The 'Other' Lausanne Treaty of Lausanne: The American Public and Offical Debate on Turkish-American Relations

Abstract

The 'Other' Lausanne Treaty of Lausanne: The American Public and Offical Debate on Turkish-American Relations

Abstract

On August 6, 1923 Joseph Grew, the American representative at the
Lausanne Conference, and İsmet Pasha, the Foreign Minister of the
nationalist government of Ankara, signed a Treaty of Amity and Commerce
in Lausanne, Switzerland. The "other" Treaty of Lausanne was meant to
establish diplomatic and commercial relations between the United States and
the new Turkish Government. Replacing agreements between America and
the Ottoman Empire, which were severed when the United States entered
World War I in 1917, this new treaty also signified the United States'
recognition of the independence and sovereignty of the new Turkish state.
In Turkey, the treaty with the United States was seen as an extension
of the Lausanne Treaty, normalizing relations between the new Turkish
Government and the European Powers. But in the United States, the treaty
led to an official and public controversy which delayed its ratification, and
resulted in its rejection in 1927 by the United States Senate. Stili, the debate
surrounding the treaty continued, lasting seven year from its signing in 1923
until 1930 when the Senate finally accepted another, yet virtually identical,
treaty with the Turkish Republic.  

Keywords

• Lausanne Treaty
• Lausanne
• American Public