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|name = Treaty of Kars |name = Treaty of Kars
|long_name = |long_name =
|image = Tratado de Kars 1921 - Territorios disputados.png |image = TreatyofKarsMap.jpg
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|caption = The frontier established in the Treaty of Kars |caption = The frontier established in the Treaty of Kars
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|parties = |parties =
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|languages =], ]<ref name="english">, ''Armenian News Network / Groong''.</ref>
|languages =], ]
|website = |website =
|wikisource = Treaty of Kars |wikisource = Treaty of Kars
}} }}


The '''Treaty of Kars''' ({{lang-tr|Kars Antlaşması}}, {{lang-ru|Карсский договор / ''Karskii dogovor''}}, {{lang-ka|ყარსის ხელშეკრულება}}, {{lang-hy|Կարսի պայմանագիր}}, {{lang-az|Qars müqaviləsi}}) was a ] that established the common borders between ] and the three ]n republics of the ] (today the independent republics of ], ], and ]).<ref name="tsutsiev">{{cite book|last=Tsutsiev|first=Arthur|translator=Nora Seligman Favorov|title=Atlas of the Ethno-Political History of the Caucasus|year=2014|publisher=Yale University Press|location=New Haven|isbn=978-0300153088|page=79}}</ref><ref name="king">{{cite book|last=King|first=Charles|title=The Ghost of Freedom: A History of the Caucasus|year=2008|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0195177756|page=189}}</ref> The treaty was signed in the city of ] on October 13, 1921 and ratified in the Armenian capital ] on September 11, 1922.<ref name="kars-text">{{ru icon}} </ref><ref name="english" />
The '''Treaty of Kars''' ({{lang-hy|Կարսի պայմանագիր}}, {{lang-az|Qars müqaviləsi}}, {{lang-ka|ყარსის ხელშეკრულება}}, {{lang-tr|Kars Antlaşması}}, {{lang-ru|Карсский договор / ''Karskiy dogovor''}}) was a treaty signed in ] on October 13, 1921<ref name="kars=text" /> and ratified in ] on September 11, 1922.<ref name="english" />
Signatories included representatives from the ], which in 1923 would declare the ], and also from the future ], ], and ], all of which formed part of the ] after the ] and the ] with the participation of ].<ref name="kars=text">{{ru icon}} </ref><ref name="english"></ref> It established the contemporary borders between Turkey and the South Caucasus states and was a successor treaty to the earlier ] of March 1921, and the ] that marked Russia's exit from ].
Most of the territories ceded to Turkey in the treaty were acquired by ] from the ] during the ]. The only exception was the ] region, which had been annexed by Russia in the ] after the ] with ].


Signatories of the Treaty of Kars included representatives from the ], which in 1923 would declare the ], and also from the future ], ], and ], all of which formed part of the Soviet Union after the victory of the ] in the ] and the ], with the participation of the ].<ref name="kars-text" /><ref name="english" />
== Signatories ==


The treaty was the successor treaty to the earlier ] of March 1921. Most of the territories ceded to Turkey in the treaty were acquired by ] from the ] during the ]. The only exception was the ] region, which had been part of the ] of ] before it was annexed by Russia in the ] after the ].<ref>Tsutsiev, p. 14–15.</ref>
The treaty was signed by the ] Representative General ], MP and Commander of Eastern Front ], MP ], and Ambassador ], Russian Ambassador ], Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs ] and Minister of Interior ], Azerbaijani Minister of State Control ], and Georgian Minister of Military and Naval Affairs ] and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Financial Affairs ].<ref name="kars=text" />


== The agreement == ==Signatories==
The treaty was signed by the Turkish Provisional Government Representative General ], MP and Commander of Eastern Front ], MP ], and Ambassador ], Russian Ambassador ], Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs ] and Minister of Interior ], Azerbaijani Minister of State Control ], and Georgian Minister of Military and Naval Affairs ] and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Financial Affairs ].<ref name="kars-text" />


