108 History
 
History 109  
 
   
 
 
  
  
   

Artillerist battery at target practice in the East front before İnönü wars
 
signed with France. After that, all the forces and resources of the country were mobilized for a general offensive to be carried out on the western front. The Greek forces were routed in the Grand Offensive and the Battle of the Commander-in-Chief (August-September 1922). İzmir was liberated on September 9, 1922. This military success speeded up the process of establishing a new Republic. The Mudanya Armistice was signed between the Ankara Government and the Entente States (October 11, 1922), and it was agreed that a conference would be held later in Lausanne to negotiate the provisions of the peace treaty. However, the additional invitation made by the Entente States to the İstanbul Government brought the sultanate to an end. The TGNA decided to separate the Caliphate from the sultanate and also to abolish the sultanate on November 1, 1922. Consequently, the last Ottoman Sultan Mehmet IV (Vahideddin) departed from İstanbul on November 17, 1922.
 
 
 
   

İsmet İnönü signing Lausanne Peace Treaty.
 
The Lausanne Peace Treaty (July 24, 1923): The Lausanne negotiations, in which the Ankara Government participated as the sole representative, commenced on November 21, 1922. The Minister of Foreign Affairs İsmet Pasha (İnönü) presided over the Turkish delegation during negotiations which were suspended on February 4, 1923, especially due to the disagreement over the future of capitulations. The talks resumed upon İsmet Pasha’s note dated April 23, 1923. The signing of the peace treaty comprising 143 articles, 17 annexes, protocols and declarations, concluded the National War of Independence. Thus, the TGNA Government was officially recognized, Turkey’s national borders were set, capitulations were lifted, the Ottoman debts were restructured, and consequently the political and economic independence as well as the right of sovereignty of Turkey were officially recognized. The treaty signed in Lausanne, Switzerland on July 24, 1923, was ratified by the TGNA on August 23, 1923.