Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, With the Annual Message of the President Transmitted to Congress December 5, 1898
Mr. Angell to Mr. Sherman.
Constantinople , December 17, 1897 .
Sir: I inclose herewith a copy in English of the treaty of peace recently negotiated by Turkey and Greece. It will be observed that it attempts to adjust the relations of the two nations in accordance with the preliminaries of peace adopted by Turkey and the six powers.
It is possible that more difficulty will be encountered in agreeing on the conventions still to be drawn than in framing this treaty.
I have, etc.,
the peace treaty.
The following is the text of the definitive treaty of peace and the appended protocols signed between the Ottoman and Hellenic plenipotentiaries on the 4th instant:
- Article I. The Turco-Greek frontier will be rectified in accordance with the line traced on the accompanying map and in the detailed description. It is understood that slight modifications from a strategic point of view may be inserted to the advantage of the Ottoman Empire by agreement between the delegates of the powers and the Sublime Porte when the frontier line comes to be delimited on the spot. The details of this delimitation will be fixed by a commission composed of delegates of the two parties interested and military delegates of the ambassadors of the mediating powers. The delimitation commission shall meet within 15 days, or sooner if possible, from the date of this present act, and will adopt its resolutions by a majority of votes of the three intervening parties.
- Art. II. Greece will pay Turkey a war indemnity of LT4,000,000, conformably with the conditions laid down in Article II of the peace preliminaries.
- Art. III. The evacuation of Thessaly will be effected in accordance with the conditions made in Article VI of the peace preliminaries. It will take place within a month from the moment when the powers shall have recognized as fulfilled the conditions set down in the last two paragraphs of Article II of the peace preliminaries, and when the time of the announcement of the loan for the war indemnity shall have been fixed by the international commission in conformity with the provisions of the financial arrangement mentioned in this article. The mode of evacuation and the surrender to the Hellenic authorities of the evacuated places will be determined by the delegates of the two parties interested, with the cooperation of the delegates of the great powers.
- Art. IV. The prisoners of war will be exchanged immediately after the ratification of the present treaty.
- Art. V. A full and complete amnesty is granted by both sides to all persons who have been compromised in events which preceded and followed the declaration of war.
- Art. VI. The subjects of each of the two States whose position is a regular one in the eyes of the law may reside and move freely, as in the past, in the territory of the other, each of the high contracting parties reserving to itself the right of refusing admission into its territory to any subjects of the other party who may have been sentenced for a criminal offence or who may have been the object of a decree of expulsion owing to their antecedents or to breaches of the common law. Previous notice of refusal will be given to the respective legations.
- Art. VII. Mahommedans who are inhabitants or natives of Thessaly, and who, in virtue of Article XIII of the convention of May 24, 1881, had assumed or not assumed Greek nationality, are free to emigrate or become domiciled in Turkey. Those who have become Greek naturalized subjects will have the right of adopting Ottoman nationality by making a declaration to that effect to the competent authorities within the space of three years after the exchange of the ratifications of the present [Page 1119] act. All these emigrants will, conformably with the said convention, remain in full and unrestricted enjoyment of their possessions situated in Greece, and will continue to administer them. The same advantages will be reciprocally granted to the inhabitants and natives of the territories retroceded to Turkey as a result of the rectification of the frontier and to all persons at present domiciled in those localities. These same inhabitants or natives of the territories ceded to Turkey, as well as the representatives of the institutions or communes situated in those localities who may possess land in Thessaly, will be free to cross the frontier in order to cultivate it, as in the past, without let or hindrance. Identical advantages will be accorded to the inhabitants of Thessaly and to the representatives of institutions and communes there who may possess landed property in the territories retroceded to the Ottoman Empire.
- Art. VIII. In execution of Article IV of the peace preliminaries, Greece will pay Turkey for the indemnification of private persons for losses caused by the Greek forces the sum of LT100,000. The payment of this sum will be made simultaneously with the pay me at of the war indemnity.
- Art. IX. Without affecting the principle of the immunities and privileges enjoyed by the Greeks before the war on the same footing as the subjects of the other States, special arrangements will be concluded between Greece and Turkey in order to avoid the abuse of consular immunities, to prevent interference with the regular course of justice, to assure the execution of sentences passed, and to safeguard the interests of Ottoman subjects and foreigners in their differences with Greek subjects, these differences including cases of bankruptcy.
- Pending the conclusion and the execution of the convention provided for in Article V (Paragraph B) of the peace preliminaries the Hellenic consuls in Turkey and the Ottoman consuls in Greece will exercise their administrative functions on the same bases as before the war.
- As regards judicial affairs between Hellenic subjects and Ottoman subjects, such matters as came before the tribunals at a date anterior to the declaration of war will continue to be dealt with in Turkey conformably to the regime in force before the war. Matters which shall have arisen after the declaration of war will be treated in conformity with the principles of European law, on the basis of the Turco-Servian convention of March 9, 1896.
- Art. X. The stipulations of the convention of May 24, 1881, for the cession of Thessaly are maintained, with the exception of those modified by the present act. The Sublime Porte reserves to itself the right of submitting its proposals for the settlement of the questions arising from the said convention to the powers who are the signatories to it, and whose decisions must be accepted by Greece.
