From Lausanne to Montreux: Türkiye's Diplomatic Struggle for the Reconsideration of the Straits Regime

The Turkish Straits, whose regime was determined by the Montreux Convention in 1936, have held significant importance in global geopolitics during the periods of the First and Second World Wars, the Cold War, and the subsequent eras. Today, the security of the Straits is brought to the forefront by both Türkiye and the countries bordering the Black Sea due to military, commercial, and humanitarian reasons whenever East-West oriented crises and conflicts arise. The management regime of the Straits was decided by the Lausanne Treaty in 1923; however, within less than a decade, significant changes in European politics, increased armament, and the threats posed by German Nazism and Italian Fascism forced Türkiye to reconsider the control of the Straits, which were managed by an international commission. This issue became one of the main topics of Turkish diplomacy from the early 1930s, particularly in various international forums, including the League of Nations. During this period, the Turkish Foreign Ministry conducted a patient diplomacy, aiming for Türkiye to independently manage the Straits, while considering the sensitive international balances. As a result, Türkiye convinced the countries that signed the Lausanne Treaty and the major powers of the time to reevaluate the regime of the Straits. Diplomatic correspondence showing how this process progressed is concentrated between the years 1933 and 1936. This study aims to explain how Türkiye’s efforts to convince the relevant parties to reevaluate the regime of the Straits took place within the historical flow. The study evaluates the correspondence of the embassies of the United States, Türkiye the United Kingdom, Switzerland, France, Italy, and Russia, which closely followed the Straits issue, and the correspondence of Turkish diplomatic missions in Europe as primary sources within the framework of the historicism methodology.