

nationals or nationals of non-capitulatory Powers shall be dealt with

by the competent Turkish judicial authorities.

 

In the portion of the said zone placed under Greek sovereignty such

infringements will be dealt with by the competent Greek judicial

authorities.

 

ARTICLE 50.

 

The officers or members of the crew of any merchant vessel vwithin the

limits of the jurisdiction of the Commission who may be arrested on

shore for any offence committed either ashore or afloat within the

limits of the said jurisdiction shall be brought before the competent

judicial authority by the Commission's police. If the accused was

arrested otherwise than by the Commission's police he shall

immediately be handed over to them.

 

ARTICLE 51 .

 

The Commission shall appoint such subordinate officers or officials as

may be found indispensable to assist it in carrying out the duties

with which it is charged.

 

ARTICLE 52.

 

In all matters relating to the navigation of the waters within the

limits of the jurisdiction of the Commission all the ships referred to

in Article 37 shall be treated upon a footing of absolute equality.

 

ARTICLE 53.

 

Subject to the provisions of Article 47 the existing rights under

which dues and charges can be levied for various purposes, whether

direct by the Turkish Government or by international bodies or private

companies, on ships or cargoes within the limits of the jurisdiction

of the Commission shall be transferred to the Commisssion The

Commission shall fix these dues and charges at such amounts only as

may be reasonably necessary to cover the cost of the works executed

and the services rendered to shipping, including the general costs and

expenses of the administration of the Commission, and the salaries and

pay provided for in paragraph 3 of the Annex to this Section.

 

For these purposes only and with the prior consent of the Council of

the League of Nations the Commission may also establish dues and

charges other than those now existing and fix their amounts.

 

ARTICLE 54.

 

All dues and charges imposed by the Commission shall be levied without

any discrimination and on a footing of absolute equality between all

vessels, whatever their port of origin, destination or departure,

their flag or ownership, or the nationality or ownership of their

cargoes.

 

This disposition does not affect the right of the Commission to fix in

accordance with tonnage the dues provided for by this Section.

 

ARTICLE 55.

 

The Turkish and Greek Governments respectively undertake to facilitate

the acquisition by the Commission of such land and buildings as the

Commission shall consider it necessary to acquire in order to carry

out effectively the duties with which it is entrusted.

 

ARTICLE 56.

 

Ships of war in transit through the waters specified in Article 39

shall conform in all respects to the regulations issued by the

Commission for the observance of the ordinary rules of navigation and

of sanitary requirements.

 

ARTICLE 57.

 

(1) Belligerent warships shall not revictual nor take in stores except

so far as may be strictly necessary to enable them to complete the

passage of the Straits and to reach the nearest port where they can

call, nor shall they replenish or increase their supplies of war

material or their armament or complete their crews, within the waters

under the control of the Commission. Only such repairs as are

absolutely necessary to render them seaworthy shall be carried out,

and they shall not add in any manner whatever to their fighting

force. The Commission shall decide what repairs are necessary, and

these must be carried out with the least possible delay.

 

(2) The passage of belligerent warships through the waters under the

control of the Commission shall be effected with the least possible

delay, and without any other interruption than that resulting from the

necessities of the service.

 

(3) The stay of such warships at ports within the jurisdiction of the

Commission shall not exceed twenty-four hours except in case of

distress. In such case they shall be bound to leave as soon as

possible. An interval of at least twenty-four hours shall always

elapse between the sailing of a belligerent ship from the waters under

the control of the Commission and the departure of a ship belonging to

an opposing belligerent.

 

(4) Any further regulations affecting in time of war the waters under

the control of the Commission, and relating in particular to the

passage of war material and contraband destined for the enemies of

Turkey, or revictualling, taking in stores or carrying out repairs in

the said waters, will be laid down by the League of Nations.

 

ARTICLE 58.

 

Prizes shall in all respects be subjected to the same conditions as

belligerent vessels of war.

 

ARTICLE 59.

 

No belligerent shall embark or disembark troops, munitions of war or

warlike materials in the waters under the control of the Commission,

except in case of accidental hindrance of the passage, and in such

cases the passage shall be resumed with all possible despatch.

 

ARTICLE 60.

 

Nothing in Articles 57, 58 or 59 shall be deemed to limit the powers

of a belligerent or belligerents acting in pursuance of a decision by

the Council of the League of Nations.

 

ARTICLE 61.

 

Any differences which may arise between the Powers as to the

interpretation or execution of the provisions of this Section, and as

regards Constantinople and Haidar ***** of the provisions of Articles

335 to 344, Part Xl (Ports, Waterways, and Railways) shall be referred

to the Commission. In the event of the decision of the Commission not

being accepted by any Power, the question shall, on the demand of any

Power concerned, be settled as provided by the League of Nations,

pending whose decision the ruling of the Commission will be carried

out.

 

ANNEX

 

1.

The Chairmanship of the Commission of the Straits shall be rotatory

for the period of two years among the members of the Commission

entitled to two votes.

 

The Commission shall take decisions by a majority vote and the

Chairman shall have a casting vote. Abstention shall be regarded as a

vote against the proposal under discussion.

 

Each of the Commissioners will have the right to designate a deputy

Commissioner to replace him in his absence.

 

2.

The salary of each member of the Commission will be paid by the

Government which appointed him; these salaries will be fixed at

reasonable amounts agreed upon from time to time between the

Governments represented on the Commission.

 

3.

The salaries of the police officers referred to in Article 48, of such

other officials and officers as may be appointed under Article 51, and

the pay of the local police referred to in Article 48, shall be paid

out of the receipts from the dues and charges levied on shipping.

 

The Commission shall frame regulations as to the terms and condltions

of employment of all officers and officials appointed

 

4.

The Commission shall have at its disposal such vessels as may be

necessary to enable it to carry out its functions as laid down in this

Section and Annex.

 

5.

In order to carry out all the duties with which it is charged by the

provisions of this Section and Annex and within the limits therein

laid down the Commission will have the power to prepare, issue and

enforce the necessary regulations; this power will include the right

of amending so far as may be necessary or repealing the existing

regulations.

 

6.

The Commission shall frame regulations as to the manner in which the

accounts of all revenues and expenditure of the funds under its

control shall be kept, the auditing of such accounts and the

publication every year of a full and accurate report thereof.

 

SECTION III.

KURDISTAN.

ARTICLE 62.

 

A Commission sitting at Constantinople and composed of three members

appointed by the British, French and Italian Governments respectively

shall draft within six months from the coming into force of the

present Treaty a scheme of local autonomy for the predominantly

Kurdish areas lying east of the Euphrates, south of the southern

boundary of Armenia as it may be hereafter determined, and north of

the frontier of Turkey with Syria and Mesopotamia, as defined in

Article 27, II (2) and (3). If unanimity cannot be secured on any

question, it will be referred by the members of the Commission to

their respective Governments. The scheme shall contain full safeguards

for the protection of the Assyro-Chaldeans and other racial or

religious minorities within these areas, and with this object a

Commission composed of British, French, Italian, Persian and Kurdish

representatives shall visit the spot to examine and decide what

rectifications, if any, should be made in the Turkish frontier where,

under the provisions of the present Treaty, that frontier coincides

with that of Persia.

 

ARTICLE 63.

 

The Turkish Government hereby agrees to accept and execute the

decisions of both the Commissions mentioned in Article 62 within three

months from their communication to the said Government.

 

ARTICLE 64.

 

If within one year from the coming into force of the present Treaty

the Kurdish peoples within the areas defined in Article 62 shall

address themselves to the Council of the League of Nations in such a

manner as to show that a majority of the population of these areas

desires independence from Turkey, and if the Council then considers

that these peoples are capable of such independence and recommends

that it should be granted to them, Turkey hereby agrees to execute

such a recommendation, and to renounce all rights and title over these

areas.

 

The detailed provisions for such renunciation will form the subject of

a separate agreement between the Principal Allied Powers and Turkey.

 

If and when such renunciation takes place, no objection will be raised

by the Principal Allied Powers to the voluntary adhesion to such an

independent Kurdish State of the Kurds inhabiting that part of

Kurdistan which has hitherto been included in the Mosul vilayet.

 

SECTION IV.

SMYRNA.

ARTICLE 65.

 

The provisions of this Section will apply to the city of Smyrna and

the adjacent territory defined in Article 66, until the determination

of their final status in accordance with Article 83.

 

ARTICLE 66.