==Terms==
The treaty provided for the territory of the former Russian ] of the ] to be divided. The northern half, with the port city of ], was ceded by Turkey to the ]. The southern half, with the city of ], would be annexed by Turkey. It was agreed that the northern half would be granted autonomy within Soviet Georgia. It eventually evolved into the ] (present-day ]). Additionally, Turkey was also guaranteed a "free transit through the port of Batum for commodities and all materials destined for, or originating in, Turkey, without customs duties and charges, and with the right for Turkey to utilize the port of Batum without special charges."<ref name="kars=text" />
The Treaty of Kars reaffirmed the terms of the earlier Treaty of Moscow concluded in 1921 between the Grand National Assembly of Turkey and the Russian SFSR. It defined the boundaries between the new Turkish Republic and all three Transcaucasian republics.
]
===Georgia and Adjara===
The Kars treaty provided for the territory of the former Imperial Russian ] of the ] to be divided. The southern half of the former oblast, largely correspondent to the Artvinsky Okrug with the city of ], would be annexed to Turkey.<ref name="tsutsiev" /> The northern half, largely correspondent to the Batumsky Okrug with the strategic port city of ], would become part of Soviet Georgia as the ] (present-day ]).<ref name="tsutsiev" /> The treaty required that the region be granted political autonomy due to the largely Muslim ] and that it implement "an agrarian system in conformity with its own wishes."<ref name="english" /> Caucasus scholar ] referred to this part of the treaty as a "rare instance in international law in which the internal administrative structure of one country has been secured by a treaty with another."<ref name="king" /> Additionally, the treaty guaranteed "free transit through the port of Batum for commodities and all materials destined for, or originating in, Turkey, without customs duties and charges, and with the right for Turkey to utilize the port of Batum without special charges."<ref name="english" />


===Armenian-Turkish border===
The treaty also created a new boundary between Turkey and Soviet Armenia, defined by the ] (Arpachay) and the ]/]s. ] obtained from ] most of the former ] of ], including the ], with ] and the cities of ] and Koghb (]), the cities of Kars, ], and ], the ruins of ], and ]. Most of these areas were already under Turkish military control. The treaty required Turkish troops to withdraw from an area roughly corresponding to the western half of ]'s present-day ] (including Alexandropol (])).<ref name="kars=text" />
The treaty created a new boundary between Turkey and Soviet Armenia, defined by the ] (Arpachay) and ]s. Turkey obtained the territory of the former ] of Russian Empire, including the cities of Kars, ], and ], ], and the ruins of ].<ref name="kars-text" /> From the former ], it also obtained the ] (Surmali), with ], the salt mines of Kulp (]), and the city of ], as well as the ], a narrow strip of land between the Aras and Lower Karasu Rivers that had been part of the ].<ref>{{cite book|last=Parrot|first=Friedrich|authorlink=Friedrich Parrot|translator=]|others=Introduction by Pietro A. Shakarian|title =Journey to Ararat|publisher=]|place=London|date=2016|orig-year=1846|page=xxix|isbn=978-1909382244}}</ref>


According to the memoirs of ], the last Prime Minister of the ], the Bolsheviks attempted to renegotiate the status of Ani and Kulp and retain them as part of Soviet Armenia. Ganetsky emphasized the "great historical and scientific value" of Ani for the ] and declared Kulp to be an "inseparable part of Transcaucasia."<ref name="vratsian">{{cite journal|last=Vrastian|first=Simon|title=How Armenia Was Sovietized, (Part V)|journal=]|volume=2|number=1|date=1949|pages=123}}</ref> However, Turkey refused to renegotiate the terms agreed upon in the Moscow treaty, much to the disappointment of the Soviet side.<ref name="vratsian" /> Most of the Armenian territories ceded to Turkey had already been under Turkish military control since the ].<ref name="tsutsiev2">Tsutsiev, p. 74–75.</ref> The treaty required Turkish troops to withdraw from an area roughly corresponding to the western half of Armenia's present-day ], including the city of Aleksandropol (]).<ref name="kars-text" />
The Treaty of Kars specified the partition of ] and the region of Nakhchivan (a territory comprising the ] and Sharur part of the ] uyezds of the former ] of ] of the ]) as an autonomous territory under the protection of ]. In 1924, the ] was formed on this territory as an exclave subordinate to the ], and sharing a 15-km boundary with the now Turkish district of Surmalu.<ref name="kars=text" />


