Le traité de Sèvres (10 août) n’a jamais été dénoncé donc…

eputable Syrian Al-Azmenah published an exclusive interview with the President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian:

Question: Mr. President, August 10 marks the 100th anniversary of the the Treaty of Sèvres which after WWI was signed at the Paris Peace Conference by the 13 victorious countries of the Entante on one side and the defeated Ottoman Empire on the other side. The Treaty was called to solve the tormented for decades Armenian Issue and end sufferings of the Armenians. Your opinion?

Answer: The Treaty of Sèvres in its essence was a peace treaty and with this regard it really could have solved fundamentally one of the thorniest for our region problems – the Armenian issue.

The Treaty of Sèvres was preceded by the first conference, which took place in February-March 1920 in London where a political decision was adopted that one, unified Armenian state must be created. At the same time, the Republic of Armenia, which was de facto recognized on January 19, 1920 at the Paris Conference, was accepted as its axle and some territories of Western Armenian under the Ottoman rule should had been united with it.

By the Treaty of Sèvres, Turkey was to recognize Armenia as a free and independent state. Turkey and Armenia agreed to leave demarcation of the borders of the two countries in Erzrum, Trabzon, Van, and Bitlis provinces (vilayets) to the decision made by the United States (the arbitral award of President Woodrow Wilson which on November 22 will also mark its 100th anniversary) and accept his decision immediately and all other proposals – to provide Armenia with an access to the sea and demilitarization of all Ottoman territories adjacent to the mentioned border line.

Question: But the Treaty of Sèvres remained on paper…

Answer: I would rather say that the Treaty of Sèvres was not fully ratified (which means it remains unperfected and it is true that when it comes to Armenia its decisions were not implemented because the international political situation had changed but, at the same time, it was never denounced either.

The Treaty of Sèvres is a legal, interstate agreement which is de facto still in force because this document became the base for other documents, which derived from it, for determining the status of a number of Middle East countr;….