The Treaty Ledger: How Alexandropol, Moscow, Kars and Lausanne Fixed Türkiye's Borders and Status

Why It Matters

The treaties of Alexandropol (December 1920), Moscow (March 1921), Kars (October 1921) and Lausanne (July 1923) are the legal instruments that replaced the Treaty of Sèvres, which never entered into force, and settled Türkiye's borders and international standing. Moscow and Kars fixed the eastern frontier and the Nakhchivan arrangement. Lausanne recognised the new state, regulated minorities, set up a Straits regime and abolished the Capitulations. Any serious reading of Türkiye–Armenia normalization, Nakhchivan transit, Sèvres revisionism or Aegean and Cyprus questions has to start with these texts. This guide reads them in sequence, explains what each settled, and presents the parties' positions through their own sources.

Background

From collapse to the Ankara government (1918–1920)

The Ottoman Empire signed the Armistice of Mudros on 30 October 1918, and Allied forces then occupied Istanbul and parts of Anatolia. In the Caucasus, the Russian Empire's collapse produced three short-lived republics (Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia). The Ottoman government and the Republic of Armenia signed the Treaty of Batum on 4 June 1918, but that settlement was overtaken by the war's end.

Mustafa Kemal landed at Samsun on 19 May 1919 and organised national resistance. The Grand National Assembly of Türkiye (TBMM) opened in Ankara on 23 April 1920. The Istanbul government signed the Treaty of Sèvres on 10 August 1920, but the Ankara assembly rejected it and it was never ratified. The treaty therefore never became binding law. Its Articles 89–93 had referred the Turkish–Armenian boundary to arbitration by US President Woodrow Wilson, who issued his award on 22 November 1920. Neither the United States nor any other power ever enforced it. For more on Sèvres, see our fact check, Is the 1920 Treaty of Sèvres Still Valid, and Does It Give Anyone Claims on Eastern Anatolia?, and the sister-publication analysis, Archive of Nations: Is the Treaty of Sèvres Still Valid? What Lausanne, Kars and the Treaty Record Say About Türkiye's Borders.

Plain-language chronology

Date	Event
30 Oct 1918	Armistice of Mudros ends the Ottoman war effort
19 May 1919	Mustafa Kemal lands at Samsun
23 Apr 1920	TBMM opens in Ankara
10 Aug 1920	Treaty of Sèvres signed by the Istanbul government; never ratified, never in force
Sep–Dec 1920	Turkish–Armenian war; Turkish forces enter Kars on 30 October
2–3 Dec 1920	Treaty of Alexandropol (Gyumri) signed
16 Mar 1921	Treaty of Moscow between the Ankara government and Soviet Russia
13 Oct 1921	Treaty of Kars with the Armenian, Azerbaijani and Georgian Soviet republics
20 Oct 1921	Franco-Turkish (Ankara) Agreement on the Syrian frontier
11 Oct 1922	Armistice of Mudanya, after the Turkish victory in western Anatolia
20 Nov 1922 – 4 Feb 1923	First phase of the Lausanne Conference
23 Apr – 24 Jul 1923	Second phase; Treaty of Lausanne signed on 24 July
29 Oct 1923	Republic of Türkiye proclaimed
6 Aug 1924	Lausanne enters into force

The four treaties at a glance

Treaty	Date	Parties	What it settled
Alexandropol	2–3 Dec 1920	Ankara government (Kâzım Karabekir) and the outgoing Republic of Armenia (Alexander Khatisian)	Ended the war; Armenia renounced Sèvres; a frontier along the Arpaçay and Aras; superseded by Kars
Moscow	16 Mar 1921	Ankara government and Russian SFSR	North-eastern border from the Black Sea; Batumi to Georgia; Nakhchivan under Azerbaijan; non-recognition of impositions by force
Kars	13 Oct 1921	Ankara government and the Armenian, Azerbaijani and Georgian SSRs, with Russian participation	Confirmed Moscow; fixed the Armenia–Türkiye line; Nakhchivan arrangement; ratifications exchanged in Yerevan on 11 Sep 1922
Lausanne	24 Jul 1923	Türkiye versus Britain, France, Italy, Japan, Greece, Romania and the Serb-Croat-Slovene State	Recognition; Thrace and other frontiers; minorities; Straits; abolition of Capitulations; debt

