130 Petrides, Basil
The Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the American Legation in Greece 70
Note Verbale
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has had the honor to receive note verbale No. 39069 which the Legation of the United States of America addressed to it on November 28, 1932, concerning the nationality of Mr. Menelaus Petrides and his sons Basil and Theodore.
In reply and referring to its preceding note No. 26904 [26904½] of July 12, 1932 it has the honor to communicate that the said Menelaus Petrides, having been naturalized in the United States of America without the prior authorization of the Ottoman Government, has retained his Turkish nationality by virtue of the Turkish law of 1869 regarding nativity, regardless of his acquirement of American nationality.
He was not regularly relieved of his Turkish nationality to acquire simultaneously that of Greece until July 23, 1930, the date of going into force of the Greco-Turkish Treaty signed at Angora on June 10, 1930, by virtue of Article 28 of this Treaty.
It is for this reason that the sons of the above mentioned person, Basil and Theodore, on July 24, 1930 acquired Hellenic nationality [Page 448] and at the same time lost their Turkish nationality which they possessed by reason of their father being a Turkish citizen, regardless of the place where they were born, in conformity with the above-cited Turkish law of 1869.
The fact that the mother of the said persons had them inscribed in the register of the Municipality of Athens had no influence on their acquisition of Hellenic nationality which they acquired ipso jure under Article 28 of the Treaty of Angora as belonging to the category of persons dealt with by Declaration 9 of the Treaty of Lausanne mentioned in this article.
In view of the explicit provisions of the above-mentioned Treaty concluded between Greece and Turkey which have determined the nationality of their own subjects, this Ministry regrets that it is unable to share the point of view of the United States Government set forth in the aforementioned note of the Legation and consequently to be unable to accede to its request to remove from the Hellenic records the persons in question.
This Ministry hopes that the Legation of the United States will recognize the validity of the foregoing considerations and begs it to accept the renewed assurances of its high consideration.