IX. Declaration Relating to Moslem
Properties in Greece
The Under-signed, acting in virtue of their
full powers, declare, in the name of the Greek Government, that there shall be
no infringement of rights to property held by Moslem persons, who are not
subject to the terms of the Convention respecting the Exchange of Populations,
signed at Lausanne on the 30th January, 1923, and who have left
Greece, including the Island of Crete, before the 18th October,
1912, or who have always resided outside Greece. Such persons will preserve
their right to complete freedom as regards the disposal of their property.
Such arrangements and measures as may have
been exceptionally taken or applied in regard to the property of the said
Moslems shall be annulled. In the event of the revenues derived from such
properties having been collected by the Greek Government or authorities
without having been hitherto restored, or without having been the subject of
special agreements between the Government and the interested parties, such
revenues shall be paid to the owners. All claims respecting the revenues in
question, and all claims based on an allegation by such persons that their
rights had been infringed by an unfair application of measures of a general
nature, shall be settled by the Commission, for which provision is made in the
above-mentioned Convention, subject, nevertheless, to the condition that such
claims shall be made within a period of six months from the entry into force
of the Treaty of Peace signed this day. The said claims shall be examined at
once by the Commission, in order that they may be settled within a year's time
at the most from the coming into force of the said Treaty.
In view of the difficulties of a practical
nature with which the above-mentioned persons might be confronted, by reason
of their absence, as regards their right to dispose freely of their goods, the
Greek Government agrees that they shall be able to take advantage, if they so
desire, of the services of the above-mentioned Mixed Commission to dispose of
their property. It is understood that in this event intervention on the part
of the Mixed Commission will entail no obligation for the Greek Government to
purchase the properties in question, and that the task of the Commission will
be limited to facilitating the disposal thereof.
It is understood that the present Declaration
is made on the condition that reciprocity shall be granted to Greek owners of
property who have left Turkey before the 18th October, 1912, or who
have always resided outside Turkey.
Done at Lausanne, the 24th July,
1923.
E.K.Veniselos
D.Caclamanos
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