 

The geographical limits of the territory adjacent to the city of

Smyrna will be laid down as follows:

 

From the mouth of the river which flows into the Aegean Sea about 5

kilometres north of Skalanova, eastwards,

the course of this river upstream;

then south-eastwards, the course of the southern branch of this river;

then south-eastwards, to the western point of the crest of the Gumush

Dagh;

A line to be fixed on the ground passing west of Chinar K, and east of

Akche Ova;

thence north-eastwards, this crest line;

thence northwards to a point to be chosen on the railway from Ayasoluk

to Deirmendik about 1 kilometre west of Balachik station,

a line to be fixed on the ground leaving the road and railway from

Sokia to Balachik station entirely in Turkish territory;

thence northwards to a point to be

[MJ]

Treaty of Peace with Turkey

Signed at Lausanne, July 24, 1923

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

EDITOR'S NOTE:

 

The following Original Text Transcription is meant to provide a basis

for competent reasoning on the Treaty of Peace with Turkey Signed at

Lausanne (July 24, 1923), which is currently - at least in Europe

(i.e. up to June 17,1998) - so much debated and questioned regarding

the validity of its legal foundations as well as the actual level of

(NON-)compliance.

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Treaty of Peace with Turkey Signed at Lausanne,

July 24, 1923

 

(from: The Treaties of Peace 1919-1923, Vol. II, Carnegie Endowment

for International Peace, New York, 1924.)

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

TREATY OF PEACE WITH TURKEY SIGNED AT LAUSANNE

 

JULY 24, 1923

 

THE CONVENTION RESPECTING THE REGIME OF THE STRAITS AND OTHER

INSTRUMENTS SIGNED AT LAUSANNE

 

 

THE BRITISH EMPIRE, FRANCE, ITALY, JAPAN, GREECE, ROUMANIA and the

SERB-CROAT-SLOVENE STATE,

 

of the one part,

 

and TURKEY,

 

of the other part; Being united in the desire to bring to a final

close the state of war which has existed in the East since 1914,

 

Being anxious to re-establish the relations of friendship and commerce

which are essential to the mutual well-being of their respective

peoples,

 

And considering that these relations must be based on respect for the

independence and sovereignty of States,

 

Have decided to conclude a Treaty for this purpose, and have appointed

as their Plenipotentiaries:

 

HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND

IRELAND AND OF THE BRITISH DOMINIONS BEYOND THE SEAS, EMPEROR OF INDIA:

The Right Honourable Sir Horace George Montagu Rumbold, Baronet,

G.C.M.G., High Commissioner at Constantinople;

 

THE PRESIDENT OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC:

General Maurice Pelle, Ambassador of France, High Com missioner of the

Republic in the East, Grand Officer of the National Order of the

Legion of Honour;

 

HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF ITALY:

The Honourable Marquis Camillo Garroni, Senator of the Kingdom,

Ambassador of Italy, High Commissioner at Constantinople, Grand Cross

of the Orders of Saints Maurice and Lazarus, and of the Crown of Italy;

 

M. Giulio Cesare Montagna, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister

Plenipotentiary at Athens, Commander of the Orders of Saints Maurice

and Lazarus, Grand Officer of the Crown of Italy;

 

HIS MAJESTY THE EMPEROR OF JAPAN:

Mr. Kentaro Otchiai, Jusammi, First Class of the Order of the Rising

Sun, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary at Rome;

 

HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF THE HELLENES:

M. Eleftherios K. Veniselos, formerly President of the Council of

Ministers, Grand Cross of the Order of the Saviour;

 

M. Demetrios Caclamanos, Minister Plenipotentiary at London, Commander

of the Order of the Saviour;

 

HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF ROUMANIA:

M. Constantine I. Diamandy, Minister Plenipotentiary;

 

M. Constantine Contzesco, Minister Plenipotentiary;

 

HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF THE SERBS, THE CROATS AND THE SLOVENES:

Dr. Miloutine Yovanovitch, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister

Plenipotentiary at Berne;

 

THE GOVERNMENT OF THE GRAND NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF TURKEY:

Ismet *****, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy for Adrianople;

 

Dr. Riza Nour Bey, Minister for Health and for Public Assistance,

Deputy for Sinope;

 

Hassan Bey, formerly Minister, Deputy for Trebizond;

 

Who, having produced their full powers, found in good and due orm,

have agreed as follows:

 

PART I.

POLITICAL CLAUSES.

ARTICLE I.

 

From the coming into force of the present Treaty, the state of peace

will be definitely re-established between the British Empire, France,

Italy, Japan, Greece, Roumania and the Serb-Croat-Slovene State of the

one part, and Turkey of the other part, as well as between their

respective nationals. Official relations will be resumed on both sides

and, in the respective territories, diplomatic and consular

representatives will receive, without prejudice to such agreements as

may be concluded in the future, treatment in accordance with the

general principles of international law.

 

SECTION I.

I. TERRITORIAL CLAUSES.

ARTICLE 2.

 

From the Black Sea to the Aegean the frontier of Turkey is laid

down as follows: (I) With Bulgaria:

 

From the mouth of the River Rezvaya, to the River Maritza, the point

of junction of the three frontiers of Turkey, Bulgaria and Greece:

 

the southern frontier of Bulgaria as at present demarcated;

 

(2) With Greece:

 

Thence to the confluence of the Arda and the Marilza:

 

the course of the Maritza;

 

then upstream along the Arda, up to a point on that river to be

determined on the spot in the immediate neighbourhood of the village

of Tchorek-Keuy:

 

the course of the Arda;

 

thence in a south-easterly direction up to a point on the Maritza, 1

kilom. below Bosna-Keuy:

 

a roughly straight line leaving in Turkish territory the village of

Bosna-Keuy. The village of Tchorek-Keuy shall be assigned to Greece or

to Turkey according as the majority of the population shall be found

to be Greek or Turkish by the Commission for which provision is made

in Article 5, the population which has migrated into this village

after the 11th October, 1922, not being taken into account;

 

thence to the Aegean Sea:

 

the course of the Maritza.

 

ARTICLE 3.

 

From the Mediterranean to the frontier of Persia, the frontier of

Turkey is laid down as follows:

 

(I ) With Syria:

 

The frontier described in Article 8 of the Franco-Turkish Agreement of

the 20th October, 1921

 

(2) With Iraq:

 

The frontier between Turkey and Iraq shall be laid down in friendly

arrangement to be concluded between Turkey and Great Britain within

nine months.

 

In the event of no agreement being reached between the two Governments

within the time mentioned, the dispute shall be referred to the

Council of the League of Nations.

 

The Turkish and British Governments reciprocally undertake that,

pending the decision to be reached on the subject of the frontier, no

military or other movement shall take place which might modify in any

way the present state of the territories of which the final fate will

depend upon that decision.

 

ARTICLE 4.

 

The frontiers described by the present Treaty are traced on the

one-in-a-million maps attached to the present Treaty. In case of

divergence between the text and the map, the text will prevail. [see

Introduction.]

 

ARTICLE 5.

 

A Boundary Commission will be appointed to trace on the ground the

frontier defined in Article 2 (2). This Commission will be composed of

representatives of Greece and of Turkey, each Power appointing one

representative, and a president chosen by them from the nationals of a

third Power.

 

They shall endeavour in all cases to follow as nearly as possible the

descriptions given in the present Treaty, taking into account as far

as possible administrative boundaries and local economic interests.

 

The decision of the Commission will be taken by a majority and shall

be binding on the parties concerned.

 

The expenses of the Commission shall be borne in equal shares by the

parties concerned.

 

ARTICLE 6.

 

In so far as concerns frontiers defined by a waterway as distinct from

its banks, the phrases "course" or "channel" used in the descriptions

of the present Treaty signify, as regards non-navigable rivers, the

median line of the waterway or of its principal branch, and, as

regards navigable rivers, the median line of the principal channel of

navigation. It will rest with the Boundary Commission to specify

whether the frontier line shall follow any changes of the course or

channel which may take place, or whether it shall be definitely fixed

by the position of the course or channel at the time when the present

Treaty comes into force.

 

In the absence of provisions to the contrary, in the present Treaty,

islands and islets Iying within three miles of the coast are included

within the frontier of the coastal State.

 

ARTICLE 7.

 

The- various States concerned undertake to furnish to the Boundary

Commission all documents necessary for its task, especially authentic

copies of agreements fixing existing or old frontiers, all large scale

maps in existence, geodetic data, surveys completed but unpublished,

and information concerning the changes of frontier watercourses. The

maps, geodetic data, and surveys, even if unpublished, which are in

the possession of the Turkish authorities, must be delivered at

Constantinople with the least possible delay from the coming into

force of the present Treaty to the President of the Commission.

