NEW YORK – The East Mediterranean Business Culture Alliance (EMBCA) presents the ‘Legacy of the Treaty of Sèvres (August 10, 1920) in the East Mediterranean’ webinar panel discussion on Sunday, August 25, 2 PM EST/ 9 PM Athens EEST. The panel discussion will be introduced and moderated by Lou Katsos, EMBCA’s President. The distinguished panel will include author and independent historical researcher Stavros Stavridis; author/writer Lou Ureneck, Professor of Journalism (retired) at Boston University; author/writer Stavros Drakoularakos, PhD, Editor-in-Chief of the Centre for Mediterranean, Middle East and Islamic Studies (CEMMIS); and Professor Ismini Lamb, Director of the Modern Greek Program in the Department of Classics at Georgetown University.

The Treaty of Sèvres, signed on August 10, 1920, was a peace treaty that concluded World War I between the Allied Powers and the Ottoman Empire a member of the Central Powers in the war. It aimed to dismantle the Ottoman Empire and redistribute its territories, marking a significant turning point in Middle Eastern geopolitics and the decline of Ottoman influence.

Negotiated primarily by the Allied Powers, including France, Britain, and Italy, the treaty imposed territorial losses on the Ottoman Empire. The treaty recognized the independence of Armenia, Kurdistan, and Hejaz (now part of Saudi Arabia) and granted control over Constantinople and the Dardanelles Strait to an international commission. Under the terms of Sèvres, furthermore, the mandates of Syria and Lebanon were assigned to France, while Palestine and Iraq were given to Britain. Hellas was awarded Eastern Thrace, the islands of Imvros and Tenedos, and the administration of the Smyrna region, which was home to a substantial Hellenic population.

The unpopularity of the treaty was a significant factor in its eventual failure and led to further conflict that lasted from 1919 to 1923 when the Treaty of Lausanne was signed, nullifying the territorial gains from Sèvres and mandating a population exchange between Hellas and Turkey which displaced around 1.5 million people.

In 2023, EMBCA held a panel discussion on the Treaty of Lausanne which is available on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/mjcmf2nk.

View the Treaty of Sèvres webinar panel discussion on August 25 online: https://tinyurl.com/2yt93bpk.