TASC Commends the 
95th Anniversary of the Treaty of Lausanne
With Introduction of Resolution 924 of the United States House of Representatives
Commending Turkish Americans nationwide for their rich contributions to American cultural, social, economic, and civic life, and for other purposes.
July 24 marks the 95th Anniversary of the Treaty of Lausanne which recognized the right of self-determination of people of Turkish heritage and led to the establishment of the Turkish Republic based on the ideals of a secular democracy, sovereignty, territorial integrity, liberal economy, and fundamental freedoms.

The Turkish American National Steering Committee (TASC) ( Türk Amerikan Yönlendirme Komitesi ), which represents the broadest diversity of Turkish and Turkic Americans nationwide, is proud to introduce United States House Resolution 924, celebrating Turkish Americans and the Turkish Independence Movement that started on May 19, 1919 and ended in victory with the signing of the Treaty of Lausanne on July 24, 1923.


In 1919, following World War I, the Ottoman Empire (1299-1919) collapsed and the remaining Ottoman lands came under violent British, French, Italian, Greek and Armenian occupation. Russia had already withdrawn from WWl under the Treaty of Bret-Litovsk. However the Treaty of Sèvres (August 1920), signed by the Ottoman Empire on one side, and Allied Powers of Britain, France, Italy, Japan, and Allied States of Armenia, Belgium, Greece, Hedjaz, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serb-Croat-Slovene State, and Czechoslovakia on the other side, threatened to legitimize and implement anti-Turkish, anti-Semitic, and anti-Muslim policies in the Ottoman lands, under the cover of Western liberalism.
 
For the Turkish people, the Treaty of Sèvres was a threat to their existence. The Sèvres Treaty took away the lands and liberties of the Ottoman Turks, Jews and Muslims and placed Ottoman Anatolians under the rule of the Allied Powers and their main regional proxies, Armenia and Greece.

Sèvres envisioned Istanbul under British, Aegean Turkey under Greek, and Mediterranean Turkey under Italian and French rule. Sèvres sought to place Eastern Turkey under Armenian rule, and force the Kurdish tribes of southeastern Turkey under British rule. Turks of Muslim and Jewish heritage would be relocated to the Anatolian plateau.

Only 38 years old, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk , a young military leader with a vision of a modern Turkish republic, refused to accept the Allied plan of oppression.

From 1919 to 1923 Atatürk rallied the people of Anatolia under the principle of solidarity within diversity. Together, they defeated the Armenian forces in the east, then the French and Italian forces in the south, and finally the Greek forces in the west. Britain which had done
much violence in Istanbul during the occupation, retreated following a flag-lowering ceremony in Istanbul.
  
The Lausanne Peace Treaty was signed on July 24, 1923, by a Turkish delegation headed by General Ismet In ö n ü . Britain, France, Italy, Japan, Greece, Romania, the Serb-Croat-Slovene State signed the treaty. Turkey then entered bilateral recognition treaties with other nations, including the United States of America.

On October 29, 1923, the people of Anatolia proclaimed the Turkish Republic, as Atatürk stated to the global community and leaders of Turkey "sovereignty rests without condition with the people"

We at TASC remember and honor those who fought for Turkish independence and sovereignty. We will work to advance the cause of Turkish Americans and represent the ideals upon which our motherland, Turkey, and homeland, America, are founded.