===Azerbaijan and Nakhichevan===
== Role of Joseph Stalin ==
Article V of the treaty established the region of Nakhichevan as an autonomous territory under the political jurisdiction of Soviet Azerbaijan. The new autonomous Nakhichevan territory comprised the former ] and the Sharur part of the ] of the former Erivan Governorate.<ref name="tsutsiev2" /> In 1924, the ] was formed on this territory as an exclave subordinate to the Azerbaijan SSR.<ref>Tsutsiev, p. 73.</ref> The creation of this new autonomous republic allowed Azerbaijan to share a common 15-km boundary with the now-Turkish-controlled Aras corridor.<ref>{{cite news|last=Shakarian|first=Pietro A.|title=Debunking a Caucasian Myth|url=https://abovyangroup.org/2015/02/23/debunking-a-caucasian-myth/|work=The Abovyan Group|date=23 February 2015|accessdate=24 March 2017}}</ref>


==Impact on Turkish-Iranian relations==
According to different participants at the Moscow Conference, ]'s participation in the Kars Treaty was huge in the context of the large area of ]'s territory which was transferred to ].<ref>Ю. Г. Барсегов. «Геноцид армян. Ответственность Турции и обязательства мирового сообщества». М., 2005, т. 2, часть 2, с. 515–518. </ref> As ] writes in his note:
]
<blockquote>] and ] tried to annul ], they openly stand on Armenian rights. That is why we decided to outwit them: ] offered a new way. That way supposed direct contact with Stalin, who is the closest friend of Lenin. There two people are the most powerful in ]. Actually he became the man who made signing of the Treaty possible. If the issue is solved by ], who was under influence of Karakhan, supporter of Armenian interests, he would have not done it.</blockquote>
The Kars treaty also impacted ]. The annexation of Surmali and the Aras corridor now gave Turkey a slightly more extensive border with Iran. In the late 1920s, the ] ] erupted in the vicinity of Mount Ararat. As Turkey attempted to quash the rebellion, the Kurdish rebels fled across the Iranian border to the eastern flank of ], which they used "as a haven against the state in their uprising."<ref>{{cite book|last=Yildiz|first=Kerim|last2=Taysi|first2=Tanyel B.|title=The Kurds in Iran: The Past, Present and Future|year=2007|publisher=Pluto Press|location=London|isbn=978-0745326696|page=71}}</ref> In response, Turkey crossed the border with Iran and occupied the region.<ref name="ParrotAraratRebellion">Parrot, p. xxiii.</ref> The Lesser Ararat area became the subject of discussion between Turkish and Iranian diplomats in border delineation talks. In ] in 1932, Iran agreed to cede the area to Turkey in exchange for some territories further south.<ref>Tsutsiev, p. 92.</ref>


However, the agreement was delayed due to objections from some Iranian diplomats who viewed the Lesser Ararat area as strategically important and who also questioned the validity of the Treaty of Kars. These diplomats felt that Turkey did not have a legitimate claim to the territory of Surmali, which had been part of Iran before it was ceded to Imperial Russia in the Treaty of Turkmenchay.<ref name="bournoutian">{{cite journal|last=Bournoutian|first=George A.|authorlink=George Bournoutian|title=The Iran-Turkey-Armenia Borders as Depicted in Various Maps|journal=]|volume=19|number=1|date=2015|page=103}}</ref> In addition, because the wording of the Turkmenchay Treaty was vague, they advocated annexing parts of the area.<ref name="bournoutian" /> After a constructive meeting with ] in ] in 1934, ], who initially favored annexing the Aras corridor, finally ordered his diplomats to drop any objections and accept the new border agreements.<ref>Bournoutian, p. 104.</ref>
Turkish participant Ali Fuat Cebesoy writes:{{Citation needed|date=February 2010}}
<blockquote>... if not the interfering of Stalin ... Moscow conference would probably last much longer; or we wouldn't get the results we reached.</blockquote>


