„Greece and Turkey still have serious territorial claims against each other“ (?!), a Discussion

On Sat, Apr 2, 2016 at 9:58 AM, Alex Anas <alex.anas@verizon.net> wrote:

Mr. Champion,

According to the Lausanne treaty signed between Turkey and Greece in 1923 and co-signed by the UK, France, Italy, Japan and several other nations, Turkey will not own any islands more than 3 nautical miles away from the Asia Minor coast with the exception of the islands of Imvros, Tenedos and the Rabbit islands. These islands of which the first two were inhabited almost entirely by Greeks were ceded to Turkey because of their proximity to the straits of the Dardanelles and with the provision that the inhabitants would have self-rule.

In 1964 the Turkish state engaged in pogroms and confiscated the properties of the Greek natives of Imvros and Tenedos after subjecting the population of Imvros to the murder, rape and attacks by common criminals who were brought to the island under the pretense that the island was being turned into an open prison. This caused the emigration of the natives. Of the 8,000-11,000 Greeks on Imvros  now only 250 remain. The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, the spiritual leader of the Eastern Orthodox Churches, is a native of Imvros.

You may read the work of Speros Vryonis, an American historian and one of the world’s leading experts on Ottoman-Byzantine and Greek Turkish relations, regarding the violations of the Lausanne Treaty as to the treatment of the Greek minority that remained in Istanbul after 1923. I was five years old during the 1955 pogrom, which Dr. Vryonis documents from Turkish sources, which made me realize that the country the citizenship of which I held considered me an unwanted person:

http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/med/summary/v017/17.1vallianatos.html

In the Lausanne Treaty the Dodecanese islands , already occupied by Italy, were formally ceded to Italy and passed to Greece in 1947 since Greece had defeated Italian fascism during WWII (first allied victory) and was on the side of the victors. The maritime boundary between Turkey and the Dodecanese islands was accepted by Turkey in a prior Treaty between Turkey and Italy.

For the above reasons, Turkey is not entitled to any islands, islets or rocks other than what is already included in its territory and the status of which it has violated. Greece, therefore, might have a reasonable claim to have these territories returned to it.

Please be aware that by lending an ear to Turkish propaganda based on falsehoods you are encouraging the expansionist claims of Turkey and lending a hand to those planning to create conditions that endanger the peace and those who want to cover up the long-standing violations of the Lausanne Treaty by Turkey. Turkey started violating the Treaty before the ink of its signature dried.

Finally, I would like to remind you that Turkey today is rapidly lapsing into totalitarianism. You must be aware that two prominent Turkish journalists uncovered a weapons shipment from the Turkish government/Turkish secret service to ISIS. They were tried and convicted by a lower court on some scurrilous accusation, the judgment of which was reversed by the Supreme Court. The President of the country declared openly on television that he does not respect the opinion of the Supreme Court. They have now been arrested again and are now being tried for espionage/treason and a prosecutor has demanded a life sentence.

A British professor teaching in a Turkish university since 1991 was expelled recently (I think together with his Turkish family) because they found an invitation to the Kurdish religious celebration of Newrouz in his personal bag!

For your convenience, below is a link to the Lausanne Treaty and the relevant articles.

I would be happy to provide you with any additional information.

Best regards,

Alex Anas
Professor of Economics

State University of New York at Buffalo
Amherst, New York 14260

e-mail: alexanas@verizon.edu

http://wwi.lib.byu.edu/index.php/Treaty_of_Lausanne

ARTICLE 12.

The decision taken on the 13th February, 1914, by the Conference of London, in virtue of Articles 5 of the Treaty of London of the 17th-30th May, 1913, and 15 of the Treaty of Athens of the 1st-14th November, 1913, which decision was communicated to the Greek Government on the 13th February, 1914, regarding the sovereignty of Greece over the islands of the Eastern Mediterranean, other than the islands of Imbros, Tenedos and Rabbit Islands, particularly the islands of Lemnos, Samothrace, Mytilene, Chios, Samos and Nikaria, is confirmed, subject to the provisions of the present Treaty respecting the islands placed under the sovereignty of Italy which form the subject of Article 15.

Except where a provision to the contrary is contained in the present Treaty, the islands situated at less than three miles from the Asiatic coast remain under Turkish sovereignty.

ARTICLE 13.

With a view to ensuring the maintenance of peace, the Greek Government undertakes to observe the following restrictions in the islands of Mytilene, Chios, Samos and Nikaria:

(I) No naval base and no fortification will be established in the said islands.

(2) Greek military aircraft will be forbidden to fly over the territory of the Anatolian coast. Reciprocally, the Turkish Government will forbid their military aircraft to fly over the said islands.

(3) The Greek military forces in the said islands will be limited to the normal contingent called up for military service, which can be trained on the spot, as well as to a force of gendarmerie and police in proportion to the force of gendarmerie and police existing in the whole of the Greek territory.

ARTICLE 14.

The islands of Imbros and Tenedos, remaining under Turkish sovereignty, shall enjoy a special administrative organisation composed of local elements and furnishing every guarantee for the native non-Moslem population in so far as concerns local administration and the protection of persons and property. The maintenance of order will be assured therein by a police force recruited from amongst the local population by the local administration above provided for and placed under its orders.

The agreements which have been, or may be, concluded between Greece and Turkey relating to the exchange of the Greek and Turkish populations will not be applied to the inhabitants of the islands of Imbros and Tenedos.
ARTICLE 15.

Turkey renounces in favour of Italy all rights and title over the following islands: Stampalia (Astrapalia), Rhodes (Rhodos), Calki (Kharki), Scarpanto, Casos (Casso), Piscopis (Tilos), Misiros (Nisyros), Calimnos (Kalymnos), Leros, Patmos, Lipsos (Lipso), Simi (Symi), and Cos (Kos), which are now occupied by Italy, and the islets dependent thereon, and also over the island of Castellorizzo.
ARTICLE I6.

Turkey hereby renounces all rights and title whatsoever over or respecting the territories situated outside the frontiers laid down in the present Treaty and the islands other than those over which her sovereignty is recognised by the said Treaty, the future of these territories and islands being settled or to be settled by the parties concerned.

The provisions of the present Article do not prejudice any special arrangements arising from neighbourly relations which have been or may be concluded between Turkey and any limitrophe countries.

…………………………………………………….

On Saturday, April 2, 2016 12:38 AM, ‚Nicholaos Moraitis‘ via Forum of Professors & Phds <Professors-PhDs@googlegroups.com> wrote: