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THE TREATY OF
SEVRES
10.08.1920
On August 10 1920,
competent representatives of 14 nations including Armenia,
signed “the Treaty of Peace between Allied and Associated Powers
and turkey” in Sevres (France). The treaty officially put an end
to the Ottoman Empire and in fact, abolished turkish
sovereignty.
Basing
on its provisions, turkey agreed to British and French
protectorate over Mesopotamia (Iraq) and Syria (Syria, Lebanon,
Transjordan and Palestine), recognized independence of Hejaz, Asir and Yemen, granted autonomy to Kurdistan (the province of
Diyarbekir and southern part of Van province), ceded Smyrna (now
Izmir) and Eastern Trace to Greece and Western Armenia (the
provinces of Bitlis, Erzerum and northern part of Van province)
to the Armenian Republic. Additionally, eastern half of
Trebizond province was to be partitioned between Armenia and
Georgia thus providing Armenian Republic full access to the sea.
The Zone of the Straits formally remained turkish but was to be
neutralized and internationalized.
While
accepted by the government of Sultan Muhammad VI in
Constantinople, the treaty of Sevres was rejected by the new
nationalist government formed in Ankara by kemal ataturk.
The
turkish nationalists refused to transfer the assigned
territories to Greece and especially to Armenia and Georgia.
Ataturk even claimed that turkey had enough forces to take over
all the South Caucasus if needed.
Unlike
Greece controlling not only the assigned territories but
occupying area of western Anatolia, Armenian Republic seemed
unable to take over the territories assigned to her by the
treaty. Facing 50 000 strong turkish army of nizam karabeqir
Pasha at her pre-treaty borders, Armenia could boast less than
30 000 soldiers. In spite of the fact that according to their
British allies, Armenian army was the best trained and the most
disciplined among other armies of the South Caucasus, it was
exhausted both morally, physically and financially as a result
of the series of almost non-stop warfare starting with 1917.
 The
turkish-Armenian relations in the aftermath of the Treaty of
Sevres, were marked by the following misbalance: Armenia was
willing to take over the territory legally assigned to her by
the Allies but was unable to do so while the turks unwilling to
submit to the treaty, had both the possibilities and aspirations
to take over all the remaining Armenia. The further development
of the situation in the South Caucasus demonstrated.
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
And that Armenia could
not count on any serious external help while turkey enjoyed both
diplomatic and military support on behalf of the Soviet Russia
and its puppet-state of Soviet azerbaijan.
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