The Truth About Sevr and Lausanne

The land we live on and the Republic established on this land are the greatest legacies left to us by our ancestors. This form of government is the most beautiful regime that suits the Turkish character. The fact that terrorist organisations such as ISIS, which emerged in Syria and Iraq, can still find space to operate even under this regime naturally disturbs us all. The only thing we need against such terrorist nests that target our Republic, our democracy, and our modern institutional structure is to look at ourselves and our history with a calmer and broader perspective, to continue talking, reading, and writing about ourselves and our history, and to preserve our stance as an exemplary country in the Islamic world in an even stronger manner.

Let us not ignore the developments around us and within us, nor the events that create tension, but let calmness and normalisation be our motto. Of course, there are many prerequisites for this to happen. First and foremost among these is to be free from the fear of existence.

The reason for this is the deep trauma we experienced before and during the founding years of the Republic. The magnitude of this trauma has torn our memory and created a void. This tear and void have made our relationship with history and ourselves problematic. Calmness and normality are first achieved through dialogue. If we calmly discuss our history and ourselves, there will be no apocalypse, the Republic will not be torn apart, nor will our lands be taken from us.

At the end of the First World War, it was a war between the Turks, who wanted to protect the last piece of land they had left, and other nations who wanted to share this land among themselves; it was a war of liberation, or in other words, our war of freedom.

In contrast, other nations such as the Armenians, Greeks, and Kurds, particularly with British support, sought to establish their own national states and divide Anatolia among themselves through agreements with the British, French, and Italians. The two significant treaties symbolising this perspective on history are the Treaty of Sèvres and the Treaty of Lausanne. One was the success of the empires and their designs (Sèvres), the other was the success of the Turkish nation (Lozan).

The Treaty of Sèvres essentially decided the partition of Anatolia in favour of nations other than the Turks. For this reason, Sèvres is a black mark for the Turks. Indeed, the Ottoman leaders who signed the treaty were declared traitors by the Ankara Movement and sentenced to death. The Armenian, Greek and Kurdish communities, on the other hand, regard the Treaty of Sèvres as a ‘missed historical opportunity,’ even though it did not fully reflect their territorial expectations, because it essentially resolved matters in their favour. A similar attitude is observed regarding the Treaty of Lausanne. Lausanne guarantees Turkish sovereignty in Anatolia. For this reason, for us Turks, Lausanne is a symbol of existence from nothing. Other nations, however, consider Lausanne a historical injustice.

I believe we can comfortably say that, even though opinions on Sèvres and Lausanne are diametrically opposed, all communities accept that the conflicts symbolised by Sèvres and Lausanne are essentially a ‘war over land and borders.’ The main debate centres on where the lands are and where the border should be drawn, who is right, and who has been wronged. Undoubtedly, developments ultimately centred on how the lands should be shared. However, this was not the main factor determining historical developments.

I can summarise my main thesis as follows: To view the events of 1918-1923, the Turkish War of Independence, solely as a ‘war over land and borders’ does not fully reflect the history that unfolded. The Turkish War of Independence was essentially the product of this accusation and the desire to punish the Turks according to the principles of crimes against humanity because of this accusation. This situation remains a sociological reality that will continue indefinitely.

In summary, the history of Sevres and Lausanne was not only a history of borders and territory, but also a history of human rights, embodied in the concept of ‘crimes against humanity.’ Today, the games of imperial states and their proxies, their schemes and calculations regarding Anatolian lands, continue unabated and will continue indefinitely.

They will not hesitate to unleash their proxies, such as the PKK and ISIS, upon us. What is important is that we must never forget that living in this geography comes at a price, and we must continue our struggle against them and their masters without faltering... This is the sole foundation of our existence, our independence and our future, and it is our most precious treasure.