Treaty of Sèvres (1920); World War, 1914-1918 -- Territorial questions -- Turkey; World War, 1914-1918 -- Turkey
Alluding to the note handed by him on coming to Paris to M. Clémenceau
and Mr. Lloyd George and recently read to the Senate by M. Scialoja, he
complained that the Allies supported the Greek claims in Asia Minor,
and overlooked the Italian interests in the same region. As Greece had
got all she wanted and Italy’s hopes in Asia Minor had been frustrated,
the agreement with M. Venizelos was no longer valid, according to him,
and he concluded thus: “The agreement became null and void on the day
when at San Remo the draft of the Turkish treaty was definitely drawn
up.” Finally, on August 9 Greece and Italy came to an agreement, and a
protocol was signed. The Dodecanese, according to the Tittoni-Venizelos
agreement, were given up to Greece, with the exception of Rhodes,
which, for the present, remained in the hands of Italy. In case England
should cede Cyprus to Greece, a plebiscite was to be taken at Rhodes
within fifteen years, instead of five years as had been settled before.
There was no reason why Italy should give up Rhodes if England, which
had ruled over Cyprus since 1878, did not hand it over to Greece. The
League of Nations was to decide in what manner this plebiscite was to
be taken; meanwhile Italy would grant Rhodes a wide autonomy. According
to the account given of the Italo-Greek agreement, it includes some
stipulations concerning Smyrna, and at the request of the Italian
Government the Italian schools, museums, and subjects enjoy a special
treatment. Italy keeps her privilege for the archæological excavations
at Kos.
Not a word was said of Albania, though there had been some clauses
about it in the 1919 agreement. Italy and Greece were to make separate
arrangements with the Albanians.
Yugo-Slavia in its turn protested in regard to the share of the Turkish
debt that was assigned to her and complained that the charges inherent
in the Turkish territories she had received in 1913 were too heavy.
King Hussein too was dissatisfied with the Syrian events and the
attitude of France. So he refused to adhere to the treaty, though
it indirectly acknowledged the independence of his States and his
own sovereignty. He thus showed he really aimed at setting up a huge
Arabian Kingdom where his sons would have only been his lieutenants
in Syria and Mesopotamia. Besides, King Hussein earnestly begged that
the Kingdom of Mesopotamia, which had hitherto been promised to his
son Abdullah, should be given to the Emir Feisal as a compensation for
Syria, and a hint was given that England would not object to this.
Then the Turkish delegates, seeing the Allies at variance, raised
objections to the treaty, and on the morning of August 10 Hadi Pasha
informed the Conference he could not sign the treaty if the Allies
could not agree together. However, at the earnest request of a high
official of the Foreign Office and after he had been repeatedly urged
to do so, he consented to sign the treaty in the afternoon at Sèvres.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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