The International Straits Commission was an international agency that, under the auspices of the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

, managed the Turkish Straits (the

Dardanelles The Dardanelles (; tr, Çanakkale Boğazı, lit=Strait of Çanakkale, el, Δαρδανέλλια, translit=Dardanéllia), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli from the Gallipoli peninsula or from Classical Antiquity as the Hellespont (; ...

and

Bosphorus The Bosporus Strait (; grc, Βόσπορος ; tr, İstanbul Boğazı 'Istanbul strait', colloquially ''Boğaz'') or Bosphorus Strait is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul in northwestern Tu ...

) from 1923 to 1936. In the aftermath of World War I and the 1920

Treaty of Sèvres The Treaty of Sèvres (french: Traité de Sèvres) was a 1920 treaty signed between the Allies of World War I and the Ottoman Empire. The treaty ceded large parts of Ottoman territory to France, the United Kingdom, Greece and Italy, as well ...

, the Straits were demilitarized and internationalized. In 1923 the

Treaty of Lausanne The Treaty of Lausanne (french: Traité de Lausanne) was a peace treaty negotiated during the Lausanne Conference of 1922–23 and signed in the Palais de Rumine, Lausanne, Switzerland, on 24 July 1923. The treaty officially settled the conflic ...

revised the terms of Sevres, and restored Turkish

sovereignty Sovereignty is the defining authority within individual consciousness, social construct, or territory. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within the state, as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the perso ...

, but the Straits remained open unrestricted civilian and military traffic, under the auspices of the International Straits Commission, headed by a Turkish national. This status remained until the 1936

Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Straits The (Montreux) Convention regarding the Regime of the Straits, often known simply as the Montreux Convention, is an international agreement governing the Bosporus and Dardanelles Straits in Turkey. Signed on 20 July 1936 at the Montreux Palace i ...

, which abolished the Commission and gave full control to Turkey, which was allowed to remilitarize the Straits and forbid traffic to belligerent countries, while restrictions were placed on the passage of warships.

Sources

{{reflist History of the Republic of Turkey League of Nations Turkish Straits History of the Dardanelles Bosphorus 1923 establishments in Europe 1936 disestablishments in Europe