 

The States concerned also undertake to instruct the local authorities

to communicate to the Commission all documents, especially plans,

cadastral and land books, and to furnish on demand all details

regarding property, existing economic conditions and other necessary

information.

 

ARTICLE 8.

 

The various States interested undertake to give every assistance to

the Boundary Commission, whether directly or through local

authorities, in everything that concerns transport, accommodation,

labour, materials (sign posts, boundary pillars) necessary for the

accomplishment of its mission.

 

In particular, the Turkish Government undertakes to furnish, if

required, the technical personnel necessary to assist the Boundary

Commission in the accomplishment of its duties.

 

ARTICLE 9.

 

The various States interested undertake to safeguard the

trigonometrical points, signals, posts or frontier marks erected by

the Commission.

 

ARTICLE 10.

 

The pillars will be placed so as to be intervisible. They will be

numbered, and their position and their number will be noted on a

cartographic document.

 

ARTICLE 11.

 

The protocols defining the boundary and the maps and documents

attached thereto will be made out in triplicate, of which two copies

will be forwarded to the Governments of the limitrophe States, and the

third to the Government of the French Republic, which will deliver

authentic copies to the Powers who sign the present Treaty.

 

ARTICLE 12.

 

The decision taken on the 13th February, 1914, by the Conference of

London, in virtue of Articles 5 of the Treaty of London of the

17th-30th May, 1913, and 15 of the Treaty of Athens of the 1st-14th

November, 1913, which decision was communicated to the Greek

Government on the 13th February, 1914, regarding the sovereignty of

Greece over the islands of the Eastern Mediterranean, other than the

islands of Imbros, Tenedos and Rabbit Islands, particularly the

islands of Lemnos, Samothrace, Mytilene, Chios, Samos and Nikaria, is

confirmed, subject to the provisions of the present Treaty respecting

the islands placed under the sovereigntyof Italy which form the

subject of Article 15.

 

Except where a provision to the contrary is contained in the present

Treaty, the islands situated at less than three miles from the Asiatic

coast remain under Turkish sovereignty.

 

ARTICLE 13.

 

With a view to ensuring the maintenance of peace, the Greek Government

undertakes to observe the following restrictions in the islands of

Mytilene, Chios, Samos and Nikaria:

 

(I) No naval base and no fortification will be established in the said

islands.

 

(2) Greek military aircraft will be forbidden to fly over the

territory of the Anatolian coast. Reciprocally, the Turkish Government

will forbid their military aircraft to fly over the said islands.

 

(3) The Greek military forces in the said islands will be limited to

the normal contingent called up for military service, which can be

trained on the spot, as well as to a force of gendarmerie and police

in proportion to the force of gendarmerie and police existing in the

whole of the Greek territory.

 

ARTICLE 14.

 

The islands of Imbros and Tenedos, remaining under Turkish

sovereignty, shall enjoy a special administrative organisation

composed of local elements and furnishing every guarantee for the

native non-Moslem population in so far as concerns local

administration and the protection of persons and property. The

maintenance of order will be assured therein by a police force

recruited from amongst the local population by the local

administration above provided for and placed under its orders.

 

The agreements which have been, or may be, concluded between Greece

and Turkey relating to the exchange of the Greek and Turkish

populations will not be applied to the inhabitants of the islands of

Imbros and Tenedos.

 

ARTICLE 15.

 

Turkey renounces in favour of Italy all rights and title over the

following islands: Stampalia (Astrapalia), Rhodes (Rhodos), Calki

(Kharki), Scarpanto, Casos (Casso), Piscopis (Tilos), Misiros

(Nisyros), Calimnos (Kalymnos), Leros, Patmos, Lipsos (Lipso), Simi

(Symi), and Cos (Kos), which are now occupied by Italy, and the islets

dependent thereon, and also over the island of Castellorizzo.

 

ARTICLE I6.

 

Turkey hereby renounces all rights and title whatsoever over or

respecting the territories situated outside the frontiers laid down in

the present Treaty and the islands other than those over which her

sovereignty is recognised by the said Treaty, the future of these

territories and islands being settled or to be settled by the parties

concerned.

 

The provisions of the present Article do not prejudice any special

arrangements arising from neighbourly relations which have been or may

be concluded between Turkey and any limitrophe countries.

 

ARTICLE 17.

 

The renunciation by Turkey of all rights and titles over Egypt and

over the Soudan will take effect as from the 5th November, 1914.

 

ARTICLE 18.

 

Turkey is released from all undertakings and obligations in regard to

the Ottoman loans guaranteed on the Egyptian tribute, that is to say,

the loans of 1855, 1891 and 1894. The annual payments made by Egypt

for the service of these loans now forming part of the service of the

Egyptian Public Debt, Egypt is freed from all other obligations

relating to the Ottoman Public Debt.

 

ARTICLE 19.

 

Any questions arising from the recognition of the State of Egypt shall

be settled by agreements to be negotiated subsequently in a manner to

be determined later between the Powers concerned. The provisions of

the present Treaty relating to territories detached from Turkey under

the said Treaty will not apply to Egypt.

 

ARTICLE 20.

 

Turkey hereby recognises the annexation of Cyprus proclaimed by the

British Government on the sth November, 1914.

 

ARTICLE 2I .

 

Turkish nationals ordinarily resident in Cyprus on the 5th November,

1914, will acquire British nationality subject to the conditions laid

down in the local law, and will thereupon lose their Turkish

nationality. They will, however, have the right to opt for Turkish

nationality within two years from the coming into force of the present

Treaty, provided that they leave Cyprus within twelve months after

having so opted.

 

Turkish nationals ordinarily resident in Cyprus on the coming into

force of the present Treaty who, at that date, have acquired or are in

process of acquiring British nationality in consequence of a request

made in accordance with the local law, will also thereupon lose their

Turkish nationality.

 

It is understood that the Government of Cyprus will be entitled to

refuse British nationality to inhabitants of the island who, being

Turkish nationals, had formerly acquired another nationality without

the consent of the Turkish Government.

 

ARTICLE 22.

 

Without prejudice to the general stipulations of Article 27, Turkey

hereby recognises the definite abolition of all rights and privileges

whatsoever which she enjoyed in Libya under the Treaty of Lausanne of

the 18th October, 1912, and the instruments connected therewith.

 

2. SPECIAL PROVISIONS. ARTICLE 23.

 

The High Contracting Parties are agreed to recognise and declare the

principle of freedom of transit and of navigation, by sea and by air,

in time of peace as in time of war, in the strait of the Dardanelles,

the Sea of Marmora and the Bosphorus, as prescribed in the separate

Convention signed this day, regarding the regime of the Straits. This

Convention will have the same force and effect in so far as the

present High Contracting Parties are concerned as if it formed part of

the present Treaty.

 

ARTICLE 24.

 

The separate Convention signed this day respecting the regime for the

frontier described in Article 2 of the present Treaty will have equal

force and effect in so far as the present High Contracting Parties are

concerned as if it formed part of the present Treaty.

 

ARTICLE 25.

 

Turkey undertakes to recognise the full force of the Treaties of Peace

and additional Conventions concluded by the other Contracting Powers

with the Powers who fought on the side of Turkey, and to recognise

whatever dispositions have been or may be made concerning the

territories of the former German Empire, of Austria, of Hungary and of

Bulgaria, and to recognise the new States within their frontiers as

there laid down.

 

ARTICLE 26.

 

Turkey hereby recognises and accepts the frontiers of Germany,

Austria, Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Roumania, the

Serb-Croat-Slovene State and the Czechoslovak State, as these

frontiers have been or may be determined by the Treaties referred to

in Article 25 or by any supplementary conventions.

 

ARTICLE 27.

 

No power or jurisdiction in political, legislative or administrative

matters shall be exercised outside Turkish territory by the Turkish

Government or authorities, for any reason whatsoever, over the

nationals of a territory placed under the sovereignty or protectorate

of the other Powers signatory of the present Treaty, or over the

nationals of a territory detached from Turkey.

 

It is understood that the spiritual attributions of the Moslem

religious authorities are in no way infringed.

 

ARTICLE 28.

 

Each of the High Contracting Parties hereby accepts, in so far as it

is concerned, the complete abolition of the Capitulations in Turkey in

every respect.

 

ARTICLE 29.