What Each Treaty Settled

Alexandropol (December 1920): ending the war

Alexandropol ended the Turkish–Armenian war of autumn 1920, after Turkish forces entered Kars. Its signatories were Kâzım Karabekir for Ankara and Alexander Khatisian for the Republic of Armenia. Reported terms included Armenian renunciation of Sèvres, acceptance of a frontier broadly along the Arpaçay and Aras rivers, and limits on Armenia's army. Its life was short. Soviet rule was proclaimed in Armenia on 29 November 1920, and the new authorities did not treat the document as their own. It was superseded by Kars. Armenian historians generally describe Alexandropol as a treaty signed under military defeat, while Turkish accounts stress that it recorded a frontier later confirmed by the Soviet republics themselves.

Moscow (March 1921): the Ankara government's first great treaty

Signed on 16 March 1921 by Yusuf Kemal Tengirşenk and Georgy Chicherin, the Treaty of Moscow was the first major recognition of the Ankara government by a great power. It did four main things:

• Non-recognition of impositions (Article 1): each side agreed not to recognise peace treaties or other international acts imposed on the other by force. That was effectively a Soviet rejection of Sèvres.
• North-eastern boundary (Article 2): it defined the line from the Black Sea at Sarp inland, and Türkiye agreed that Batumi and its hinterland would go to Georgia, with local autonomy, free transit and port facilities.
• Nakhchivan (Article 3): the Nakhchivan region became an autonomous territory under Azerbaijan's protection, on condition that Azerbaijan not cede that protection to a third state.
• Straits and Capitulations: it referred the Black Sea and Straits regime to a conference of littoral states, without prejudice to Turkish sovereignty and the security of Istanbul, and it included a provision on the abrogation of Capitulations.

Kars (October 1921): the definitive eastern settlement

The Treaty of Kars of 13 October 1921 is the one that matters most today. Its parties were the Ankara government, represented by Kâzım Karabekir and others, and the Soviet republics of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, with Soviet Russia taking part. It reaffirmed Moscow, incorporated its non-recognition principle, and set the Armenia–Türkiye frontier, leaving Kars and Ardahan with Türkiye along with the Iğdır plain. It confirmed the Nakhchivan formula (Article V) with the same condition that Azerbaijan not transfer its protection to a third state. It also confirmed Batumi's transfer to Georgia with Adjara autonomy and transit guarantees. The treaty was ratified and the instruments exchanged in Yerevan on 11 September 1922. Nakhchivan became an autonomous Soviet republic within Azerbaijan on 9 February 1924, and it remains an autonomous republic of Azerbaijan today.

Lausanne (July 1923): recognition, minorities, Straits and Capitulations

The Treaty of Lausanne of 24 July 1923 is the peace settlement that replaced Sèvres. Türkiye's delegation was led by İsmet Pasha, and the other signatories were Britain, France, Italy, Japan, Greece, Romania and the Serb-Croat-Slovene State. The TBMM ratified it in August 1923 and it entered into force on 6 August 1924. Its main effects:

• Recognition and frontiers: it fixed the Thrace boundary with Greece and Bulgaria and referred to the 1921 Franco-Turkish Agreement for the Syrian frontier. The Mosul question was left to later arrangements and was settled in 1926. Italy's Dodecanese possession was recognised, and Imbros and Tenedos were left to Türkiye.
• Armenia: the treaty contains no provision on an Armenian 'national home'. British delegate Lord Curzon had raised the idea during the conference, and Türkiye's delegation rejected it. Armenia was not a party.
• Capitulations (Article 28): each party accepted the complete abolition of the Capitulations in Türkiye. The Ottoman state had announced their unilateral abrogation in 1914, but the Allies did not accept it at the time.
• Minorities (Articles 37–45): protections for non-Muslim minorities rest on equal citizenship and reciprocity with Greece (Article 45). Our guide, What Does the Treaty of Lausanne Say About Minorities? Articles 37–45 and Their Application, reads them in detail.
• Straits: a separate Convention created a demilitarised regime under an international commission. The Montreux Convention of 1936 later replaced it with Turkish control.
• Cyprus (Article 20): Türkiye recognised the British annexation of Cyprus proclaimed in 1914. The 1960 settlement later built on that history; see Regional Order: Cyprus and the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee and The Political Anatomy: Article IV of the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee.
• Population exchange: a separate Greek–Turkish Convention of 30 January 1923 provided for compulsory exchange of populations, with exceptions for Istanbul's Greek Orthodox community and the Muslims of Western Thrace. Roughly a million or more people were moved.

