Commentary
The Treaty of Sѐvres: A Historic Event
August 10 is a memorable anniversary of a historic event. On this day in 1920, the victorious Allied Powers of World War I and the defeated Turkey signed an important treaty—the Treaty of Sèvres. It was in the city of Sèvres near Paris, France that the Allied Powers and their minor allies agreed to settle their conflicts wit
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So long as Armenia and the global Armenian community pursue the cause of justice , there will be no legal constraints or statute of limitations. The main issue currently is whether the Republic of Armenia will pursue legal channels for reparations and the intent of Sèvres. For decades the diaspora kept the torch alive. With the emergence of the RoA as the legitimate spokesperson for Armenian rights, the question is when and if they will attend to this “unfinished business”. When will they feel confidence enough to renounce the treacherous Treaty of Kars forced on the Armenian people. Genocide reparations, Sevres and Kars are all in the same discussion.
As the old saying goes, “If only…” with the completion of the sentence being “a US Mandate over Armenia had occurred.” We Armenians had the Sèvres treaty in hand but unfortunately lacked the power to implement it in large part because of the great losses suffered during the Armenian Genocide. How completely unjust that the Turks, the very perpetrators of the Armenian Genocide reap the rewards of their ravages against the victim, the Armenian people. Nevertheless, if the day comes when Armenia can claim its power (militarily, economically, or otherwise) over Turkey, it’s on that day that we Armenians can present the legal justification via the Treaty of Sèvres to form a united Armenia.
‘Should the terms of the treaty of Sevres concerning the Republic of Armenia be revisited?’
For the foreseeable future, it would be as futile as the first time around a century ago, likewise the ultimate futility of the Berlin Conference before that. All for the same reason, presenting our claims on paper, and lacking an iron ladle, as Khrimian Hairig concluded. Currently Armenia and the diaspora should remain focused on circling the wagons around Armenia/Artsakh while reaching out to endangered Armenians all over the Middle East.
It’s not just that “defeated Turkey imposed its own terms on the victorious Allies”.
Kemal Ataturk or the new country called Turkey signed with the Allies lucrative business deals. Moreover, the Ottoman Empire had a huge debt to pay to Europe. So it was in the interest of the European Powers to see Turkey as the continuation of the Ottoman Empire and hence for the new country to pay the debts of the Ottoman Empire. In the end, Turkey did pay parts of the Ottoman Empire’s debts and Europe was satisfied.
Was it a revolutionary movement or terorist activities? What you call terrorist activities was a war against allied occupation and terrorist activities of Armanian կամավոր?
“Two Turkish military leaders—Kiazim Karabekir and Mustafa Kemal—led a revolutionary movement with a slogan “Turkey for Turks.” Eventually, Kemal emerged as the charismatic leader who started terrorist activities in the interior of Turkey challenging the Allied Powers”