 

Moroccans, who are French nationals ("ressortissants") and Tunisians

shall enjoy in Turkey the same treatment in all respects as other

French nationals ("ressortissants").

 

Natives ("ressortissants") of Libya shall enjoy in Turkey the same

treatment in all respects as other Italian nationals

("ressortissants") .

 

The stipulations of the present Article in no way prejudge the

nationality of persons of Tunisian, Libyan and Moroccan origin

established in Turkey.

 

Reciprocally, in the territories the inhabitants of which benefit by

the stipulations of the first and second paragraphs of this Article,

Turkish nationals shall benefit by the same treatment as in France and

in Italy respectively.

 

The treatment to which merchandise originating in or destined for the

territories, the inhabitants of which benefit from the stipulations of

the first paragraph of this Article, shall be subject in Turkey, and,

reciprocally, the treatment to which merchandise originating in or

destined for Turkey shall be subject in the said territories shall be

settled by agreement between the French and Turkish Governments.

 

SECTION II .

NATIONALITY.

ARTICLE 30.

 

Turkish subjects habitually resident in territory which in accordance

with the provisions of the present Treaty is detached from Turkey will

become ipsofacto, in the conditions laid down by the local law,

nationals of the State to which such territory is transferred.

 

ARTICLE 31.

 

Persons over eighteen years of age, losing their Turkish nationality

and obtaining ipso facto a new nationality under Article 30, shall be

entitled within a period of two years from the coming into force of

the present Treaty to opt for Turkish nationality.

 

ARTICLE 32.

 

Persons over eighteen years of age, habitually resident in territory

detached from Turkey in accordance with the present Treaty, and

differing in race from the majority of the population of such

territory shall, within two years from the coming into force of the

present Treaty, be entitled to opt for the nationality of one of the

States in which the majority of the population is of the same race as

the person exercising the right to opt, subject to the consent of that

State.

 

ARTICLE 33.

 

Persons who have exercised the right to opt in accordance with the

provisions of Articles 31 and 32 must, within the succeeding twelve

months, transfer their place of residence to the State for which they

have opted.

 

They will be entitled to retain their immovable property in the

territory of the other State where they had their place of residence

before exercising their right to opt.

 

They may carry with them their movable property of every

description. No export or import duties may be imposed upon them in

connection with the removal of such property.

 

ARTICLE 34.

 

Subject to any agreements which it may be necessary to conclude

between the Governments exercising authority in the countries detached

from Turkey and the Governments of the countries where the persons

concerned are resident, Turkish nationals of over eighteen years of

age who are natives of a territory detached from Turkey under the

present Treaty, and who on its coming into force are habitually

resident abroad, may opt for the nationality of the territory of which

they are natives, if they belong by race to the majority of the

population of that territory, and subject to theconsent of the

Government exercising authority therein. This right of option must be

exercised within two years from the coming into force of the present

Treaty.

 

ARTICLE 35.

 

The Contracting Powers undertake to put no hindrance in the way of the

exercise of the right which the persons concerned have under the

present Treaty, or under the Treaties of Peace concluded with Germany,

Austria, Bulgaria or Hungary, or under any Treaty concluded by the

said Powers, other than Turkey, or any of them, with Russia, or

between themselves, to choose any other nationality which may be open

to them.

 

ARTICLE 36.

 

For the purposes of the provisions of this Section, the status of a

married woman will be governed by that of her husband, and the status

of children under eighteen years of age by that of their parents.

 

SECTION III.

PROTECTION OF MINORITIES.

ARTICLE 37.

 

Turkey undertakes that the stipulations contained in Articles 38 to 44

shall be recognised as fundamental laws, and that no law, no

regulation, nor official action shall conflict or interfere with these

stipulations, nor shall any law, regulation, nor official action

prevail over them.

 

ARTICLE 38.

 

The Turkish Government undertakes to assure full and complete

protection of life and liberty to ali inhabitants of Turkey without

distinction of birth, nationality, language, race or religion.

 

All inhabitants of Turkey shall be entitled to free exercise, whether

in public or private, of any creed, religion or belief, the observance

of which shall not be incompatible with public order and good morals.

 

Non-Moslem minorities will enjoy full freedom of movement and of

emigration, subject to the measures applied, on the whole or on part

of the territory, to all Turkish nationals, and which may be taken by

the Turkish Government for national defence, or for the maintenance of

public order.

 

ARTICLE 39.

 

Turkish nationals belonging to non-Moslem minorities will enjoy the

same civil and political rights as Moslems.

 

All the inhabitants of Turkey, without distinction of religion, shall

be equal before the law.

 

Differences of religion, creed or confession shall not prejudice any

Turkish national in matters relating to the enjoyment of civil or

political rights, as, for instance, admission to public employments,

functions and honours, or the exercise of professions and industries.

 

No restrictions shall be imposed on the free use by any Turkish

national of any language in private intercourse, in commerce,

religion, in the press, or in publications of any kind or at public

meetings.

 

Notwithstanding the existence of the official language, adequate

facilities shall be given to Turkish nationals of non-Turkish speech

for the oral use of their own language before the Courts.

 

ARTICLE 40.

 

Turkish nationals belonging to non-Moslem minorities shall enjoy the

same treatment and security in law and in fact as other Turkish

nationals. In particular, they shall have an equal right to establish,

manage and control at their own expense, any charitable, religious and

social institutions, any schools and other establishments for

instruction and education, with the right to use their own language

and to exercise their own religion freely therein.

 

ARTICLE 41.

 

As regards public instruction, the Turkish Government will grant in

those towns and districts, where a considerable proportion of

non-Moslem nationals are resident, adequate facilities for ensuring

that in the primary schools the instruction shall be given to the

children of such Turkish nationals through the medium of their own

language. This provision will not prevent the Turkish Government from

making the teaching of the Turkish language obligatory in the said

schools.

 

In towns and districts where there is a considerable proportion of

Turkish nationals belonging to non-Moslem minorities, these minorities

shall be assured an equitable share in the enjoyment and application

of the sums which may be provided out of public funds under the State,

municipal or other budgets for educational, religious, or charitable

purposes.

 

The sums in question shall be paid to the qualified representatives of

the establishments and institutions concerned.

 

ARTICLE 42.

 

The Turkish Government undertakes to take, as regards non-Moslem

minorities, in so far as concerns their family law or personal status,

measures permitting the settlement of these questions in accordance

with the customs of those minorities.

 

These measures will be elaborated by special Commissions composed of

representatives of the Turkish Government and of representatives of

each of the minorities concerned in equal number. In case of

divergence, the Turkish Government and the Council of the League of

Nations will appoint in agreement an umpire chosen from amongst

European lawyers.

 

The Turkish Government undertakes to grant full protection to the

churches, synagogues, cemeteries, and other religious establishments

of the above-mentioned minorities. All facilities and authorisation

will be granted to the pious foundations, and to the religious and

charitable institutions of the said minorities at present existing in

Turkey, and the Turkish Government will not refuse, for the formation

of new religious and charitable institu- tions, any of the necessary

facilities which are guaranteed to other private institutions of that

nature.

 

ARTICLE 43.

 

Turkish nationals belonging to non-Moslem minorities shall not be

compelled to perform any act which constitutes a violation of their

faith or religious observances, and shall not be placed under any

disability by reason of their refusal to attend Courts of Law or to

perform any legal business on their weekly day of rest.

 

This provision, however, shall not exempt such Turkish nationals from

such obligations as shall be imposed upon all other Turkish nationals

for the preservation of public order.

 

ARTICLE 44.

 

Turkey agrees that, in so far as the preceding Articles of this

Section affect non-Moslem nationals of Turkey, these provisions

constitute obligations of international concern and shall be placed

under the guarantee of the League of Nations. They shall not be

modified without the assent of the majority of the Council of the

League of Nations. The British Empire, France, Italy and Japan hereby

agree not to withhold their assent to any modification in these

Articles which is in due form assented to by a majority of the Council

of the League of Nations.

 

Turkey agrees that any Member of the Council of the League of Nations

shall have the right to bring to the attention of the Council any

infraction or danger of infraction of any of these obligations, and

that the Council may thereupon take such action and give such

directions as it may deem proper and effective in the circumstances.

