THE TREATY OF PEACE BETWEEN THE ALLIED AND ASSOCIATED POWERS
AND TURKEY
SIGNED AT SÈVRES
AUGUST 10, 1920

Index | Parts: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

PART VI.

PRISONERS OF WAR AND GRAVES.

SECTION I.

PRISONERS OF WAR.

ARTICLE 208.

The repatriation of Turkish prisoners of war and interned civilians who have not already been repatriated shall continue as quickly as possible after the coming into force of the present Treaty.

ARTICLE 209.

From the time of their delivery into the hands of the Turkish authorities, the prisoners of war and interned civilians are to be returned without delay to their homes by the said authorities.

Those among them who, before the war, were habitually resident in territory occupied by the troops of the Allied Powers are likewise to be sent to their homes, subject to the consent and control of the military authorities of the Allied armies of occupation.

ARTICLE 210.

The whole cost of repatriation from October 30, 1918, shall be borne by the Turkish Government.

ARTICLE 211.

Prisoners of war and interned civilians awaiting disposal or undergoing sentence for offences against discipline shall be repatriated irrespective of the completion of their sentence or of the proceedings pending against them.

This stipulation shall not apply to prisoners of war and interned civilians punished for offences committed subsequent to June 15, 1920.

During the period pending their repatriation, all prisoners of war and interned civilians shall remain subject to the existing regulations, more especially as regards work and discipline.

ARTICLE 212.

Prisoners of war and interned civilians who are awaiting trial or undergoing sentence for offences other than those against discipline may be detained.

ARTICLE 213.

The Turkish Government undertakes to admit to its territory without distinction all persons liable to repatriation.

Prisoners of war or Turkish nationals who do not desire to be repatriated may be excluded from repatriation; but the Allied Governments reserve to themselves the right either to repatriate them or to take them to a neutral country or to allow them to reside in their own territories.

The Turkish Government undertakes not to institute any exceptional proceedings against these persons or their families nor to take any repressive or vexatious measures of any kind whatsoever against them on this account.

ARTICLE 214.

The Allied Governments reserve the right to make the repatriation of Turkish prisoners of war or Turkish nationals in their hands conditional upon the immediate notification and release by the Turkish Government of any prisoners of war and other nationals of the Allied Powers who are still held in Turkey against their will.

ARTICLE 215.

The Turkish Government undertakes:

(I) To give every facility to Commissions entrusted by the Allied Powers with the search for the missing or the identification of Allied nationals who have expressed their desire to remain in Turkish territory; to furnish such Commissions with all necessary means of transport; to allow them access to camps, prisons, hospitals and all other places; and to place at their disposal all documents whether public or private which would facilitate their enquiries;

(2) To impose penalties upon any Turkish officials or private persons who have concealed the presence of any nationals of any of the Allied Powers, or who have neglected to reveal the presence of any such after it had come to their knowledge;

(3) To facilitate the establishing of criminal acts punishable by the penalties referred to in Part VII (Penalties) of the present Treaty and committed by Turks against the persons of prisoners of war or Allied nationals during the war.

ARTICLE 216.

The Turkish Govermnent undertakes to restore without delay from the date of the coming into force of the present Treaty all articles, equipment, arms, money, securities, documents and personal effects of every description which have belonged to officers, soldiers or sailors or other nationals of the Allied Powers and which have been retained by the Turkish authorities.

ARTICLE 217.

The High Contracting Parties waive reciprocally all repayment of sums due for the maintenance of prisoners of war in their respective territories.

SECTION II.

GRAVES.

ARTICLE 218.

The Turkish Government shall transfer to the British, French and Italian Governments respectively full and exclusive rights of ownership over the land within the boundaries of Turkey as fixed by the present Treaty in which are situated the graves of their soldiers and sailors who fell in action or died from wounds, accident or disease, as well as over the land required for laying out cemeteries or erecting memorials to these soldiers and sailors, or providing means of access to such cemeteries or memorials.

The Greek Government undertakes to fulfil the same obligation so far as concerns the portion of the zone of the Straits and the islands placed under its sovereignty.

ARTICLE 219.

Within six months from the coming into force of the present Treaty the British, French and Italian Governments will respectively notify to the Turkish Government and the Greek Government the land of which the ownership is to be transferred to them in accordance with Article 218. The British, French and Italian Governments will each have the right to appoint a Commission, which shall be exclusively entitled to examine the areas where burials have or may have taken place, and to make suggestions with regard to the re-grouping of graves and the sites where cemeteries are eventually to be established. The Turkish Government and the Greek Government may be represented on these Commissions, and shall give them all assistance in carrying out their mission.

The said land will include in particular the land in the Gallipoli Peninsula shown on map No. 3 [see Introduction]; the limits of this land will be notified to the Greek Government as provided in the preceding paragraph. The Government in whose favour the transfer is made undertakes not to employ the land, nor to allow it to be employed, for any purpose other than that to which it is dedicated. The shore may not be employed for any military, marine or commercial purpose.

ARTICLE 220.

Any necessary legislative or administrative measures for the transfer to the British, French and Italian Governments respectively of full and exclusive rights of ownership over the land notified in accordance with Article 219 shall be taken by the Turkish Government and the Greek Government respectively within six months from the date of such notification. If any compulsory acquisition of the land is necessary it will be effected by, and at the cost of, the Turkish Government or the Greek Government, as the case may be.

ARTICLE 221.

The British, French and Italian Governments may respectively entrust f gendarmerie, Greek and Turkish, will be under the I deem fit the establishment, arrangement, maintenance and care of the cemeteries, memorials and graves situated in the land referred to in Article 218.

These Commissions or organisations shall be officially recognised by the Turkish Government and the Greek Government respectively. They shall have the right to undertake any exhumations or removal of bodies which they may consider necessary in order to concentrate the graves and establish cemeteries; the remains of soldiers or sailors may not be exhumed, on any pretext whatever, without the authority of the Commission or organisation of the Government concerned.

ARTICLE 222.

The land referred to in this Section shall not be subjected by Turkey or the Turkish authorities, or by Greece or the Greek authorities, as the case may be, to any form of taxation. Representatives of the British, French or Italian Governments, as well as persons desirous of visiting the cemeteries, memorials and graves, shall at all times have free access thereto. The Turkish Government and the Greek Government respectively undertake to maintain in perpetuity the roads leading to the said land.

The Turkish Government and the Greek Government respectively undertake to afford to the British, French and Italian Governments all necessary facilities for obtaining a sufficient water supply for the requirements of the staff engaged in the maintenance or protection of the said cemeteries or memorials, and for the irrigation of the land.

ARTICLE 223.

The provisions of this Section do not affect the Turkish or Greek sovereignty, as the case may be, over the land transferred. The Turkish Government and the Greek Government respectively shall take all the necessary measures to ensure the punishment of persons subject to their jurisdiction who may be guilty of any violation of the rights conferred on the Allied Governments, or of any desecration of the cemeteries, memorials or graves.

ARTICLE 224.

Without prejudice to the other provisions of this Section, the Allied Governments and the Turkish Government will cause to be respected and maintained the graves of soldiers and sailors buried in their respective territories, including any territories for which they may hold a mandate in conformity with the Covenant of the League of Nations.

ARTICLE 225.

The graves of prisoners of war and interned civilians who are nationals of the different belligerent States and have died in captivity shall be properly maintained in accordance with Article 224.

The Allied Governments on the one hand and the Turkish Government on the other reciprocally undertake also to furnish to each other:

(1) A complete list of those who have died, together with all information useful for identification

(2) All information as to the number and position of the graves of all those who have been buried without identification.