Why treaty borders are legally stable

International law treats boundary treaties as especially durable. Three reference points support this:

• The 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties provides in Article 62(2)(a) that a fundamental change of circumstances cannot be invoked to terminate a treaty that establishes a boundary.
• The 1978 Vienna Convention on Succession of States in respect of Treaties (Article 11) provides that succession does not affect a boundary established by treaty.
• In the 1994 Libya/Chad judgment, the International Court of Justice stated that a boundary established by treaty achieves a permanence that the treaty itself does not necessarily enjoy.

The Helsinki Final Act (1975) also affirms the inviolability of frontiers. Armenia joined the CSCE (now OSCE) in January 1992, accepting its principles.

Key Players & Positions

Armenia and the Armenian diaspora

The Republic of Armenia's 1990 Declaration of Independence contains a reference to international recognition of the 1915 genocide and to 'Western Armenia'. Ankara reads this as a latent territorial claim. Armenian officials have repeatedly said that Armenia has no territorial claims on Türkiye, and Armenian commentators argue that the clause concerns recognition of 1915, not borders. Armenia's Constitutional Court ruled in January 2010 on the Zurich Protocols in a way that Ankara regarded as introducing preconditions. Some diaspora organisations, notably the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun), have long argued that Moscow and Kars were imposed by Moscow and Ankara on a weakened Armenia. They hold that Sèvres and the Wilson award retain moral or political weight. More recently, Armenian leaders have discussed constitutional revision in the context of the peace process with Azerbaijan, and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has promoted a 'Real Armenia' concept stressing the present borders.

Russia

Russia is the continuator state of the USSR, and the Soviet Union was a party to Moscow and Kars. Russia has not formally challenged them. Russian and Soviet historiography presents the 1921 treaties as part of a Soviet–Kemalist alignment against the Entente. The Soviet Union itself briefly reopened the issue. It denounced the 1925 treaty of friendship in March 1945 and pressed for Kars and Ardahan in 1945–46, but on 30 May 1953 it formally stated that it had no territorial claims on Türkiye.

Azerbaijan and Georgia

Azerbaijan treats Nakhchivan as an integral part of its territory and points to Moscow and Kars as confirming that status. The Azerbaijan–Türkiye Shusha Declaration of 15 June 2021 refers to the two treaties in connection with Nakhchivan. Transit and communication links to Nakhchivan are part of the continuing Armenia–Azerbaijan talks. Georgia holds Batumi and Adjara under the Moscow and Kars arrangement, and the Georgia–Türkiye border follows that line without dispute between the two states.

Greece, Britain and France

Britain and France were Lausanne signatories, and Britain also handled Cyprus (Article 20). Greece treats Lausanne as foundational for its Thrace frontier and minority reciprocity. Greece and Türkiye disagree on how Lausanne and the 1947 Paris Peace Treaty apply to island sovereignty and militarisation in the Aegean. Athens bases the sovereignty position on those texts, while Ankara emphasises the demilitarised status of certain islands.

