Turkey wants Revision in Treaty of Lausanne

Turkey wants Revision in Treaty of Lausanne

Rashid Hussain


On December 7, 2017, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Greece and spoke out about one of the most controversial issues among the two nations. It was the first visit to Greece by a Turkish head of state in 65 years.

The Treaty of Lausanne, a peace treaty, was signed in Lausanne, Switzerland, on July 24, 1923. It settled the conflict that had originally existed between the Ottoman Empire and the Allied French Republic, British Empire, Kingdom of Italy, Empire of Japan, Kingdom of Greece and the Kingdom of Romania since the onset of World War One.

A day before meeting his Greek counterpart Prokopis Pavlopoulos, President Erdogan appeared on a Greek TV channel for an interview. Talking about the Lausanne Treaty, he said "First and foremost, the Lausanne Treaty does not only compass Greece but the entire region, and because of that, I think that all the treaties need a revision, the Lausanne Treaty, also needs to be reviewed.

Erdogan's statement made the Greek angry, as the welcoming gesture of Greek leaders turned into glares. The next day, Erdogan and Pavlopoulos held a joint press conference, the Greek president, avoiding eye contact with Erdogan, said: "The Treaty of Lausanne defines the territory and sovereignty of Greece and European Union, and this Treaty is not negotiable." But Erdogan expressed hope that his visit will mark a new era in Turkish-Greek relations.

Greece Prime minister Alexis Tsipras said both countries agreed to launch "confidence-building measures", and both countries should talk calmly about their different perspectives.

In today's Turkey, Kemalist's hard-line secularists, still support the Treaty while the supporters of the Ottoman Empire believe that Treaty was unjustified. Mr. Erdogan says the 1923 Treaty that shortened Turkey's borders after World War one, was not applied fairly.

During the television interview, Erdogan reiterated his appeal to revise the Treaty of Lausanne 1923, citing the conditions of ethnic Turks living in West of the Greek Thrace region. He said, " Muslims in Western Thrace have not even been allowed to choose their own Mufti from their community; efforts to appoint Mufti are ongoing, but this is not the case for the Patriarchate in Turkey, but in the Western Thrace, even the word 'Turk' is forbidden."

Relations between these two NATO members have been tense for the last two decades. Longstanding disputes over uninhabited islands in Aegean brought both the countries to the brink of war in 1996. They have also failed to reach a peace deal in divided Cyprus. Talking to local media, Erdogan said: " We do not have any patience left over the Cyprus dispute, Turkey seeks a just and permanent solution to the issue but the Greek Cypriots do not want that."


Turkey wants to take back the territory that was then part of the Ottoman Empire, and the right over its snatched resources including drilling for petroleum resources. Ottoman Empire which ruled most of Europe, Western Asia, Caucasus, North Africa and the Horn of Africa between the 14th and early 20th centuries and was officially ended in 1922, Republic Turkey was declared in 1923 then the Ottoman Empire rulers were sent into exile.

People in Turkey believe that the revival of the Ottoman Empire is going to happen, the Lausanne Treaty will expire in 2023, of which, president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has also mentioned in his speeches multiple times.