ARTICLE 4. In view of the special requirements of the capital, there may be maintained at Constantinople and its immediate neighbourhood a garrison whose strength shall be fixed by agreement between the inviting Powers and the Turkish Government (maximum, 10,000 men). ARTICLE 5. If in case of war Turkey, availing herself of the rights of a belligerent Power, should in any way modify this state of demilitarisation, she will be bound to re-establish the status quo ante bellum as soon as peace is concluded. No. 14. TERRITORIAL AND MILITARY COMMISSION. Minutes of the Eleventh Meeting (Third Meeting of the Straits Commission), December 8, 1922, at 10:30 A.M., under the presidency of Lord Curzon. LORD CURZON said that at the last meeting most of the delegations had given their views on the subject of the Straits, and the Turkish and Russian delegations had very naturally asked to postpone their full replies until they had had time to examine in detail the documents containing the proposals of the Allied Powers. Since then the Allied military and naval experts had met the corresponding experts of other delegations in order to give them full explanations regarding the technical details of those proposals; should any further explanations now be wanted, Admiral Lacaze would be ready to give them. He would begin by asking the Turkish delegation to speak. ISMET PASHA read the following statement : "The Turkish delegation have listened attentively to the speeches made by the various delegations, and to the explanations of his Excellency Lord Curzon. They have also examined the scheme for the regulation of the Straits put forward in the name of the Allied Powers. "As a result of this examination, the Turkish delegation have the honour to make the following remarks: "For five centuries the Turks have been masters of the Straits, which they have fortified and defended with all the forces at their disposal. 66 The fact that the Turks have been guardians of the Straits has exercised a varying influence on the relations of the Black Sea and Mediterranean Powers when at war with each other. 66 "Thus, for instance, these varying influences led in 1833 to the Treaty of Hunkiar-Skelessi, which recognised certain rights to the advantage of Russia; this state of things did not bring about a war. Later, in 1856, Turkey was engaged together with her allies in fighting against Tsarist Russia, and accordingly allowed her allies' warships to pass through the Straits. Again, quite recently, in 1914, Turkey was placed between Russia and Russia's western allies, and closed and defended the Straits against both parties at once. "It must be recognised that in all these instances the Turks did nothing contrary to the provisions of the international treaties concerning the régime of the Straits, and never confronted either their friends or their enemies with a situation which had not been foreseen by those treaties. "It follows that if any complaints can be made in regard to the way in which the Straits were utilised or defended, these complaints can only be directed against the international Acts relating to the Straits, and cannot in any way be connected with the fact that the Straits happened to be defended by the Turks. "The permanent disarmament of the Straits would influence events in different ways in various future wars, just as much as putting the Straits in a state of defence; each party might gain or lose by enforced disarmament according to the affinities and divergences existing between the Powers at the time. Consequently, the influence which the Straits are to exercise on international relations must depend, not on the fact of their being put in a state of defence or not, but on the treaties which lay down the régime to be applied to warships in the Straits. Moreover, the defence of the Straits covers the defence of the capital of Turkey, of the Sea of Marmora and of Eastern Thrace. "The non-fortification of the Straits therefore amounts to leaving the most vulnerable and important districts of Turkey defenceless and at the mercy of a sudden attack. 66 'None of the Powers represented at the conference is deprived of the right to defend its capital. Turkey, on the other hand, would be constantly exposed to the danger of her capital being suddenly destroyed by a foreign fleet or occupied by foreign troops. existence of this possibility would obviously expose the capital to the risk of all manner of calamities. The "There is another point which I wish to raise in the interests of general peace. The strategical importance of the Straits is so great that any Mediterranean or Black Sea Power which conquered them would secure an overwhelming advantage as soon as a war broke out. It is therefore only natural that as soon as a possibility of war exists between a Black Sea and a Mediterranean State, each side should try to obtain possession of the Straits as quickly as possible. The first result of this attempt would be to provoke a sudden war over a dispute which might have been settled without recourse to arms. The second result would be to bring about the participation of Turkey in that war, even though she were in no way interested in the dispute, by the mere fact of her having been attacked. "These considerations show that the state of things created by demilitarising the Straits would render peace illusory between the Black Sea and Mediterranean States on the one hand and Turkey on the other. It is therefore essential that the Bosphorus, the Dardanelles and Constantinople should not be accessible through a surprise attack by land or sea. Moreover, our experience in the past shows that this security can only be attained by means of fortifications and defences. "Once these districts are secured against surprise attack, any State which violated its international engagements would have no chance of gaining an immediate victory, and the Powers would be enabled to take such measures as the circumstances required. "Turkey for her part would, of course, be bound to observe the line of conduct to which she had committed herself by agreement with the other Powers. It is hard to believe that a single State would dare to repudiate an engagement undertaken by it in face of the whole world. "In any case, there is hardly any likelihood of such an event taking place. The Allied Powers' proposal recognises that Turkey may defend herself by all the means at her disposal, and so there is almost no reason to fear that Turkey might not fulfil her engagements. The Allied Powers can therefore regard such apprehensions as a completely negligible factor in the solution of the problem. 66 The security of Turkish territory also requires that the warships which pass through the Straits should not be of such strength as to endanger the district lying between the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles. "Turkey entirely agrees with the Powers represented at the conference in recognising that merchant vessels should have complete liberty of navigation and of passage night and day. "An international commission, similar to that for the Danube, could settle questions relating to the navigation of merchant vessels. "In war time, whether Turkey be neutral or belligerent, the right for merchant-men to pass could be adapted to the general interests at stake. "In view of these considerations, the Turkish delegation have the honour to set forth as follows the bases of the régime which they wish to see applied to the Straits “1. A guarantee securing the Straits, Constantinople and the Sea of Marmora against any surprise attack by land or sea. "2. Limitation of the naval forces which may enter the Black Sea, so that they shall not constitute a danger for the districts between the two Straits and in the Black Sea. These forces could consist of light craft employed for the protection of international commerce. "3. Freedom of passage both in war and peace for merchantmen in case Turkey is a belligerent, she will be satisfied with such technical control as is indispensable. "While reserving the right to make observations on all the articles of the Allied Powers' proposals, the Turkish delegation declare that the points enumerated below are particularly harmful to Turkey, even regarding the question from the point of view of the Allied Powers: "1. The term 'Straits' which is employed in the Allied proposal must not comprise the Sea of Marmora, since defensive preparations on the shores of that sea, though |