Allied–Armenian treaty on minorities and commerce

The British Empire, France, Italy and Japan, the Principal Allied Powers, of the one part, And Armenia, of the other part; Whereas the Principal Allied Powers have recognised Armenia as a sovereign and independent State; And whereas Armenia desires to bring her institutions into conformity with the principles of liberty and justice, and to give a sure guarantee thereof to all inhabitants of the territories over which she has assumed or will assume sovereignty; The High Contracting Parties, anxious to ensure the execution of Article 93 of the Treaty of Peace with Turkey, Have for this purpose appointed as their Plenipotentiaries, namely: His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Emperor of India: The Right Honourable Edward George Villiers, Earl of Derby, K.G., P.C., K.C.V.O., C.B., His Britannic Majesty's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary at Paris; And: For the Dominion of Canada: The Honourable Sir George Halsey Perley, K.C.M.G., High Commissioner for Canada in the United Kingdom; For the Commonwealth of Australia: The Right Honourable Andrew Fisher, High Commissioner for Australia in the United Kingdom; For the Dominion of New Zealand: The Honourable Sir James Allen, K.C.B., High Commissioner for New Zealand in the United Kingdom; For the Union of South Africa: Mr Reginald Andrew Blankenberg, O.B.E., Acting High Commissioner for the Union of South Africa in the United Kingdom; For India: Sir Arthur Hirtzel, K.C.B., Assistant Under-Secretary of State for India; The President of the French Republic: Mr Alexandre Millerand, President of the Council, Minister for Foreign Affairs; Mr Frédéric François-Marsal, Minister of Finance; Mr Auguste Paul-Louis Isaac, Minister of Commerce and Industry; Mr Jules Cambon, Ambassador of France; Mr Georges Maurice Paléologue, Ambassador of France, Secretary-General to the Minister for Foreign Affairs; His Majesty the King of Italy: Count Lelio Bonin Longare, Senator of the Kingdom, His Majesty the King of Italy's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary at Paris; Mr Carlo Galli, Consul; His Majesty the Emperor of Japan: Viscount Chinda, His Majesty the Emperor of Japan's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary at London; Mr E. Matsui, His Majesty the Emperor of Japan's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary at Paris; Armenia: Mr Avetis Aharonian, President of the Delegation of the Republic of Armenia; Mr Boghos Nubar, Representative of the Armenian Mixed Council of Constantinople; Who, having exchanged their full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed upon the following provisions: Chapter I.

Article 1. Armenia undertakes that the provisions contained in Articles 2 to 8 of the present Chapter shall be recognised as fundamental laws, that no law, regulation or official action shall conflict or interfere with these provisions, and that no law, regulation or official action shall prevail over them.

Article 2. Armenia undertakes to assure full and complete protection of life and liberty to all inhabitants without distinction of birth, nationality, language, race or religion. All inhabitants of Armenia shall be entitled to the free exercise, whether public or private, of any faith, religion or belief whose practice is not inconsistent with public order and good morals. Interference with the free exercise of religious worship shall be punished by the same penalties, whatever the religion concerned.

Article 3. Armenia undertakes to recognise such provisions as the Principal Allied Powers may consider appropriate concerning the reciprocal and voluntary emigration of persons belonging to ethnic minorities.

Article 4. All Armenian nationals shall be equal before the law and shall enjoy the same civil and political rights without distinction of race, language or religion. Within two years from the coming into force of the present Treaty, the Armenian Government shall submit to the Principal Allied Powers a plan for an electoral system taking ethnic minorities into account. Differences of religion, creed or confession shall not prejudice any Armenian national in matters relating to the enjoyment of civil or political rights, in particular admission to public employment, functions and honours, or the exercise of the various professions and industries. No restriction shall be imposed on the free use by any Armenian national of any language in private intercourse or commerce, in matters of religion, the press or publications of any kind, or at public meetings. Notwithstanding the establishment of an official language by the Armenian Government, appropriate facilities shall be given to Armenian nationals whose language is other than Armenian for the use of their language, orally or in writing, before the courts.

Article 5. Armenian nationals belonging to ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities shall enjoy the same treatment and the same guarantees, in law and in fact, as other Armenian nationals. In particular, they shall have an equal right to establish, manage and control, at their own expense, charitable, religious or social institutions, schools and other educational establishments, with the right to use their own language freely and to practise their religion freely therein.

Article 6. In public education, the Armenian Government shall grant, in towns and districts where a considerable proportion of Armenian nationals whose language is other than Armenian reside, appropriate facilities to ensure that instruction is given to the children of those Armenian nationals in their own language. This provision shall not prevent the Armenian Government from making the teaching of Armenian compulsory in those schools. In towns and districts where a considerable proportion of Armenian nationals belonging to ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities reside, those minorities shall be assured an equitable share in the benefit and allocation of sums which may be provided out of public funds under the State, municipal or other budgets for educational, religious or charitable purposes.

Article 7. Armenia agrees to take, in relation to Muslims, all measures necessary to settle questions of family law and personal status in accordance with Muslim customs. Armenia undertakes to protect mosques, cemeteries and other Muslim religious establishments. Full recognition and all facilities shall be assured to pious foundations (vakoufs) and to existing Muslim religious and charitable establishments; Armenia shall not refuse, for the creation of new religious and charitable establishments, any of the necessary facilities guaranteed to other private establishments of this kind.

