The text and its parties
Signed at Lausanne in Switzerland, the treaty joined Turkey with Britain, France, Italy, Japan, Greece, Romania and the Serb-Croat-Slovene State. The Turkish delegation represented the Grand National Assembly government and included Foreign Minister İsmet Pasha.
Article 1 restored peace and diplomatic relations. The assembly approved the treaty on 23 August 1923, before proclaiming the republic on 29 October. Signature, parliamentary approval and entry into force under Article 143 were separate legal steps.
Borders, privileges and debts
Articles 2 and 3 addressed European and Asian borders. The Syrian boundary referred to a 1921 Franco-Turkish agreement, while the Iraqi boundary required further negotiations between Turkey and Britain. The settlement therefore did not resolve every territorial question immediately.
Article 28 abolished the capitulations, the system of foreign extraterritorial privileges. Article 46 and subsequent provisions apportioned Ottoman public debt, linking financial obligations to Turkey and territories separated from the empire.
References: [1]
Minorities and associated agreements
Articles 37–45 set out protections for non-Muslim minorities, covering religious freedom, legal status and educational, charitable and religious institutions. Article 45 connected corresponding rights to the Muslim minority in Greece. The treaty's provisions provide evidence of the obligations agreed, distinct from later implementation.
Article 142 gave the separate Greek-Turkish population-exchange convention of 30 January 1923 the force of the treaty between those states. The wider Lausanne settlement also included a separate Straits agreement, so its documents need to be identified individually.
References: [1]