Treaty of Sèvres (1920); World War, 1914-1918 -- Territorial questions -- Turkey; World War, 1914-1918 -- Turkey
“I need not dwell at length on this painful subject, which will be
an eternal shame to modern civilisation, for the victorious Powers
know a great deal more—after the inter-Allied inquiry held four
months ago in Smyrna—about the ‘gentle and fatherly’ manner in
which thousands of Mussulmans were slaughtered and exterminated by
the descendants of the civilisation of ancient Greece, who invaded
that essentially Turkish province during the armistice under
pretence of restoring order.”
And after recalling the figures of the various elements of the
population of the Turkish Empire after the 1914 statistics, he
concluded:
“Such figures speak but too eloquently, and the painful events
that drenched with blood the unfortunate Ottoman land since the
armistice raise only too much horror. So the Turkish people most
proudly and serenely awaits the righteous, humane, and equitable
sanction of the victorious Powers that have assumed before history
the heavy responsibility of placing the whole world on a lasting
basis of justice, concord, and peace.
“God grant they may choose the best way, the only way, that will
lead them to respect, as they solemnly pledged themselves to do,
the ethnic, historical, and religious rights of the Ottoman nation
and its Sultan, who is, at the same time, the supreme head of the
350 million Mussulmans throughout the world.”
On the same date (April 20, 1920) the Indian Caliphate delegation
addressed a note to the president of the Allied Supreme Council at
San Remo, to the English, French, Italian Prime Ministers, and to the
Japanese ambassador. In this note they summed up their mandate with the
Allied and Associated Powers, and insisted again on the claims they had
previously laid before Mr. Lloyd George in the course of the interview
mentioned previously.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account