A century later, the shadow of the Angora Treaty still hangs over French-Armenian memory
Author: Armenag Aprahamian
The Promise of French Protection
In 1919, after the end of World War I, Armenians who had survived the Ottoman Genocide hoped again for a national revival. French-mandated Kilikia, one of the southern territories of the Armenian Highlands and the cradle of the medieval Armenian kingdom, was liberated by French troops, especially the Eastern Legion.
The tricolor flags flew in Adana, Marash, and Ayntap. The French military authorities assured the Armenians of Kilikia that they would be protected and would have the opportunity to rebuild their homes, schools, and churches.
On 4 August, 1920, in the presence of French authorities, Kilikia declared its independence. At that time, thousands of Armenian refugees returned from Syria and Lebanon, trusting in the promise of France as a victorious state and guarantor of the rights of peoples.
The diplomatic turn
However, the international political situation changed dramatically. A Turkish nationalist movement was formed in Ankara under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal. At the same time:
- On 4 June, 1918, the Treaty of Batumi was signed between the Turks and the Dashnaktsutyun National Council,
- December 2, 1920, the Treaty of Alexandropol was signed, when Eastern Armenia was de facto separated from Western Armenia.
France, faced with a heavy financial burden and the difficulties of maintaining a military presence, chose a new direction.
October 20 1921, France signed the Treaty of Angora with the self-proclaimed, illegitimate Kemalist regime. Under the pretext of “regional stability” and “security of troops,” France undertook to withdraw its army from Kilikia, effectively recognizing Turkish control over a region where tens of thousands of Armenians still lived.
In this way, the promises of the London and San Remo conferences, as well as the Treaty of Sèvres (1920) and the arbitration award of US President Woodrow Wilson were ignored those which envisaged an independent Armenia under the auspices of France and its allies..
The Angora Agreement became a symbol of France’s broken promises in the name of “diplomatic realism
Murders, emigration and a forgotten tragedy
Immediately after the French troops left, the Kemalists regained control of the territory. Massacres began again in Marash, Ayntap, and Adana. Armenian villages were burned, the population was either killed, forcibly converted to Islam, or forced to flee to Syria and Lebanon.
Kilikia, which was then Turkified, was completely deprived of its centuries-old Armenian presence. A policy of “genocide for land” was implemented, similar to that repeated in September 2023 against the Armenians of Artsakh.
The emigration of 1921 put an end to the existence of Cilician Armenia, that second homeland that had withstood the massacres of 1894, 1909, and 1915–1921.
In Armenian memory, this renunciation is tantamount to betrayal, so great was the contrast with the humanistic and protective image of France in which Armenians believed.
The memory drawback in the French consciousness
In France, this historical event is still almost unknown. National memory has preferred to preserve the image of France as the defender of the Armenians in 1915 or its efforts to recognize the genocide.
However, abandoned Cilicia remains one of the forgotten pages of French colonial and diplomatic history.
This event deeply raises the question of moral responsibility when a state, promising protection, abandons those it had patronized. It is a precedent that even predates the UN’s idea of the “responsibility to protect.”
Towards historical recognition and reparations
Today, a century later, on 20 October 2025, the Republic of Western Armenia, remembering the 104th anniversary of this bitter event, calls on France to approach this topic with renewed seriousness, not in the spirit of revenge, but in the spirit of truth and justice.
Symbolic and material forms of compensation are proposed: return of property, funding for memorial programs, official recognition. These steps can become the basis for historical reconciliation based on an awareness of responsibility.
Recognition of the abandonment of Kilikia would signify France’s commitment to its universal values and would become a moral justification for a people who had placed their hope and trust in France.
The Treaty of Angora is not just a forgotten diplomatic fact. It is a mirror of the conflict between state interests and loyalty to principles. A century later, as France reconsiders its colonial past and international responsibility, Cilicia remains a call to conscience: a people betrayed and a promise never fulfilled.