File No. 514.2A2a/74.
The Swiss Chargé d’Affaires to the Secretary of State.
Washington, July 29, 1910.
Mr. Secretary of State: By a note of September 3, 1907, the legation of Switzerland at Washington had, by order of its Government, the honor to announce to your excellency the adhesion of the Imperial Ottoman Government to the Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Sick and Wounded of Armies in the Field, with the reservation that it would use in its army the Bed Crescent as an emblem for the protection of its ambulances. It is understood—added the Imperial Ottoman Government—that it will scrupulously respect the inviolability of the Keel Cross flag.
The Swiss Federal Council advanced the opinion that it was proper to accept the reservation, as the Second Peace Conference convened at The Hague had agreed that Turkey could use the Bed Crescent, and Persia the Lion and Sun, as the distinctive signs of the sanitary service of their armies in maritime warfare.
Before declaring itself, the Imperial and Royal Government of Austria-Hungary expressed in a note dated February 22, 1908, a wish to receive information as to whether and how far the reservation formulated by the Sublime Porte affected articles 23 and 27 of the Geneva Convention of July 6, 1906. Article 23 provides that the emblem of the Red Cross on a white ground and the words “Red Cross” and “Geneva Cross” shall not be used in Avar or in peace except for the purpose for which they were created, viz, the protection or designation of sanitary units and establishments, the personnel and material protected by the convention. Article 27 binds the contracting States to prohibit at all times the use, by private persons or associations other than those entitled thereto under the convention, of the emblem of the Red Cross and of the words “Red Cross” and “Geneva Cross.”
The Imperial Ottoman Government to which the Swiss Federal Council promptly referred the inquiry informed it by a note dated February 20, 1909, that the provisions of articles 23 and 27 of the Geneva Convention could only be enforced in the Ottoman Empire in matters concerning the Red Crescent.
Other doubts being raised by this reply, the Imperial and Royal Austro-Hungarian Government requested the Swiss Federal Council, under date of October 30, 1909. to elucidate the following points:
Does the fact that the Red Cross emblem is not protected in Turkey from misuse and counterfeiting imply that in time of war the Turkish commanders may ignore the emblem, if used by the enemy, so that it would be left to their discretion whether or not to respect the sanitary units and establishments of the enemy?
[Page 734]Is the reservation formulated by the Imperial Ottoman Government to be construed as meaning that the Red Crescent must enjoy in the contracting States (other than Turkey) the same protection that article 27 of the Geneva Convention guarantees to the Red Cross emblem and the words “Red Cross” and “Geneva Cross,” so that a commercial use thereof by means of trade-marks should be prohibited?
The Imperial Ottoman Government answered these queries by a note dated June 18, 1910, from which it appears that, as regards the protection of the Red Cross, the Sublime Porte will strictly adhere to the principle of reciprocity. The commanders of the Ottoman Army will respect the Red Cross flag in the same measure as the commanders of the armies of the enemy will respect the Red Crescent. Steps will be taken in the Ottoman Empire toward preventing the use of the emblem and names of Red Cross and Geneva Cross for commercial purposes, provided that protection be accorded, on the same conditions, to the emblem and name of Red Crescent by the powers that have signed or adhered to the Geneva Convention.
By order of my Government, I have, etc.,