-
Art. XI. The two high
contracting parties agree to conclude, within three months
of the ratification of the present treaty, the following
arrangements:
- A.
- A convention regulating the questions of contested nationalities on the basis of the scheme negotiated in 1876 between Greece and Turkey.
- B.
- A consular convention on the conditions set forth in the first paragraph of Article IX (Article III of the peace preliminaries).
- C.
- An extradition treaty for the reciprocal return of offenders against the common law.
- D.
- A convention for the repression of brigandage on the common frontiers.
- The two parties reserve to themselves the right of concluding subsequently a treaty of commerce and navigation. Pending the conclusion of this last-named treaty, freedom of commerce and navigation is reestablished on a reciprocal footing.
- Art. XII. The postal relations between Greece and the Ottoman Empire, which have been interrupted for some years, will be reestablished in conformity with the general agreements regulating the matter as soon as the postal administrations of the two countries shall have concluded a special convention on the subject. Meanwhile the two administrations may exchange directly, in places which they will select for the purpose, their mail bags and post parcels duly sealed and transmitted by land or sea to destinations in the two countries or for transit.
- Art. XIII. The telegraph administrations of the two countries shall take the necessary measures for the restoration of communication between their respective systems in such a manner as to insure a rapid and uninterrupted exchange of telegrams.
- Art. XIV. With a view to assuring the maintenance of good neighborly relations between the two States, the Governments of Greece and Turkey undertake not to tolerate in their territory any proceedings of a nature to disturb security or order in the neighboring State.
- In the event of divergencies in the course of the negotiations between Greece and Turkey, the disputed points may be submitted by one or the other of the interested parties to the arbitration of the representatives of the great powers in Constantinople, whose decisions will be binding upon the two Governments. This arbitration may be exercised collectively or by special designation on the part of the interested [Page 1120] parties, who may approach the ambassadors directly or through the medium of special delegates. In the event of an equal division of votes, the arbitrators will choose an additional arbitrator.
- Art. XVI. The ratifications of the present definitive treaty of peace by His Majesty the King of the Hellenes and by His Imperial Majesty the Sultan will be exchanged in Constantinople within 15 days from to-day, or sooner if possible.
In faith thereof the respective plenipotentiaries have signed the present treaty and have affixed thereto the seal of their arms.
- Mavrocordato.
- Stefano.
- Tewfik.
- Hassam Fehmi.
protocol a.
Complying with the demand of their excellencies the Hellenic plenipotentiaries to be acquainted with the principal basis of the Imperial Government’s proposals relating to the arrangements provided under Article III of the peace preliminaries, their excellencies the Ottoman plenipotentaries agree to communicate to them at once, as information and without the possibility of any discussion arising thereon before the ratification of the definitive peace treaty, the principal bases of the said arrangements as they have been decided upon by the Imperial Government, which will comprise the following points: (1) To determine the limits of the customs-tariff privileges of the consuls; (2) to assure the execution of judgments pronounced by Ottoman tribunals upon Greek consuls in civil and commercial matters; (3) to define the domicile of Greek subjects and to lay down the conditions to be observed on the occasion of domiciliary visits by the police, especially in cases where the dragoman may not respond to the invitation of the Ottoman authorities to be present; (4) to define the conditions to be observed when consular delegates may not appear before tribunals dealing with mixed cases; (5) to recognize the jurisdiction of the Ottoman court of cassation in accordance with the laws in force; (6) to declare the Ottoman courts competent in the case of commercial failures of Greek subjects and also in criminal matters in which Greeks are concerned with each other or with the subjects of other States; (7) to regularize the signification of judicial documents concerning Greek subjects and to assure the execution by the Ottoman authorities of the judgments of Ottoman tribunals in mixed cases.
Their excellencies, the Hellenic plenipotentiaries, in acknowledging this communication make the most formal reservations, both as to its contents, regarding which ulterior discussions and negotiations will take place immediately after the ratification of the definitive treaty of peace, and as to the recourse, should any differences arise, to the arbitration of the representatives of the great powers at Constantinople, as provided under Article IX of the peace preliminaries.
- Mavrocordato.
- Stefano.
- Tewfik.
- Hassam Fehmi.
protocol b.
The treaty of commerce and navigation tender Article XI of the definitive peace treaty (Article III in the preliminaries), will have to be concluded within a period of two years, dating from the commencement of the exchange of the ratifications of the said peace treaty.
During this period the régime in force before the war, relating to the customs tariff, the coasting trade, and sponge fisheries, shall be maintained on the basis of reciprocity. Should, however, the treaty of commerce and navigation not be concluded and ratified within the aforesaid period of two years, the two parties shall revert to the régime established under Article XI of the peace treaty (Article VII of the peace preliminaries).
It is understood that should it be impossible, owing to motives other than the wishes of the two high contracting parties, for the new treaty of commerce and navigation, although concluded and ratified within the time aforesaid, to be put into operation, the regime in force before the war shall be always maintained on the basis of reciprocity until the new treaty shall come into force.
- Mavrocordato.
- Stefano.
- Tewfik.
- Hassam Fehmi.