Negotiations interrupted at Lausanne
During the Lausanne Conference, Turkey not only reckoned with Greeks, whom she defeated despite their attacks across Anatolia, but also settled scores with nations that had vanquished the Ottoman State in World War I. She was forced to face all the dissolution cases of an empire that had already become history.
The Lausanne negotiations began on November 20, 1922. The Conference witnessed intense debates over fundamental issues such as Ottoman debts, the Turkish-Greek border, the Straits, Mosul, minorities, and the capitulations. No one could have predicted that the Turkish delegation would show such resoluteness. In a report he sent to Ankara, İsmet Pasha said, “Either they will break us down and recreate the old Sèvres, or we will break them down and make peace, just like any civilized and independent nation.”
Neither party was willing to make any concessions on the abolition of the capitulations, Ottoman debts, and the issue of Mosul. The differences in opinion increasingly brought the conference to an impasse. When İsmet Pasha rejected the draft treaty of the Allies with the words, “I refuse to sign a document that condemns my nation to slavery,” the Lausanne negotiations, which had been ongoing for three months, were interrupted on February 4, 1923 and the Turkish delegation returned to Ankara.
In the ensuing weeks, heated arguments transpired at the Turkish Grand National Assembly about the progress of the peace conference. The second phase of Lausanne began on April 23, 1923. This time, Lord Cruzon, the chief negotiator for the Allies known for his stern and uncompromising manner, was no longer presiding over the British Delegation. The climate during the second phase of the conference was more temperate for both parties and the majority of the pending issues was resolved.
