Treaty of Lausanne

Image:Turkey-Greece-Bulgaria on Treaty of Lausanne.png|thumb|Borders of Turkey according to the Treaty of Lausanne.]]

The Treaty of Lausanne (July 24, 1923) was a peace treaty signed in Lausanne, Switzerland, that settled the Anatolian and East Thracian parts of the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire by annulment of the Treaty of Sèvres (1920) that was signed by the Istanbul-based Ottoman government; as the consequence of the Turkish War of Independence between the Allies of World War I and the Ankara-based Grand National Assembly of Turkey (Turkish national movement) led by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. The treaty also led to the international recognition of the sovereignty of the new Republic of Turkey as the successor state of the defunct Ottoman Empire.

Background

The Ottoman government had enjoyed a close relationship with Germany from the late-nineteenth century. In debt to various Western powers, only Germany continued to offer financial and technological support. From 1881, the finances of the Empire were supervised by the Ottoman Public Debt Administration appointed by the creditors. From 1909, the Empire was governed by the Young Turk's, who effectively side-lined the Sultan and promised a series of reforms to improve efficiency and prevent the further disintegration of the empire, which had lost its European territory while such provinces as Egypt and Cyprus were under British control although legally still Ottoman territories. European states also had numerous capitulations, enclaves more or less under their control so that a Turkish policeman could not even enter "the premises of a European or American without the permission of the latter's consul." Weakened militarily, the Empire also faced the threat of possible "further encroachments on its territory." The most likely threat was Russia but Italy and Greece or Bulgaria were also regarded with suspicion. To counter this threat, the Young Turk's realized that they needed a European ally. Britain had aided them against Russia in the Crimean War but under William Ewart Gladstone Britain's attitude towards the Empire has changed; "Claiming that the Sultan's regime was a 'bottomless pit of fraud and falsehood'" Gladstone had withdrawn British protection and influence from Constantinople." Instead, Germany presented itself as protectors of the Ottoman's interests. Partly, this was because Germany and its ally, Austria-Hungary did not want to see an Emperor deposed due to the outbreak of nationalism across his empire, fearing a similar fate. Partly, an alliance with the Ottomans was strategically useful. Nonetheless, the British were approached but responded negatively. Instead, the Kaiser Wilhelm II entered talks about a formal alliance in July 1914 and a treaty was signed on August 2, 1914.

Overview and negotiations

Borders of Turkey according to the Treaty of Sèvres (1920) which was annulled and replaced by the Treaty of Lausanne (1923) as a consequence of the Turkish War of Independence led by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk

Many Turks were resentful of the treaty and wanted to end Ottoman governance. They saw the terms as punitive and argued that the people of Turkey were not responsible for the Ottoman's supporting Germany. Under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, a nationalist movement

After the expulsion of the Allied forces by the Turkish army under the command of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the Ankara-based government of the Turkish national movement rejected the Treaty of Sèvres (1920) that was signed by the Istanbul-based Ottoman government.

Negotiations were undertaken during the Conference of Lausanne at which İsmet İnönü was the chief negotiator for Turkey. Lord Curzon, the British Foreign Secretary of that time, was the chief negotiator of the Allies, while Eleftherios Venizelos negotiated on behalf of Greece. The negotiations took many months. On November 20 1922, the peace conference was opened, and after strenuous debate, was interrupted by Turkish protest on February 4 1923. After reopening again on April 23, and following more protests by the Turks and tense debates, the treaty was signed on July 24 as a result of eight months of arduous negotiation. The delegation on behalf of the Allies included negotiators such as the U.S. Admiral Mark L. Bristol, who served as the United States High Commissioner and championed Turkish efforts.

Treaty stipulations

The treaty was composed of 143 articles with major sections including:

• Convention on the Turkish straits
• Trade (abolition of capitulations)
• Agreements
• Binding letters.

The treaty provided for the independence of the Republic of Turkey but also for the protection of the ethnic Greek minority in Turkey and the mainly ethnically Turkish Muslim minority in Greece. However, most of the Greek population of Turkey and the Turkish population of Greece had already been deported under the earlier Exchange of Populations between Greece and Turkey agreement signed by Greece and Turkey. Only the Greeks of Istanbul, Imbros and Tenedos were excluded (about 270,000 in Istanbul alone at that time), and the Muslim population of Western Thrace (about 86,000 in 1922). Article 14 of the treaty granted the islands of Imbros and Tenedos "special administrative organisation," a right that was revoked by the Turkish government on February 17, 1926. The Republic of Turkey also formally accepted the loss of Cyprus (which was "rented" to the British Empire following the Congress of Berlin in 1878, but de jure remained an Ottoman territory until World War I) as well as Egypt and Sudan (which were occupied by British forces with the pretext of "establishing order" in 1882, but de jure remained Ottoman territories until World War I) to the British Empire. The fate of the province of Mosul was left to be determined through the League of Nations. Turkey also renounced all claims on the Dodecanese Islands, which Italy was obliged to return back to Turkey according to the Treaty of Ouchy in 1912 (also known as the First Treaty of Lausanne (1912), as it was signed at the Ouchy Castle in Lausanne, Switzerland) following the Italo-Turkish War (1911-1912).

Borders

The treaty delimited the boundaries of Greece, Bulgaria, and Turkey; formally ceded all Turkish claims on the Dodecanese Islands (Article 15); Cyprus (Article 20); Egypt and Sudan (Article 17); Iraq and Syria (Article 3); and (along with the Treaty of Ankara) settled the boundaries of the latter two nations. Turkey also renounced its priviliges in Libya which were defined by Article 10 of the Treaty of Ouchy in 1912 (per Article 22 of the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923).

Agreements

Among many agreements, there was a separate agreement with the United States: the Chester concession. The U.S. Senate refused to ratify the treaty and consequently Turkey annulled the concession.

Aftermath

• The Treaty of Lausanne led to the international recognition of the sovereignty of the new Republic of Turkey as the successor state of the defunct Ottoman Empire.

• The Convention on the Turkish Straits lasted only thirteen years and was replaced with the Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Turkish Straits in 1936. The customs limitations in the treaty were shortly reworked.

• Hatay Province remained a part of the French Mandate of Syria according to the Treaty of Lausanne, but in 1938 gained its independence as the Hatay State, which later joined Turkey with a referendum in 1939. For many decades Syria didn't recognize the addition of Hatay Province to Turkey and continued to show it as a part of Syria on its maps.

• Political amnesty was applied. 150 personae non gratae of Turkey (descendants of the Ottoman dynasty) slowly acquired citizenship - the last one was in 1974.

See also

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Treaty of Lausanne

• Aftermath of World War I
• Turks of Western Thrace
• Greeks of Turkey
• Greek refugees
• Minority Treaties
• Ismet Inönü

External links

• Full text of the Treaty of Lausanne (1923)
• Treaty of Ouchy (1912), also known as the First Treaty of Lausanne

Template:Turkish War of Independence

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