==Attempted annulment by the USSR==
As he wrote before the conference to ]:{{Citation needed|date=February 2010}}
<blockquote>...Stalin personally treats Armenians negatively...</blockquote>

== Attempted annulment ==
{{main|Soviet territorial claims against Turkey}} {{main|Soviet territorial claims against Turkey}}
] ]
After ], the Soviet Union attempted to annul the Kars treaty and regain its lost territory{{Citation needed|date=August 2007}}. On June 7, 1945, Soviet Foreign Minister ] told the Turkish ambassador in Moscow that the provinces of ], ] and ] should be returned to the USSR, in the name of both the Georgian and Armenian republics. Turkey found itself in a difficult position: it wanted good relations with the Soviet Union but at the same time they refused to give up the territories. Some British diplomats noted that as early as 1939, Soviet politicians might reopen the question of possibly annulling the Kars treaty. Turkey itself was in no condition to fight a war with the Soviet Union, which had emerged as a superpower after the Second World War. By the autumn of 1945, Soviet troops in the Caucasus were already assembling for a possible invasion of Turkey.{{Citation needed|date=August 2007}} Soviet territorial claims to Turkey were supported by all shades of the ], including the anti-Soviet ].<ref>Richard G. Hovannisian ''The Armenian People from Ancient to Modern Times: Foreign dominion to statehood: the fifteenth century to the twentieth century''. Palgrave Macmillan, 2004. P. 417</ref> After ], the Soviet Union attempted to annul the Kars treaty and regain its lost territory. According to ], deputy premier ] goaded his fellow ] ] into taking action on the issue, insisting on the return of historical Georgian territories.<ref>{{cite book|last=Khrushchev|first=Nikita S.|editor=Sergei Khrushchev|translator=George Shriver|title=Memoirs of Nikita Khrushchev: Reformer, 1945-1964|publisher=]|place=University Park, PA|date=2006|page=426|isbn=978-0271058597}}</ref><ref name="suny">{{cite book|last=Suny|first=Ronald Grigor|authorlink=Ronald Grigor Suny|title=Looking toward Ararat|publisher=Indiana University Press|place=Bloomington|date=1993|page=165–169|isbn=978-0253207739}}</ref> Stalin eventually agreed and on June 7, 1945, Soviet Foreign Minister ] informed the Turkish ambassador in ] that the provinces of Kars, Ardahan, and Artvin should be returned to the USSR, in the name of both the Georgian and Armenian Soviet republics.<ref name="suny" /> Ankara found itself in a difficult position: it wanted good relations with Moscow but at the same time refused to give up the territories. Turkey was in no condition to fight a war with the Soviet Union, which had emerged as a superpower after the Second World War.<ref name="suny" /> Soviet territorial claims to Turkey were supported by the ] ] and by all shades of the ], including the anti-Soviet ].<ref name="suny" />


The British and the Americans opposed the Soviet territorial claims against Turkey. As the ] began, the American government saw the claims as part of an "] drive by a Communist empire" and viewed them as reminiscent of ] ] claims over the ] in ].<ref name="suny" /> The ] was concerned about the strategic military significance of the Kars plateau to the Soviets. They concluded that their earlier ] (1913-1921) had expired since the loss of Armenian independence.<ref name="suny2">Suny, p. 175–177.</ref> During the crisis, the USSR also asked Turkey for a military base on the ]. The State Department advised ] ] to support Turkey and oppose the Soviet demands, which he did. Turkey joined the anti-Soviet ] military alliance in 1952.<ref name="suny2" />
Soviet claims were put forth by the Armenians to the leaders of the ]{{Citation needed|date=August 2007}}; however, opposition stemmed from ] ] who objected to these territorial claims as additional areas where the Soviet government could exert its influence while ] ], felt that the matter should not concern other parties. Ultimately, the USSR gave up its claims against Turkey{{Citation needed|date=August 2007}}.