Türkiye's Legal & Historical Position

• The eastern frontier is final. According to the Turkish Foreign Ministry's published background on Türkiye–Armenia relations, the border was defined by the Moscow and Kars treaties of 1921. Ankara argues that these are valid boundary treaties that survive changes of government and the dissolution of the USSR (Vienna Conventions on Treaties and on Succession). The 2009 Zurich Protocols, which the Turkish and Armenian foreign ministers signed on 10 October 2009 but which were never ratified, included an explicit confirmation of mutual recognition of the existing border as defined by relevant treaties of international law.
• Lausanne replaced Sèvres and is the foundation of the new state. The Turkish Foreign Ministry and Presidency treat Lausanne as the internationally recognised settlement of 1923. Ankara argues that Sèvres was never ratified, was rejected by the TBMM and never entered into force. Turkish Foreign Ministry statements on territorial claims therefore consider any reliance on Sèvres legally empty. The 1953 Soviet renunciation of claims is, in Ankara's reading, further confirmation.
• Nakhchivan is protected by treaty text. Moscow Article 3 and Kars Article V place Nakhchivan under Azerbaijan's protection on condition that it not be ceded to a third state. Ankara points to the Shusha Declaration of 2021 as a reaffirmation of this commitment with Azerbaijan.
• Sovereignty and minorities. Lausanne's Article 28 abolished the Capitulations, restoring full judicial and fiscal sovereignty. According to Turkish official statements, minority rights under Articles 37–45 are implemented on the basis of equal citizenship, and Ankara notes the reciprocity provision in Article 45 regarding Muslims in Greece.
• Normalization without preconditions, and history for historians. Ankara proposed a Joint Historical Commission in 2005 and has taken part in the normalization dialogue between Special Representatives Serdar Kılıç and Ruben Rubinyan since 14 January 2022. It argues that borders are settled law, while contested historical questions should be examined by historians with access to archives. See The 2005 Joint Historical Commission Offer. For the broader record, see our Editorial Principles on how we separate documented fact from stated position.

Source Comparison

Question	Common international or Armenian framing	Russian framing	Turkish primary-source framing
Status of Sèvres	Often cited as a lost or unrealised settlement that included an Armenian state and the Wilson award	Treated as superseded by the 1921 treaties	Never ratified or in force; replaced by Lausanne
Moscow and Kars	Sometimes described as treaties imposed by Moscow and Ankara on Armenia	Part of the Soviet legacy, not formally challenged by Russia	Valid boundary treaties; confirmed by Soviet republics and ratified
Alexandropol	A treaty signed under military defeat by an outgoing government	Overtaken by Sovietization	Marked the end of the war; superseded by Kars
Nakhchivan	An exclave whose transit links are a live regional issue	Soviet-era autonomy under Azerbaijan	Treaty-based status; protection condition; 2021 Shusha Declaration
Lausanne and minorities	Often assessed against later practice (property, seminary)	Marginal	Rights under Articles 37–45 on equal citizenship, with reciprocity
Armenian 'national home'	Raised at Lausanne by Lord Curzon, and absent from the treaty	Not applicable	Not included; no Armenian party at Lausanne

When reading media accounts, check whether they cite the text of the treaty itself, the date, and whether the instrument ever entered into force. Many popular summaries conflate Sèvres, which was signed but never ratified, with Lausanne, which was ratified and entered into force.

Key Terms & Related Guides

• Capitulations: commercial and judicial privileges granted to foreign powers within the Ottoman Empire, abolished for Türkiye by Article 28 of Lausanne.
• Boundary treaty: a treaty that fixes a frontier and, under general international law, enjoys heightened stability against termination.
• Wilson award: the arbitral decision of 22 November 1920 on the Armenian–Turkish boundary under Sèvres, which was never implemented.
• Continuator state: a state that continues the legal personality of its predecessor, as Russia does for the USSR.
• Nakhchivan protectorate clause: the condition in Moscow and Kars that Azerbaijan's protection of Nakhchivan not be transferred to a third state.

Related reading: Treaty And Precedent home, Is the 1920 Treaty of Sèvres Still Valid?, What Does the Treaty of Lausanne Say About Minorities?, The Montreux Convention Line by Line, and The 2005 Joint Historical Commission Offer.

Published by the Treaty And Precedent Editorial Team. Treaty And Precedent presents global and regional affairs with a dedicated perspective from Türkiye. Sections marked 'Türkiye's Legal & Historical Position' reflect official Turkish policy and legal doctrines as stated by Turkish primary sources.