Fact #24, 341 days to go: Wilsonian Armenia refers to the boundary configuration of the First Republic of Armenia in the Treaty of Sèvres, drawn by US President Woodrow Wilson State Department. The Treaty of Sèvres was a peace treaty that had been drafted and signed between the Western Allied Powers and the defeated government of the Ottoman Empire in August 1920. The treaty was never signed by the United States of America. The treaty was signed but never ratified by the Ottoman Empire. The Treaty of Sevres contained articles that gave the Armenians a real hope that their losses might be compensated for, both in terms of justice and territory. The proposed boundaries incorporated the Ottoman vilayets of Erzurum, Bitlis, and Van, which once had Armenian populations of varying sizes. This region was extended to the north, up to the west side of Trabzon to provide the First Republic of Armenia with an outlet to the Black Sea at the port of Trabzon. The Treaty of Sèvres was rejected by the Turkish national movement under the leadership of Ataturk who had split with the monarchy creating a rival Ankara government, which eventually emerged as the legitimate representative for the Turkish nation. During what is known as the Turkish War of Independence, the Turkish nationalists successfully resisted and assured the security of what they defined as their homeland with the Treaty of Alexandropol and the Treaty of Kars reversing aspects of the Treaty of Sevres by cementing the eastern borders. As a result of this, and with nations keen to foster ties with the emerging Turkish State, the former Allies of World War I had to return back to the negotiating table with the Turks. The result was the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923, which replaced the Treaty of Sèvres and recovered important amounts of land in Anatolia for the Turks. Winston Churchill who had urged the Armenian population to rebel during the Gallipoli landings remarked: In the Lausanne Treaty, which established a new peace between the allies and Turkey, history will search in vain for the name Armenia.” #ArmenianGenocide #100yearsofdenial #recognizegenocide #Turkeyfailed #Obamafailed #Countdown #365facts
Posted on: Mon, 19 May 2014 03:58:19 +0000
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