the date of the adoption of the Mandate, Palestine was recognized as a distinct political entity at the international level. However, from an international law perspective, the final status of Palestine, the territory detached from Turkey (formerly, the Ottoman Empire), was settled by the Treaty of Peace (Treaty of Lausanne of 1923) which was agreed upon by the Allied Powers and Turkey. Article 16 of Treaty of Lausanne reads: Turkey hereby renounces all rights and title what so ever over or respecting the territories situated outside the frontiers laid down in the present Treaty and the islands other than those over which her sovereignty is recognized by the said Treaty, the future of these territories and islands being settled or to be settled by the parties concerned.22 Also, Article 27 reads: No power or jurisdiction in political, legislative or administrative matters shall be exercised outside Turkish territory by the Turkish Government or authorities, for any reason whatsoever, over the nationals of a territory placed under the sovereignty or protectorate of the other Powers signatory of the present Treaty, or over the nationals of a territory detached from Turkey. It is understood that the spiritual attributions of the Moslem religious authorities are in no way infringed.23 Despite the de facto changes witnessed from 1917 until the Treaty of Lausanne (1923), Palestine’s habitual inhabitants legally remained Ottoman citizens in accordance with 1869 Ottoman Nationality Law, though Ottoman nationality was ineffective. The treaty of Lausanne, which came into force on 6 August 1923 “transformed the de facto status of, and practice relating to, Palestinian nationality into de jure existence from an international law angle.”24 Article 30 of the Treaty of Lausanne reads: Turkish subjects habitually resident in territory which in accordance with the provisions of the present Treaty is detached from Turkey will become ipso facto, in the conditions laid down by the local law, nationals of the State to which such territory is transferred.25 By the enactment of the Palestinian Citizenship Order of 1925, which came into force on 1 August 1925, the nationality of Palestine’s inhabitants was legally established at the domestic level. According to Article 1 of the Palestinian Citizenship Order “Turkish subjects habitually resident in the territory of Palestine upon the 1st day of August, 1925 shall become Palestinian citizens.” Several amendments to the Citizenship Order were passed in subsequent years. In 1944, all amendments were incorporated into the Palestinian Citizenship Order under the name “Consolidated 22 4 “Treaty of Peace with Turkey, Signed at Lausanne,” July 24, 1923, http://sam.baskent.edu.tr/belge/ Lausanne_ENG.pdf, Article 16. 23 Ibid., Article 27. 24 Qafisheh, The International Law Foundations of Palestinian Nationality: A Legal Examination of Nationality in Palestine under Britain’s Rule, 73. 25 “Treaty of Peace with Turkey, Signed at Lausanne,” Article 30. Handbook on Protection of Palestinian Refugees