Following the death of Stalin in 1953, the Soviet government renounced its territorial claims on Turkey as part of an effort to promote friendly relations with the Middle Eastern country and its alliance partner, the United States. The USSR continued to honor the terms of the Kars treaty until its ]. However, according to ], Moscow revisited the treaty in 1968, when it attempted to negotiate a border adjustment with Turkey in which the ruins of Ani would be transferred to Soviet Armenia in exchange for two Azerbaijani villages in the area of Mount Akbaba. However, according to Walker, nothing resulted from these talks.<ref>{{cite book|last=Walker|first=Christopher J.|title=Armenia: The Survival of a Nation|edition=2nd|year=1990|publisher=St. Martin's Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0312042301|page=276}}</ref>
During the crisis, the USSR also asked Turkey for a military base on the Bosphorus. Turkish politicians worked hard, with the help of the British Government, to secure the help of the United States. During this period, the Turkish ambassador to Washington D.C. died and the United States sent his coffin to Istanbul on board the ]. This was the first large scale American military visit to Turkey and also a symbolic gesture. Only after this event did the USSR back down.{{cn|date=October 2016}}


==History since 1991==
== The questioned validity of the treaty ==
===Position of the Republic of Armenia===
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the post-Soviet governments of ], Georgia, and Azerbaijan accepted the Treaty of Kars. Armenia's position is different, due to the absence of ]. In December 2006, Yerevan's then-Foreign Minister ] said that Armenia accepts the Kars treaty as the legal successor to the Armenian SSR, but noted that Turkey was not adhering to the terms of the treaty.<ref name="armenia-kars">{{cite news|title=In Vartan Oskanian's Words, Turkey Casts Doubt On The Treaty Of Kars With Its Actions|url=http://www.mediaforum.am/armtoday.php?year=2006&month=12&day=13&LangID=1| agency=Noyan Tapan|work=Armenians Today|publisher=All Armenian Mass Media Association|location=Istanbul|date=13 December 2006|accessdate =3 March 2007|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071009175655/http://www.mediaforum.am/armtoday.php?year=2006&month=12&day=13&LangID=1|archivedate=9 October 2007}}</ref> For instance, the treaty called for Ankara to open a consulate in each of the three Transcaucasian republics. However, due to tension between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the region of ], Turkey closed its land border with Armenia and severed diplomatic ties with it, thus violating this article. Oskanian stated that by this action, Turkey was putting the validity of the treaty into doubt.<ref name="armenia-kars" />


===Position of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation===
The validity of the treaty is under question according to some ] and scholars. In fact the authorities of the sides that have their signatories under the treaty are questioned.<ref name="doubt"></ref> The Grand National Assembly of Turkey had been founded in Ankara on 23 April 1920, in the midst of the ], through the efforts of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, with the aim of finding a new state out of the remnants of the Ottoman Empire in the aftermath of World War I.<ref>http://www.tbmm.gov.tr/english/about_tgna.htm FOUNDING OF THE TURKISH GRAND NATIONAL ASSEMBLY</ref> It had no legal authority to sign international treaties according to the Constitution of the Ottoman Empire. Article 7 of this Constitution (1876) read:
The Treaty of Kars is overtly rejected by the Armenian Revolutionary Federation. The ARF specifically condemns the treaty as a "gross violation of international law" and argues that, because the three Transcaucasian republics were under the control of Moscow in 1921, their independent consent was questionable.<ref name="arf">{{cite news|title=ARF Calls Kars Treaty Invalid, Urges End to Protocols|url=http://asbarez.com/94155/arf-calls-kars-treaty-invalid-urges-end-to-protocols/|work=]|date=15 March 2011|accessdate=24 March 2017}}</ref> The ARF also questions the validity of the treaty based on the authorities of the sides that concluded it. They contend that the Grand National Assembly of Turkey had no legal authority to sign international treaties.<ref name="arf" /> In addition, they argue that because the USSR was not founded until 1922, and therefore not a recognized state, it was also "not a subject of international law and, naturally, its government had no authority to enter into international treaties."<ref name="arf" />
{{quote|Among the sovereign rights of His Majesty the Sultan are the following prerogatives: – ………'''he concludes treaties with the powers'''; he declares war and makes peace;... .<ref name="Otto Const"></ref>}}