 

Turkey further agrees that any difference of opinion as to questions

of law or of fact arising out of these Articles between the Turkish

Government and any one of the other Signatory Powers or any other

Power, a member of the Council of the League of Nations, shall be held

to be a dispute of an international character under Article 14 of the

Covenant of the League of Nations. The Turkish Government hereby

consents that any such dispute shall, if the other party thereto

demands, be referred to the Permanent Court of International

Justice. The decision of the Permanent Court shall be final and shall

have the same force and effect as an award under Article 13 of the

Covenant.

 

ARTICLE 45.

 

The rights conferred by the provisions of the present Section on the

non-Moslem minorities of Turkey will be similarly conferred by Greece

on the Moslem minority in her territory.

 

PART II.

FINANCIAL CLAUSES.

SECTION I.

OTTOMAN PUBLIC DEBT.

ARTICLE 46.

 

The Ottoman Public Debt, as defined in the Table annexed to the

present Section, shall be distributed under the conditions laid down

in the present Section between Turkey, the States in favour of which

territory has been detached from the Ottoman Empire after the Balkan

wars of 1912-13, the States to which the islands referred to in

Articles 12 and 15 of the present Treaty and the territory referred to

in the last paragraph of the present Article have been attributed, and

the States newly created in territories in Asia which are detached

from the Ottoman Empire under the present Treaty. All the above St

ates shall also participate, under the conditions laid down in the

present Section, in the annual charges for the service of the Ottoman

Public Debt from the dates referred to in Article 53.

 

From the dates laid down in Article 53, Turkey shall not be held in

any way whatsoever responsible for the shares of the Debt for which

other States are liable.

 

For the purpose of the distribution of the Ottoman Public Debt, that

portion of the territory of Thrace which was under Turkish sovereignty

on the 1st August, 1914, and lies outside the boundaries of Turkey as

laid down by Article 2 of the present Treaty, shall be deemed to be

detached from the Ottoman Empire under the said Treaty.

 

ARTICLE 47.

 

The Council of the Ottoman Public Debt shall, within three months from

the coming into force of the present Treaty, determine, on the basis

laid down by Articles 50 and 51, the amounts of the annuities for the

loans referred to in Part A of the Table annexed to the present

Section which are payable by each of the States concerned, and shall

notify to them this amount.

 

These States shall be granted an opportunity to send to Constantinople

delegates to check the calculations made for this purpose by the

Council of the Ottoman Public Debt.

 

The Council of the Debt shall exercise the functions referred to in

Article 134 of the Treaty of Peace with Bulgaria of the 27th November,

1919.

 

Any disputes which may arise between the parties concerned as to the

application of the principles laid down in the present Article shall

be referred, not more than one month after the notification referred

to in the first paragraph, to an arbitrator whom the Council of the

League of Nations will be asked to appoint; this arbitrator shall give

his decision within a period of not more than three months. The

remuneration of the arbitrator shall be determined by the Council of

the League of Nations, and shall, together with the other expenses of

the arbitration, be borne by the parties concerned. The decisions of

the arbitrator shall be final. The payment of the annuities shall not

be suspended by the reference of any disputes to the above-mentioned

arbitrator.

 

ARTICLE 48.

 

The States, other than Turkey, among which the Ottoman Public Debt, as

defined in Part A of the Table annexed to this Section is attributed,

shall, within three months from the date on which they are notified,

in accordance with Article 47, of their respective shares in the

annual charges referred to in that Article, assign to the Council of

the Debt adequate security for the payment of their share. If such

security is not assigned within the above-mentioned period, or in the

case of any disagreement as to the adequacy of the security assigned,

any of the Governments signatory to the present Treaty shall be

entitled to appeal to the Council of the League of Nations.

 

The Council of the League of Nations shall be empowered to entrust the

collection of the revenues assigned as security to international

financial organisations existing in the countries (other than Turkey)

among which the Debt is distributed. The decisions of the Council of

the League of Nations shall be final.

 

ARTICLE 49

 

Within one month from the date of the final determination under

Article 47 of the amount of the annuities for which each of the States

concerned is liable, a Commission shall meet in Paris to determine the

method of carrying out the distribution of the nominal capital of the

Ottoman Public Debt as defined in Part A of the Table annexed to this

Section. This distribution shall be made in accordance with the

proportions adopted for the division of the annuities, and account

shall be taken of the terms of the agreements governing the loans and

of the provisions of this Section.

 

The Commission referred to in the first paragraph shall consist of a

representative of the Turkish Government, a representative of the

Council of the Ottoman Public Debt, a representative of the debt other

than the Unified Debt and the Lots Turcs; each of the Governments

concerned shall also be entitled to appoint a representative. All

questions in regard to which the Commission may be unable to reach

agreement shall be referred to the arbitrator referred to in the

fourth paragraph of Article 47.

 

If Turkey shall decide to create new securities in respect of her

share, the distribution of the capital of the Ottoman Public Debt

shall be made in the first instance as it affects Turkey by a

Committee consisting of the representative of the Turkish Government,

the representative of the Council of the Ottoman Public Debt and the

representative of the debt other than the Unified Debt and the Lots

Turcs. The new securities shall be delivered to the Commission, which

shall ensure their delivery to the bondholders upon such terms as will

provide for the release of Turkey from liability and the rights of the

bondholders towards the other States which are liable for a share of

the Ottoman Public Debt. The securities issued in respect of the share

of each State in the Ottoman Public Debt shall be exempt in the

territory of the High Contracting Parties from all stamp duties or

other taxes which would be involved by such issue.

 

The payment of the annuities for which each of the States concerned is

liable shall not be postponed as a consequence of the provisions of

the present Article in regard to the distribution of the nominal

capital.

 

ARTICLE 50.

 

The distribution of the annual charges referred to in Article 47 and

of the nominal capital of the Ottoman Public Debt mentioned in Article

49 shall be effected in the following manner:

 

(1) The loans prior to the 17th October, 1912, and the annuities of

such loans shall be distributed between the Ottoman Empire as it

existed after the Balkan wars of 1912-13, the Balkan States in favour

of which territory was detached from the Ottoman Empire after those

wars, and the States to which the islands referred to in Articles 12

and 15 of the present Treaty have been attributed; account shall be

taken of the territorial changes which have taken place after the

coming into force of the treaties which ended those wars or subsequent

treaties.

 

(2) The residue of the loans for which the Ottoman Empire remained

liable after this first distribution and the residue of the annuities

of such loans, together with the loans contracted by that Empire

between the 17th October, 1912, and the 1st November, 1914, and the

annuities of such loans shall be distributed between Turkey, the newly

created States in Asia in favour of which a territory has been

detached from the Ottoman Empire under the present Treaty, and the

State to which the territory referred to in the last paragraph of

Article 46 of the said Treaty has been attributed.

 

The distribution of the capital shall in the case of each loan be

based on the capital amount outstanding at the date of the coming into

force of the present Treaty.

 

ARTICLE 51 .

 

The amount of the share in the annual charges of the Ottoman Public

Debt for which each State concerned is liable in conse- quence of the

distribution provided for by Article 50 shall be determined as

follows:

 

(I) As regards the distribution provided for by Article 50 (1), in the

first place the share of the islands referred to in Articles 12 and 15

and of the territories detached from the Ottoman Empire after the

Balkan wars, taken together, shall be fixed. The amount of this share

shall bear the same proportion to the total sum of the annuities to be

distributed in accordance with Article 50 (1) as the average total

revenue of the above mentioned islands and territories, taken as a

whole, bore to the average total revenue of the Ottoman Empire in the

financial years 1910-1911 and 1911-1912, including the proceeds of the

customs surtaxes established in 1907.

 

The amount thus determined shall then be distributed among the States

to which the territories referred to in the preceding paragraph have

been attributed, and the share for which each of these States will

thus be made liable shall bear the same proportion to the total amount

so distributed as the average total revenue of the territory

attributed to each State bore in the financial years 1910-11 and

1911-12 to the average total revenue of the territories detached from

the Ottoman Empire after the Balkan Wars and the islands referred to

in Articles 12 and 15. In calculating the revenues referred to in this

paragraph, customs revenues shall be excluded.

 

(2) As regards the territories detached from the Ottoman Empire under

the present Treaty (including the territory referred to in the last

paragraph of Article 46), the amount of the share of each State

concerned shall bear the same proportion to the total sum of the

annuities to be distributed in accordance with Article 50 (2) as the

average total revenue of the detached territory (including the

proceeds of the Customs surtax established in 1907) for the financial

years 1910-11 and 1911-12 bore to the average total revenue of the

Ottoman Empire, excluding the territories and islands referred to in

paragraph (I) of this Article.

 

ARTICLE 52.