Article 8. Armenia agrees that, insofar as the provisions of the preceding Articles affect persons belonging to racial, religious or linguistic minorities, those provisions constitute obligations of international concern and shall be placed under the guarantee of the League of Nations. They shall not be modified without the assent of a majority of the Council of the League of Nations. The British Empire, France, Italy and Japan undertake not to withhold their assent to any modification of those Articles duly agreed to by a majority of the Council of the League of Nations. Armenia agrees that any Member of the Council of the League of Nations shall have the right to bring to the Council's attention any infraction, or danger of infraction, of any of these obligations, and that the Council may take such action and give such directions as may appear appropriate and effective in the circumstances. Armenia further agrees that any difference of opinion on questions of law or fact concerning these Articles between Armenia and any one of the Principal Allied Powers, or any other Power that is a Member of the Council of the League of Nations, shall be regarded as a dispute of an international character within the meaning of Article 14 of the Covenant of the League of Nations. The Armenian Government agrees that any such dispute shall, if the other party so requests, be referred to the Permanent Court of Justice. The decision of the Permanent Court shall have the same force and effect as a decision rendered under Article 13 of the Covenant. Chapter II.

Article 9. Each of the Principal Allied Powers, of the one part, and Armenia, of the other part, may appoint diplomatic representatives in their respective capitals, as well as Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls and consular agents in the towns and ports of their respective territories. Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls and consular agents shall, however, not enter upon their duties until they have been admitted in the usual manner by the Government in whose territory they are sent. Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls and consular agents shall enjoy all advantages, exemptions and immunities of every kind which are or shall be accorded to the consular agents of the most-favoured nation.

Article 10. Armenia undertakes to conclude no treaty, convention or agreement, and to take no measure, which would prevent her from participating in any general convention which may be concluded under the auspices of the League of Nations for the equitable treatment of the commerce of other States within a period of five years from the coming into force of the present Treaty. Armenia also undertakes to extend to all Allied States any favour or privilege in customs matters which she may grant, during the same five-year period, to any State with which the Allied States have been at war since August 1914, or to any other State which, under Article 222 of the Treaty of Peace with Austria, has special customs arrangements with those States.

Article 11. Pending the conclusion of the general convention referred to above, Armenia undertakes to accord the same treatment as to national vessels or the vessels of the most-favoured nation to the vessels of all Allied States which accord similar treatment to Armenian vessels. As an exception to this provision, the right of any Allied State to reserve its maritime coasting trade to national vessels is expressly recognised.

Article 12. Pending the conclusion, under the auspices of the League of Nations, of a general convention intended to secure and maintain freedom of communications and transit, Armenia undertakes to grant, over Armenian territory, freedom of transit to persons, goods, vessels, carriages, wagons and mails in transit to or from any Allied State, and to accord them, as regards facilities, charges, restrictions and all other matters, treatment at least as favourable as that accorded to Armenian persons, goods, vessels, carriages, wagons and mails, or those of any other nationality, origin, importation or ownership enjoying more favourable treatment. All charges imposed in Armenia on such transit traffic shall be reasonable in view of the conditions of that traffic. Goods in transit shall be exempt from all customs or other duties. Joint tariffs for transit traffic through Armenia, and joint tariffs between Armenia and any Allied State involving through tickets or waybills, shall be established if the Allied Power concerned so requests. Freedom of transit shall extend to postal, telegraphic and telephone services. It is understood that no Allied State shall be entitled to claim the benefit of these provisions for any part of its territory in which reciprocal treatment is not accorded in respect of the same subject matter. If, within a period of five years from the coming into force of the present Treaty, the general convention referred to above has not been concluded under the auspices of the League of Nations, Armenia shall have the right, at any time thereafter, to terminate the provisions of the present Article upon giving twelve months' notice to the Secretary-General of the League of Nations.

Article 13. All rights and privileges accorded by the preceding Articles to the Allied Powers shall also be accorded to all States Members of the League of Nations. The present Treaty, drawn up in French, English and Italian, the French text prevailing in case of divergence, shall be ratified. It shall come into force at the same time as the Treaty of Peace with Turkey. The deposit of ratifications shall take place at Paris. Powers whose Government has its seat outside Europe shall be entitled merely to inform the Government of the French Republic, through their diplomatic representative at Paris, that their ratification has been given; in that case, they shall transmit the instrument as soon as possible. A record of the deposit of ratifications shall be drawn up. The French Government shall transmit to all signatory Powers a certified true copy of the record of the deposit of ratifications. In witness whereof, the above-named Plenipotentiaries have signed the present Treaty. Done at Sèvres, the tenth day of August one thousand nine hundred and twenty, in a single copy which shall remain deposited in the archives of the Government of the French Republic and of which authentic copies shall be delivered to each of the signatory Powers. (L.S.) Derby. (L.S.) George H. Perley. (L.S.) Andrew Fisher. (L.S.) James Allen. (L.S.) R. A. Blankenberg. (L.S.) Arthur Hirtzel. (L.S.) A. Millerand. (L.S.) F. François-Marsal. (L.S.) Jules Cambon. (L.S.) Paléologue. (L.S.) Bonin. (L.S.) K. Matsui. (L.S.) A. Aharonian.