İstanbul Government signs the Treaty of Sèvres
Empire in World War I, the Treaty of Sèvres was signed on August 10, 1920 by the Turkish delegation presided by Grand Vizier Damad Ferit Pasha. Drafted with a view to reshaping Anatolia along with the Middle East, the treaty stipulated the following conditions:
- İstanbul remains as the capital of the Ottoman State, whereas a large portion of Thrace is ceded to Greece and city centers on the line (under French occupation) between Ceyhan and Cizre is ceded to Syria;
- The Straits of İstanbul and Çanakkale, as well as the Sea of Marmara are disarmed and the Straits are left to the control of a commission comprised of ten nations;
- A local Kurdish government is established in the east of the Euphrates;
- The sovereignty of İzmir is ceded to Greece for five years;
- The Ottoman State holds no rights over Arab provinces, Cyprus, and the Aegean islands;
- Minority rights are assigned to the control of the Allied States.
- The Ottoman army is disarmed and limited to 50 thousand soldiers and the Turkish navy is dissolved;
- Lifted in 1914, the capitulations are reinstated.
Mustafa Kemal defined the Treaty of Sèvres as “a demonic death warrant for the Turkish nation” and considered it null and void with the words, “As far as we are concerned, the Treaty of Sèvres, which aims to annihilate our economic and financial independence and denies and destroys our right to live, does not exist.”