 

The advances referred to in Part B of the Table annexed to the present

Section shall be distributed between Turkey and the other States

referred to in Article 46 under the following conditions:

 

(I) As regards the advances referred to in the Table which existed on

the 17th October, 1912, the capital amount, if any, outstanding at the

date of the coming into force of the present Treaty, together with the

interest from the dates mentioned in the first paragraph of Article 53

and the repayments made since those dates, shall be distributed in

accordance with the provisions of Article 50 (I) and Article 51 (1).

 

(2) As regards the amounts for which the Ottoman Empire remains liable

after the first distribution and the advances referred to in the Table

which were contracted by the said Empire between the 17th October,

1912, and the 1st November, 1914, the capital amount, if any,

outstanding at the date of the coming into force of the present

Treaty, together with the interest from the 1st March, 1920, and the

repayments made since that date, shall be distributed in accordance

with the provisions of Article 50 (2) and Article 51 (2).

 

The Council of the Ottoman Public Debt shall, within three months from

the coming into force of the present Treaty, determine the amount of

the share in these advances for which each of the States concerned is

liable, and notify them of such amount.

 

The sums for which States other than Turkey are liable shall be paid

by those States to the Council of the Debt and shall be paid by the

Council to the creditors, or credited to the Turkish Government up to

the amount paid by Turkey, by way of interest or repayment, for the

account of those States.

 

The payments referred to in the preceding paragraph shall be made by

five equal annuities from the coming into force of the present

Treaty. Such portion of these payments as is payable to the creditors

of the Ottoman Empire shall bear interest at the rates laid down in

the contracts governing the advances; the portion to be credited to

the Turkish Government shall be paid without interest.

 

ARTICLE 53.

 

The annuities for the service of the loans of the Ottoman Public Debt

(as defined in Part A of the Table annexed to this Section) due by the

States in favour of which a territory has been detached from the

Ottoman Empire after the Balkan wars, shall be payable as from the

coming into force of the treaties by which the respective territories

were transferred to those States. In the case of the islands referred

to in Article 12, the annuity shall be payable as from the 1st/14th

November, 1913, and, in the case of the islands referred to in Article

15, as from the 17th October, 1912.

 

The annuities due by the States newly created in territories in Asia

detached from the Ottoman Empire under the present Treaty, and by the

State to which the territory referred to in the last paragraph of

Article 46 has been attributed, shall be payable as from the 1st

March, 1920.

 

ARTICLE 54.

 

The Treasury Bills of 1911, 1912 and 1913 included in Part A of the

Table annexed to this Section shall be repaid, with interest at the

agreed rate, within ten years from the dates fixed by the contracts.

 

ARTICLE 55.

 

The States referred to in Article 46, including Turkey, shall pay to

the Ottoman Debt Council the amount of the annuities required for the

service of their share of the Ottoman Public Debt (as defined in Part

A of the Table annexed to this Section) to the extent that such

annuities have remained unpaid as from the dates laid down by Article

53. This payment shall be made, without interest, by means of twenty

equal annuities from the coming into force of the present Treaty.

 

The amount of the annuities paid to the Council of the Debt by the

States other than Turkey shall, to the extent that they represent

payments made by Turkey for the account of those States, be credited

to Turkey on account of the arrears with which she is debited.

 

ARTICLE 56.

 

The Council of the Administration of the Ottoman Public Debt shall no

longer include delegates of the German, Austrian and Hungarian

bondholders.

 

ARTICLE 57.

 

Limits of time fixed for the presentation of coupons of or claims for

interest upon the loans and advances of the Ottoman Public Debt and

the Turkish Loans of 1855, 1891 and 1894 secured on the Egyptian

tribute, and the limits of time fixed for the presentation of

securities of these loans drawn for repayment, shall, on the territory

of the High Contracting Parties, be considered as having been

suspended from the 29th October, 1914, until three months after the

coming into force of the present Treaty.

 

ANNEX I TO SECTION I.

Table of the Ottoman Pre-War Public Debt (November 1, 1914).

Part A.

 

...................... Date of ................Date of Re-.......

Loan...................Contract ...Interest....demption.....Bank of Issue

.1.......................2............3........... 4..............5...

..................................... %................

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Unified Debt........1-14.9.1903--.....4........8-21.6.1906..............

 

Lots turcs.............5.1.1870....................

 

Osmanie............18-30.4.1890.......4......1931...Imperial Ottoman Bank

Tombac priority...26.4-8.5.1893.......4......1954...Imperial Ottoman Bank

 

40,000,000fr

(Oriental Railways)....I-13.3.1894....4......1957...Deutsche Bank

....................................................and its group,

....................................................Including International

....................................................Bank and two French

....................................................banks.

 

5%, 1896............29.2-12.3.1896....5......1946...Imperial Ottoman Bank

 

Customs, 1902.........17-29.5.1886-...4......1958...Imperial Ottoman Bank

..................................28.9-11.10.1902...............

 

4%, 1903 (Fisheries)..3.10.1888-21.2-.4......1958...Deutsche Bank

.........................................6.3.1903.

 

Bagdad, Series 1......20.2-5.3.1903...4......2001...Deutsche Bank

 

4%, 1904................4-17.9.1903...4......1960...Imperial Ottoman Bank

 

4%, 1901-1905.......21.11-4.12.1901-..4......1961...Imperial Ottoman Bank

........................................6.11.1903-25.4-

.........................................8.5.1905

 

Tedjhizat-Askerie.......4-17.4.1905...4......1961...Deutsche Bank

 

Bagdad, Series II.....20.5-2.6.1908...4......2006...Deutsche Bank

 

Bagdad, Series III....20.5-2.6.1908...4......2010...Deutsche Bank

 

4%, 1908.................6-19.9.1908..4......1965...Imperial Ottoman Bank

 

4%, 1909.............30.9-13.10.1909..4......1950...Imperial Ottoman Bank

 

Soma-Panderma........20.11-3.12.1910..4......1992...Imperial Ottoman Bank

 

Hodeida-Sanaa.........24.2-9.3.1911...4......2006...Banque francaise

 

Customs 1911.........27.10-9.11.1910..4......1952...Deutsche Bank

.....................,,.............................and its group

 

Plain of Koniah............5-18.1913.........1932.....

irrigation

 

Docks, arsenals......19.11-2 12.1913..5 1/2..1943.....

and naval constructions

 

5%, 1914................13-26.4.1914..5.....(1962)..Imperial Ottoman Bank

 

Avance Regie................4.8.1913...................

des Tabacs

 

Treasury Bills,............13-7.1911..5......1916*..National Bank

5% 1911 (purchase of warships)......................of Turkey

 

Treasury Bills,Imperial 8.21.11.1912..6......1915*..Imperial

....................................................Ottoman Bank

 

Treasury Bills,........19.1-1.2.1913..5......1918*..Perier

1913 (induding the bills issued directly) ..........and Co.

 

---------------------------------------------------

*See Article 54.

 

 

Part B.

 

...........................Date...........................Original Nominal

Advance.................of Contract...........Interest....Capital L T.

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bagdad Railway Company.....3/16 June, 1908.......7........300,000

Lighthouse Administration..5/18 August, 1904.....8.........55,000

Lighthouse Administration..5/18 July, 1907.......7........300,000

Constanza Cable Company....27/9 October, 1904....4.........17,335

Tunnel Company..............................................3,000

Orphan's Fund..............Various dates..................153,147

Deutsche Bank..............13/26 August, 1912...5.5........33,000

Lighthouse Administration..3/16 April, 1913......7........500,000

Anatolia Railway Company...23/5 March, 1914......6........200,000

 

 

SECTION II.

MISCELLANEOUS CLAUSES.

ARTICLE 58.

 

Turkey, on the one hand, and the other Contracting Powers (except

Greece) on the other hand, reciprocally renounce all pecuniary claims

for the loss and damage suffered respectively by Turkey and the said

Powers and by their nationals (including juridical persons) between

the 1st August, 1914, and the coming into force of the present Treaty,

as the result of acts of war or measures of requisition,

sequestration, disposal or confiscation.

 

Nevertheless, the above provisions are without prejudice to the

provisions of Part III (Economic Clauses) of the present Treaty.

 

Turkey renounces in favour of the other Contracting Parties (except

Greece) any right in the sums in gold transferred by Germany and

Austria under Article 259 (I) of the Treaty of Peace of the 28th June,

I9I9, with Germany, and under Article 210 (I) of the Treaty of Peace

of the 10th September, 1919, with Austria.

