President of Armenia: The Treaty of Sevres even today remains an  essential document for the right of the Armenian people to achieve a  fair resolution of the Armenian issue

ArmInfo.  The Treaty of Sevres  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. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian  stated this in an interview with the reputable Syrian newspaper  Al-Azmenah, referring to the execution of the 100th anniversary of  the Sevres Treaty.

He recalled that:' "The Treaty of Sevres 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  Sevres, 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 see and  demilitarization of all Ottoman territories adjacent to the mentioned  border line."

At the same time, he stated that: "the Treaty of Sevres 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."

Sarkissian stressed that: "The Treaty of Sevres 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 countries after  WWI or more recently, among them Syria (currently Syria- Lebanon) and  Mesopotamia (currently Iraq-Kuwait), Palestine (currently Israel and  Palestinian authority), Hejazi (currently Saudi Arabia), Egypt,  Sudan, Cyprus, Morocco, Tunisia, and Libya.  long with all this, the  Treaty of Sevres could have promoted the resolution of the Armenian  Issue and unification of the Armenian nation on its historical lands.  

It could have partly mitigated the losses inflicted on the Armenian  people by the Genocide of 1915 and thus create conditions for the  regulations of the relations between Armenia and Turkey and  establishment of a lasting peace among the peoples of our region.   But in September 1920, the aggression unleashed by the Kemalists  against the Republic of Armenia ended in the dissolution of the  Armenian independent statehood and sovietization of Armenia.  

Thus, the centuries-long struggle of the Armenian people for uniting  in one state entity the separated parts of Armenia was unsuccessful.   But the Republic of Armenia and Armenian nation spread all over the  world remain the inheritors and masters of our millennia-long history  and civilization.  No matter what was done or will be done, no matter  how the undeniable facts are being denied, no matter how much the  material monuments and Armenian traces on the territory of historical  Armenia are being destructed, it is impossible to annihilate the  memory of the Armenian people.  to achieve a fair resolution of the 

Armenian issue." He noted that: "The Treaty of Sevres even today  remains an essential document for the right of the Armenian people."

The President of Armenia also disagreed with the views that, Treaty  of Lausanne of 1923 negated the Treaty of Sevres.  

"The Treaty of Lausanne does not contain such an annulment; moreover,  it does not contain any reference to the Treaty of Sevres. The  Republic of Armenia did not sign the Treaty of Lausanne, thus we are  not a party of the Treaty of Lausanne.  Thus, it implies no  obligation for the Republic of Armenia. In this case, the  international Res inter alios acta principle (a thing done between  others does not harm or benefit others). The Treaty of Sevres and the  Treaty of Lausanne are two different legal documents",  stated the  head of Armenia.

The Sevres Peace Treaty, the Sevres Peace, is one of the treaties of  the Versailles-Washington system, the creation of which marked the  end of the First World War. Signed on August 10, 1920 in the city of  Sevres (France) by the Entente countries and the states that joined  them (Italy, Japan, Belgium, Greece, Poland, Portugal, Romania, the  Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, Hijaz, Czechoslovakia and  Armenia), on the one hand , and the government of the Ottoman Empire  on the other. By the time the treaty was signed, a significant part  of Turkey had already been occupied by the troops of the Entente  powers.  The Treaty of Sevres never actually entered into force, and  de jure ceased to operate after the revision of its terms at the  Lausanne Conference of 1923 and the signing of the Lausanne Peace  Treaty.  With the Treaty of Sevres, Turkey recognized Armenia as a  "free and independent state".

Turkey and Armenia agreed to submit to US President Woodrow Wilson on  arbitration of borders within the Van, Bitlis, Erzurum and Trebizond  governorates and accept his terms regarding Armenia's access to the  Black Sea (via Batum). It was planned to build a railway through the  territory of Georgia to Batum, in addition, Armenia was provided with  a guarantee of transit privileges and the lease of a part of the  Batumi port.  Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan had to establish their  mutual borders through direct negotiations between these states, and  if it was impossible to reach an agreement, through the mediation of  the allied powers.