Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Straits of who should control the strategically vital link between the Black Sea and Mediterranean Sea. In 1923 the Treaty of Lausanne had demilitarised the Dardanelles and opened the Straits to unrestricted civilian and military traffic, under the supervision of the International Straits Commission of the League of Nations. By the late 1930s, the strategic situation in the Mediterranean had altered with the rise of Fascist Italy, which controlled the Greek-inhabited Dodecanese islands off the west coast of Turkey and had constructed fortifications on Rhodes, Leros and Kos. The Turks feared that Italy would seek to exploit access to the Straits
Dodecanese Regiment front, Lt. General Georgios Tsolakoglou, signed with the LSSAH an unauthorized ceasefire protocol, and next day the regiment was ordered to surrender whatever firearms and ammunition they had to the president of Ardomitsa community and then march to Metsovo. On the 24th they reached Metsovo and received new orders to march to Malakasi. Next day they were informed that by a new ceasefire protocol the Greek officers were considered prisoners of war and the Germans were arresting them on sight. On the 26th, one day before Germans entered Athens, the Dodecanese Regiment’s commander succeeded in making contact with the TSKM