The Treaty of Lausanne: After a Century of Implementations, Transformations and Complications

Oct 4-5th 2023

Following the Treaty of Lausanne's ratification, the western half of the Middle East—the former Ottoman lands-- experienced numerous geographical and political shifts that resulted in national, religious, and economic crises and conflicts, as well as outbreaks of civil wars, uprisings, and attempts at genocide. These actions have had severe and long-lasting social, psychological, and economic implications. Conflicts among the region's nations persist to this day.

A century of conflict in the Republic of Turkey has accompanied the implementation of the Treaty of Lausanne, which replaced the Treaty of Sèvres signed on August 10, 1920, between the victorious states of World War I and the collapsing Ottoman Empire. Under the terms of the Treaty of Sèvres, the Ottoman Empire's territories were divided among its non-Turkish nationalities, with most being given independence or placed under the League of Nations’ jurisdiction as British or French Mandates.

The political elite that founded the new government in Ankara later rejected the agreement and went to war with the allies. This included Turkish and Kurdish political and military elites. Consequently, the idea of independence for the Kurds was not upheld.

On July 24, 1923, the British and the French signed the Treaty of Lausanne with Turkey, disregarding the right to self-determination for some of the Kurds and the Armenians that had been awarded in Sèvres", in recognition of the military facts on the ground.

On July 24, 2023, we will commemorate the Treaty of Lausanne's 100th anniversary and reflect on its effects on the Kurds and the region at large. Additionally, there still remained a number of contentious concerns that need to be resolved, including the “Mosul Vellayet” question and Turkey's and Europe's roles in these changes.

The crucial and alarming part of this deal for us is that it neglected the Kurds' rights and their independence—the right to have their own nation-state. This in turn sparked the start of their political conflict, which worried and tense the numerous nations in the region. With time, these issues and problems have gotten more complicated. As a result, we have chosen to convene an international conference on Oct 4-5th, 2023, with the theme The Treaty of Lausanne: Harvest of a Century: Transformations, Challenges and Prospects

By posing queries in light of the regional transformations, their many aspects, and the degree of their repercussions on the geopolitical and economic map, the conference analyses topics pertaining to the Lausanne Treaty and its future prospects. In addition to Turkey's impending neo-Ottoman claim a century after the Treaty. This includes its demands in the surrounding nations, particularly in the instance of the Province of Mosul.

• Shedding light on the violation of the rights of ethnicities and minorities in the Treaty of Lausanne.

• Defining the legal nature of the Treaty of Lausanne, and identifying its most important aspects in accordance with the provisions and rules of public international law.

• Clarifying the political, geopolitical, economic and legal dimensions and implications of the Treaty of Lausanne, and the consequences of the Ankara Treaty of 1926 by interfering in Iraq's affairs.

• Emphasizing the historical, legal and political dimensions of the Kurdish issue and the Mosul Province, and its impact on the countries of the region, as well as its future vision in light of the current transformations in the region.

1. Financial supports

2. Abstracts and Full Papers

3. International Speaker

4. The presented and accepted papers would be submitted for inclusion into an international journal indexed by Scopus and/or Clarivate.