 

The Council of the Administration of the Ottoman Public Debt is freed

from all liability to make the payments which it was required to make

by the Agreement of the 20th June, 1331 (3rd July, 1915) relating to

the first issue of Turkish currency notes or by the words inscribed on

the back of such notes.

 

Turkey also agrees not to claim from the British Government or its

nationals the repayment of the sums paid for the warships ordered in

England by the Ottoman Government which were requisitioned by the

British Government in 1914, and renounces all claims in the matter.

 

ARTICLE 59.

 

Greece recognises her obligation to make reparation for the damage

caused in Anatolia by the acts of the Greek army or administration

which were contrary to the laws of war.

 

On the other hand, Turkey, in consideration of the financial situation

of Greece resulting from the prolongation of the war and from its

consequences, finally renounces all claims for reparation against the

Greek Government.

 

ARTICLE 60.

 

The States in favour of which territory was or is detached from the

Ottoman Empire after the Balkan wars or by the present Treaty shall

acquire, without payment, all the property and possessions of the

Ottoman Empire situated therein.

 

It is understood that the property and possessions of which the

transfer from the Civil List to the State was laid down by the Irades

of the 26th August, 1324 (8th September, I908) and the 20th April,

1325 (2nd May, I909), and also those which, on the 30th October, 1918,

were administered by the Civil List for the benefit of a public

service, are included among the property and possessions referred to

in the preceding paragraph, the aforesaid States being subrogated to

the Ottoman Empire in regard to the property and possessions in

question. The Wakfs created on such property shall be maintained.

 

The dispute which has arisen between the Greek and Turkish Governments

relating to property and possessions which have passed from the Civil

List to the State and are situated in territories of the former

Ottoman Empire transferred to Greece either after the Balkan wars, or

subsequently, shall be referred to an arbitral tribunal at The Hague,

in accordance with the special protocol No. 2 annexed to the Treaty of

Athens of the 1st-4th November, 1913. The terms of reference shall be

settled between the two Governments.

 

The provisions of this Article will not modify the juridical nature of

the property and possessions registered in the name of the Civil List

or administered by it, which are not referred to in the second and

third paragraphs above.

 

ARTICLE 61.

 

The recipients of Turkish civil and military pensions who acquire

under the present Treaty the nationality of a State other than Turkey,

shall have no claim against the Turkish Government in respect of their

pensions.

 

ARTICLE 62.

 

Turkey recognises the transfer of any claims to payment or repayment

which Germany, Austria, Bulgaria or Hungary may have against her, in

accordance with Article 261 of the Treaty of Peace concluded at

Versailles on the 28th June, 1919, with Germany, and the corresponding

articles of the Treaties of Peace of the l0th September, 1919, with

Austria; of the 27th November, 1919, with Bulgaria; and of the 4th

June, 1920 with Hungary.

 

The other Contracting Powers agree to release Turkey from the debts

for which she is liable on this account.

 

The claims which Turkey has against Germany, Austria, Bulgaria and

Hungary, are also transferred to the aforesaid Contracting Powers.

 

ARTICLE 63.

 

The Turkish Government, in agreement with the other Contracting

Powers, hereby releases the German Government from the obligation

incurred by it during the war to accept Turkish Government currency

notes at a specified rate of exchange in payment for goods to be

exported to Turkey from Germany after the war.

 

PART III.

ECONOMIC CLAUSES.

ARTICLE 64.

 

In this part, the expression "Allied Powers" means the Contracting

Powers other than Turkey.

 

The term "Allied nationals" includes physical persons, companies and

associations of the Contracting Powers other than Turkey, or of a

State or territory under the protection of one of the said Powers.

 

The provisions of this Part relating to "Allied nationals" shall

benefit persons who without having the nationality of one of the

Allied Powers, have, in consequence of the protection which they in

fact enjoyed at the hands of these Powers, received from the Ottoman

authorities the same treatment as Allied nationals and have, on this

account, been prejudiced.

 

SECTION I.

PROPERTY, RIGHTS AND INTERESTS.

ARTICLE 65.

 

Property, rights and interests which still exist and can be identified

in territories remaining Turkish at the date of the coming into force

of the present Treaty, and which belong to persons who on the 29th

October, 1914, were Allied nationals, shall be immediately restored to

the owners in their existing state.

 

Reciprocally, property, rights and interests which still exist and can

be identified in territories subject to the sovereignty or

protectorate of the Allied Powers on the 29th October, 1914, or in

territories detached from the Ottoman Empire after the Balkan wars and

subject to-day to the sovereignty of any such Power, and which belong

to Turkish nationals, shall be immediately restored to the owners in

their existing state. The same provision shall apply to property,

rights and interests which belong to Turkish nationals in territories

detached from the Ottoman Empire under the present Treaty, and which

may have been subjected to liquidation or any other exceptional

measure whatever on the part of the authorities of the Allied Powers.

 

All property, rights and interests situated in territory detached from

the Ottoman Empire under the present Treaty, which, after having been

subjected by the Ottoman Government to an exceptional war measure, are

now in the hands of the Contracting Power exercising authority over

the said territory, and which can be identified, shall be restored to

their legitimate owners, in their existing state. The same provision

shall apply to immovable property which may have been liquidated by

the Contracting Power exercising authority over the said

territory. All other claims between individuals shall be submitted to

the competent local courts.

 

All disputes relating to the identity or the restitution of property

to which a claim is made shall be submitted to the Mixed Arbitral

Tribunal provided for in Section V of this Part.

 

ARTICLE 66.

 

In order to give effect to the provisions of the first and second

paragraphs of Article 65 the High Contracting Parties will, by the

most rapid procedure, restore the owners to the possession of their

property, rights and interests free from any burdens or encumbrances

with which such property, rights and interests may have been charged

without the consent of the said owners. It will be the duty of the

Government of the Power effecting the restitution to provide for the

compensation of third parties who may have acquired the property

directly or indirectly from the said Government and who may be injured

by this restitution. Disputes which may arise in connection with such

compensation shall be dealt with by the ordinary courts.

 

In all other cases it will be open to any third parties who may be

injured to take action against whoever is responsible, in order to

obtain compensation.

 

In order to give effect to these provisions all acts of transfer or

other exceptional war measures, which the High Contracting Parties may

have carried out in respect of enemy property, rights and interests,

shall be immediately cancelled and stayed when liquidation has not yet

been completed. Owners who make claims shall be satisfied by the

immediate restitution of their property, rights and interests as soon

as these shall have been identified.

 

When at the date of the signature of the present Treaty the property,

rights and interests, the restitution of which is provided for in

Article 65. have been liquidated by the authorities of one of the High

Contracting Parties, that Party shall be discharged from the

obligation to restore the said property, rights and interests by

payment of the proceeds of the liquidation to the owner. If, on

application being made by the owner, the Mixed Arbitral Tribunal

provided for by Section V finds that the liquidation was not effected

in such conditions as to ensure the realisation of a fair price, it

will have the power, in default of agreement between the parties, to

order the addition to the proceeds of the liquidation of such amount

as it shall consider equitable. The said property, rights and

interests shall be restored if the payment is not made within two

months from the agreement with the owner or from the decision of the

Mixed Arbitral Tribunal mentioned above.

 

ARTICLE 67.

 

Greece, Roumania and the Serb-Croat-Slovene State on the one hand, and

Turkey on the other hand undertake mutually to facilitate, both by

appropriate administrative measures and by the delivery of all

documents relating thereto, the search on their territory for, and the

restitution of, movable property of every kind taken away, seized or

sequestrated by their armies or administrations in the territory of

Turkey, or in the territory of Greece, Roumania or the

Serb-Croat-Slovene State respectively, which are actually within the

territories in question.

 

Such search and restitution will take place also as regards property

of the nature referred to above seized or sequestrated by German,

Austro-Hungarian or Bulgarian armies or administrations in the

territory of Greece, Roumania or the Serb-Croat-Slovene State, which

has been assigned to Turkey or to her nationals, as well as to

property seized or sequestrated by the Greek, Roumanian or Serbian

armies in Turkish territory, which has been assigned to Greece,

Roumania or the Serb-Croat-Slovene State or to their nationals.

 

Applications relating to such search and restitution must be made

within six months from the coming into force of the present Treaty.

 

ARTICLE 68.

 

Debts arising out of contracts concluded, in districts in Turkey

occupied by the Greek army, between the Greek authorities and

administrations on the one hand and Turkish nationals on the other,

shall be paid by the Greek Government in accordance with the

provisions of the said contracts.

