LOZAN’DA BAŞARIYI ÖLÇMEK: KONULAR BAZINDA BİR DEĞERLENDİRME

Lausanne Peace Treaty is the most important international law document that is foundational to the very existence and territorial integrity of Republic of Turkey. Lausanne Conference, which is convened to decide on the outcomes of World War I and the ensuing Turkish Independence War, is indeed a series of negotiations whereby competing demands are raised. It was demands of young Turkish Republic versus those of Central Powers and other states, Greece being the primary one, which were discussed and negotiated in the Conference. Although the talks were from the very beginning among the equals thanks to meticulous care showed by İsmet Pasha representing Turkey in the Conference, the most difficulty faced by Turkey was due mainly to the demands concerning not readily available interests and rights to the Turkish Side whereas Central Powers were only concerned what to give up. Not only the main agenda items like land, concessions, Ottoman debts, and removal of armed forces from the Bosporus, but also other small or big issues accumulated over the years were taken up in the Conference that was held in an atmosphere in which neither party dared to start a new war. Consensuses reached in the form of treaties and protocol during the long talks that were intermitted several months in Lausanne have been dealt with and assessed from different perspectives. Whether the outcome was a success or not for the parties to the treaty was part of a political evaluation. As a result of an attempt to gauge and base it on a sound ground this article then aims, by utilizing specifically prepared tables based on relevant issues, to assess in the framework of what is demanded and attained whether the Lausanne Peace Treaty was a success for Turkey Acknowledging the fact that not every issue covered in the tables has the same weight in subsequent appraisal this article reaches to the conclusion that Lausanne Peace Treaty should be considered a ‘success’ in terms of what is gained by Turkey even the unattained demands were also taken into account.