LONDRA KONFERANSI'NDA ERMENİ SORUNU VE İNGİLTERE'NİN TUTUMU (12 ŞUBAT-10 NİSAN 1920)

The draft of treaties to be signed with defeated states was prepared at the Paris Peace Conference and the peace treaty to be made with the Ottoman Empire could not be concluded due to the conflicts of interest of Allied Powers. This condition caused the great powers to meet in London in that time. Preparatory meetings of the London Conference were held with the participation of English, French, Italian and Japanese authorities between 12 February 1920 and 10 March 1920; and the last meetings were held between 11 March 1920 and 10 April 1920. In the conference, the objective was to reconcile the conflicting benefits and make rapid decisions by adopting the method of "Summit diplomacy" just like in Paris. For instance; even though England that intended to get freed from the heavy burden of the Armenian question tried to reach the solution through different alternatives (The League of Nations, Norway), none of the powers wanted to make a decision that would expose them to military, economic and political difficulties. According to the English decision-makers, USA was a state that had to take charge of mandate in the region. However, Washington tried to stay away from responsibilities, which would cause troubles, in the light of information received from officials that were sent to Anatolia and consequently, USA decided not to send delegation to the sessions of Conference of the London. Nevertheless, the proposal of mandate was brought to the agenda of the United States Senate this time with the support of the lobbies supporting England and Armenia in following days; however, this request was not accepted by the United States Senate that was based on national benefits.