Understanding Treaty of Lausanne

The Treaty of Lausanne is an international peace agreement signed in Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1923. The Treaty was signed for a period of a hundred years i.e. up till 2023.

It was signed between the Allied powers; Britain, France, Greece, Italy, Japan, Romania, Yugoslavia, and the then Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Empire was represented by Ismet Inonu as a delegate of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

The treaty led to the international recognition of the sovereignty of the new Republic of Turkey. The Treaty of Lausanne contains 143 articles and was distributed over 17 documents. Its main contents are as under:

1. It abolished the Treaty of Sevres and its unfair clauses.
2. Demarcated and recognized the new borders.
3. It formally recognized the Turkish Republic under Mustafa Kemal and the abolition of the Caliphate.
4. The Treaty delineated the borders of Greece, Bulgaria, and Turkey and formally conceded all Turkish claims on the Dodecanese Islands (Article 15), Cyprus (Article 20), Egypt and Sudan (Article 17), Iraq and Syria (Article 3).
5. The Dodecanese is a group of islands in the Aegean Sea, off the southwestern coast of Turkey in southeastern Greece.
6. The Fate of Mosul was left to be determined through the League of Nations. Mosul is a major city in present-day northern Iraq and serves as the capital of the Nineveh Governorate.
7. The separate Kurdish territory, which was a part of the treaty of Severs was abandoned.
8. Armenian people were split between the Soviet Union and Turkey.
9. Turkey had to renounce its sovereignty over Cyprus, Libya, Egypt, and Levant cities located in Syria e.g. Adana and Gaziantep.
10. Syria and Lebanon fell under French occupation. Moreover, Egypt, Sudan, and Iraq became officially part of the British occupation.
11. Palestine came under British authorities (before being handed over to the newborn state of Israel).
12. As a punitive action, in order to crush Turkey, the Turkish straits between the Aegean Sea and the Black Sea were declared open to all shipping and unrestricted civilian passage through Turkish straits.
13. The purpose was to limit its resources from the International passage.
14. More restrictions were clamped on Turkey as it was prevented from drilling for oil and gas.

Background

After defeating the Ottoman Empire in World War I, Britain, France, Italy, and other Allies decided to constrict one of the mightiest and longest-lasting dynasties in world history; the Ottoman Empire.

The Islamic Superpower ruled large areas of the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and North Africa for more than 600 years. Though initially, the Ottoman Empire, already in its decline, stayed neutral.

However, in 1914 to strengthen its weakening army, the then Ottoman Empire signed a pact with Germany. German interest at that time was securing safe passage into the neighboring British colonies.

The Ottoman Empire fought the war on the side of Germany, Austria, and Hungary, known as the Central powers. World War I ended with the Ottoman Empire being wholly vanquished.

The alliance with Germany cost it thousands of Ottoman lives, dealing a death blow to the already weak empire. This disastrous defeat ended with the signing of the Treaty of Sevres in 1920, in Sevres, France.

Treaty of Sevres

The Treaty of Sevres marked the beginning of the partition of the Ottoman Empire. The Treaty stipulated the renunciation of most territories and their cession to Allied Powers i.e., France, the UK, Greece, and Italy.

Furthermore, Sèvres internationalized Istanbul and the Bosphorus. The Treaty changed the whole outlook of Antalya and the then Ottoman Empire was left with a small chunk when Greece, Italy, and France occupied their assigned regions.

However, it lasted just a year. Refusing such crushing terms, forces of the Turkish Nationalist Movement fought a war of liberation and expelled the French troops from South East Antalya in the Battle of Sakarya in September 1921.

The war was led by Mustafa Kemal, the leader of the Turkish National Movement. He also defeated the army of Greece in the Greek-Turkish war with a stirred-up spirit of nationalism, to fight the Allies in Izmir and other regions of Turkish territory.

Mustafa Kemal founded the Republic of modern Turkey as a secular state. Turkey recovered Eastern Thrace, several Aegean islands, a strip along the Syrian border, the Smyrna district, and the internationalized Zone of the Straits; Bosphorus and Dardanelles.

However, these would remain demilitarized. Thrace is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe, split between Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey. Smyrna, the present-day Izmir, was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia.

Turkey recovered full sovereign rights over all its territory and outside the Zone of the Straits, no limitation was imposed on the Turkish military establishment.

These developments compelled the Allies to come to the negotiating table, resulting in the inception of the Treaty of Lausanne and present-day Turkey.

Consequently, Turkey renounced all claims on its former territories outside new boundaries and guaranteed the rights of its minorities. An agreement between Greece and Turkey was also signed for the exchange of minorities.

What happens after the Treaty of Lausanne expires?

Presently, a persistent question plaguing the minds of the Western and Middle Eastern powers and analysts is what will happen after the Treaty of Lausanne expires in July 2023.

With the expiration of the 100-year treaty in 2023, Turkey will be able to drill for oil, establishing a new channel connecting the Black Sea and Sea of Marmara for collecting the fees from passing ships.

Moreover, it will be able to spearhead gas exploration in Syria, Iraq, and Libya, especially after the discovery of oil in Mosul which remains the most significant area for Turkey.

Erdogan reclaimed the Greek Islands in the Aegean after the expiration of the Treaty, which was handed over to Greecaims to grab, will be free to take charge of the rich and underground resources in Northern Iraq and begin exploration.

Likewise, it will be able to take back control of Libya and Cyprus and maintain a presence in the Mediterranean region.

Prevalent political situation in the region

Turkey has never been able to erase those painful memories of when it was forced to sign the humiliating treaty under duress. In fact, the myth of re-establishing the old Ottoman Empire never faded away.

After the rise of Erdogan on the Turkish political horizon and the support of various Islamic movements, it may be highlighted that the changes in the geopolitical scenario post-Treaty of Lausanne would depend on the use of Turkish military capabilities in the region.

This has been manifested by Turkish military concentrations on the borders of Iraq and Syria and its involvement in the Red Sea through an agreement on the Sudanese island of Sawaken.

Suakin or Sawakin is a port city in northeastern Sudan. It is located on the west coast of the Red Sea. It was previously the region’s chief port. Presently, it is secondary to Port Sudan, roughly 50 kilometers north.

The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean between Africa and Asia. It is connected to the ocean in the south, via the Gulf of Aden and the Bab el Mandeb strait.