 

ARTICLE 69.

 

No charge, tax or surtax to which, by virtue of the privileges which

they enjoyed on the 1st August, 1914, Allied nationals and their

property were not subject, shall be collected from Al

[Yervant1]

July 23 2023

Treaty that created modern Turkey still evokes pain for some, 100 years after signing

By Emma Farge and Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi

LAUSANNE, Switzerland, July 23 (Reuters) - The Treaty of Lausanne that formed modern Turkey is still cherished by some but remains a disappointment for others including Kurds and Armenians who hoped for autonomous regions and justice for Ottoman-era crimes.

Some of those voices are included in an exhibit called "Borders" - put on by the Swiss city's history museum to look at the significance of the post-World War One deal 100 years after it was signed between Turkey and allied powers like Britain and France on July 24, 1923.

Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan commemorated the anniversary in a statement last year, praising elements of it and saying that Turkey had meticulously monitored its implementation.

Sevgi Koyuncu, who was born in a Kurdish village and now works in Lausanne, said her people had been "negated by a convention" in an interview filmed in the palace where it was signed.

Some 6,000 Kurdish protesters joined a march through the city on Saturday, waving flags and forming human chains.

For Manuschak Karnusian, a Swiss resident whose Armenian grandparents fled what is now Turkey in the early 20th century with the help of missionaries and French war ships, the treaty is like a "second genocide".

She was referring to 1915 massacres and the forced deportation of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire - an event now labelled genocide by dozens of countries but denied by Turkey, which says thousands of both Turks and Armenians died in inter-ethnic violence.

"You cannot forget. You must show what this (treaty) means," Karnusian told Reuters, saying that it stood for the "origin of the denial of what happened" to the Armenians.

While the agreement was hailed at the time as a chance for lasting peace, some of its outcomes, like the exchange of more than 1.5 million ethnic Greeks and Turks, are now seen as a "terrible mistake", said Jonathan Conlin, a historian at a project that looks at the legacy of the treaty.

"I think it (the treaty) has endured because everyone's equally unhappy about it," he said.

Writing by Emma Farge; Editing by Frances Kerry

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/treaty-that-created-modern-turkey-still-evokes-pain-some-100-years-after-signing-2023-07-23/

[Yervant1]

July 24 2023

The “forgotten peace” of World War I

One hundred years after the Treaty of Lausanne, a look back shows its shortcomings for Armenians — and others.

Peter Dizikes | MIT News Office

Publication Date:

As negotiations for the Treaty of Lausanne began in late 1922, the aim was to hammer out one last international settlement about territories and rights following the first world war, this time between the victorious Allied powers and the Ankara government that had just abolished the Ottoman sultanate and started governing what would soon become the Republic of Turkey. Those watching the conference closely included Armenian representatives who had survived the genocide led by Ottoman rulers in 1915-16, when hundreds of thousands of Armenians were killed.

At the conference, the Armenian delegation had one major aim: that Armenians be granted an autonomous region within Turkey, either in what is now eastern Turkey or northern Syria. They called this an Armenian National Home (ANH), an autonomous, demilitarized area within Turkish territory where Armenians could practice self-rule and express their culture and religion safely.

The negotiations did not produce what the Armenians wanted, however. Turkish leaders rebuffed Armenian demands, while the Allies were not heavily invested in the matter. The Treaty of Lausanne became known as the “birth certificate” of modern Turkey, while Turkey’s Armenian population became a minority group with mostly equal rights, but often facing discrimination in practice.

“The Treaty of Lausanne doesn’t mention Armenians even once,” says MIT historian Lerna Ekmekcioglu.

Now, in a newly published research article, Ekmekcioglu contends that the Treaty of Lausanne is an often-overlooked event of great historical significance for Armenians. As she writes, “the Treaty of Lausanne rendered the Armenian Genocide politically inconsequential.” There was no redress for Armenians, in the form of autonomy or any kind of restorative justice, and no accountability for the perpetrators.

That article, “Debates over an Armenian National Home at the Lausanne Conference and the Limits of Post-Genocide Co-Existence,” uses new archival research to reconstruct the dynamics of the treaty negotiations. As such, the research illuminates both Armenians’ struggles as well as the international community’s struggles to deliver consistent support for multiethnic, multireligious states.

“The issue broadly is how states govern people whose identities don’t fit with the historically dominant group’s identity,” says Ekmekcioglu, who is the McMillan-Stewart Associate Professor of History at MIT and director of MIT’s Program in Women’s and Gender Studies. “It’s an ongoing question. This is a very good case study for contemplating these questions. It’s also very relevant to this day because the Lausanne Treaty did not collapse.”

The paper appears as a chapter in the edited volume, “They All Made Peace — What Is Peace?: The 1923 Lausanne Treaty and the New Imperial Order,” published this month by the University of Chicago Press. It is edited by Jonathan Conlin, a historian at the University of Southampton, and Ozan Ozavci, an assistant professor at Utrecht University. The volume marks the 100th anniversary of the treaty being signed, which occurred on July 24, 1923. The book is part of a collective scholarly effort about the treaty, the “Lausanne Project,” whose website suggests the pact may be the “forgotten peace” of World War I.

Ekmekcioglu’s past work largely focuses on the lives of Armenians in the modern Turkish state. In her 2016 book, “Recovering Armenia: The Limits of Belonging in Post-Genocide Turkey,” published by Stanford University Press, she notes that immediately after World War I, Armenians were optimistic about their political prospects; Ekmekcioglu calls the time from 1918 to 1922 an “exceptional period,” as Armenians hoped to gain full rights they did not have under the Ottoman Empire.

However, the Treaty of Lausanne negotiations — held in Lausanne, Switzerland — brought an end to Armenian optimism. Perhaps that should have been predicted: In the few years after World War I ended, Turkish military forces defeated Allied-backed troops in skirmishing for control over some Turkish territory. That made the Treaty of Lausanne discussions highly unusual: The putative victors, the Allies, had just lost military battles to the side they were negotiating against.

“They have so much negotiating power that they get most of what they want,” Ekmekcioglu says, speaking of the incipient Turkish government of the time.

In that sense, 1922 was probably already too late for negotiations to deliver success for the Armenians. But as Ekmekcioglu details in the article, the Allies lacked not just military leverage, but perhaps moral standing. The Turkish press ran many stories about colonial misdeeds by the British and French, and even stories about the Ku Klux Klan in the U.S., all aimed at showing that the Allied powers had mistreated minority groups. To whatever extent there may have been Ottoman backing for a new Armenian settlement, that kind of coverage helped squelch it.

“One of the reasons they [the Allied side] didn’t have much standing in the eyes of the Turkish public is that they confused humanitarianism with colonialism,” Ekmekcioglu says. “They claimed specifically to have never treated any minorities badly in the empire. But Turkish newspapers were writing about that double standard of imperialism.”

The Treaty of Lausanne has perhaps been best known for having ratified a massive and compulsory population exchange in the 1920s between orthodox Greeks in Asia Minor and surrounding areas, and Muslims in Greece. Perhaps 2 million people were relocated, about three-quarters of them Greek. That exchange, which homogenized area populations, has often been regarded as an antedecdent to the partitioning of India and Pakistan in the late 1940s.

“This has important international legal law consequences because population transfer then becomes a potentially recognized solution to the existence of heterogeneity and population mixing,” Ekmekcioglu observes. “Other groups, in the future will take this as an example. It is a self-fulfilling prophecy.”

So, while the Treaty of Lausanne did guarantee certain rights for all populations, its inability to deliver a more thorough pluralism in political bodies may be a lasting part of its legacy. To be sure, the Armenian representatives at the Lausanne conference also wanted their own largely homogenized territory, too — although, as Ekmekcioglu notes in the paper, their extraordinary circumstances makes that fairly understandable.

And so, after suffering at the hands of the Ottomans, the Armenians then felt let down by the international community, another blow in short succession. Perhaps there were no easy answers at the time, but, Ekmekcioglu observes, we can still think through what the best alternatives might have been. Especially, she notes, in a world often still struggling to achieve stability and pluralism at once.

“To understand minorities in Turkey to this day, you have to understand the Treaty of Lausanne, and how it came to be,” Ekmekcioglu says. “It’s a great laboratory for comparing, and ideally coming up with an answer to, the issue of difference.”

https://news.mit.edu/2023/forgotten-peace-world-war-i-lausanne-treaty-0724