Switzerland

Thousands of demonstrators gathered in the Swiss city that saw the signing of an international treaty, ending hopes of an independent Kurdish state a hundred years ago.

The Treaty of Lausanne was signed by the major world powers of the day, including Turkey, on July 24, 1923. It broke up the Ottoman empire and set the stage for European influence over the Middle East.

In the years between the end of the First World War and the treaty’s signing, negotiations had included plans to create a Kurdish state in eastern Turkey.