===Aftermath of the 2015 Russian Sukhoi Su-24 shootdown===
When the Constitution was revised in August 1909, the same Article 7 stated:
Following the ] over the ] in November 2015 and the rise of ], members of the ] proposed annulling the Treaty of Moscow and by extension the Kars treaty.<ref name="russia-direct">{{cite news|last=Shakarian|first=Pietro A.|title=Will Russia cancel its 1921 friendship treaty with Turkey?|url=http://www.russia-direct.org/analysis/how-treaty-1921-could-determine-future-arc-russian-turkish-relations|work=Russia Direct|date=17 February 2016|accessdate=24 March 2017}}</ref><ref name="eurasianet">{{cite news|last=Lomsadze|first=Giorgi|title=Russian Communists Want to Scrap Historic Treaty with Turkey|url=http://www.eurasianet.org/node/77261|work=]|date=10 February 2016|accessdate=24 March 2017}}</ref> Initially, the ] considered this action in order to send a political message to the government of Turkish President ].<ref name="russia-direct" /> However, Moscow ultimately decided against it once Russo-Turkish relations started to improve.<ref>{{cite news|title=RF MFA's letter on impossibility of dissolution of friendship Treaty with Turkey|url=http://rusarminfo.ru/rf-mfas-letter-on-impossibility-of-dissolution-of-friendship-treaty-with-turkey/|work=Russian-Armenian News Agency|date=16 March 2016|accessdate=24 March 2017}}</ref>
{{quote|Among the sacred prerogatives of the Sultan are the following: – ……… and '''the conclusion of Treaties in general'''. Only, the ''consent'' of Parliament is required for the conclusion of Treaties which concern peace, commerce, the abandonment or annexation of territory, or the fundamental or personal rights of Ottoman subjects, or which involve expenditure on the part of the State.<ref name="Otto Const"/>}}

The Republic of Turkey was proclaimed by the Turkish Grand National Assembly in 1923 and the Ottoman Constitution was replaced by a new one in 1924.<ref>http://www.tbmm.gov.tr/english/about_tgna.htm#THE_CONSTITUTION_OF_1924 THE CONSTITUTION OF 1924</ref>
There is also a view among researchers that, since the Soviet republics were under strict control of Moscow, the consent and independence of the parties is questionable.<ref>http://www.conflicts.rem33.com/images/Armenia/kars.htm ETHNIC CONFLICTS BORDER DISPUTES IDEOLOGICAL CLASHES TERRORISM</ref>
In addition, the USSR itself was established on December 29, 1922.<ref>Richard Sakwa ''The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union, 1917–1991: 1917–1991''. Routledge, 1999. ISBN 0-415-12290-2, ISBN 978-0-415-12290-0. pp. 140–143.</ref> This implies that the local Communist governments in the Soviet republics were legitimate from the same date.

== Post-Soviet history ==

After the ] in 1991, the governments of ], ], and ] accepted the Treaty of Kars. The Armenian position is different, as per the announcements of Armenian Government officials, as well as the absence of any such ratification or decision. On February 3, 2005, Armenian MP Levon Mkrtchyan (Armenian Revolutionary Federation) declared that the issue of recognizing or not recognizing the treaty was not on Armenia's foreign political agenda. He noted that the treaty was signed with gross violations of the international law, as it was imposed by the Turkish-Russian Treaty of Moscow, which stipulated that all the South Caucasian republics should later sign similar separate treaties with Turkey. Armenian Foreign Minister ] noted that Turkey itself does not put a number of articles of the treaty into practice. For instance, the treaty called for Turkey to open a consulate in each of the three Transcaucasian republics. Due to tension between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the region of ], Turkey has closed the land border with Armenia and severed diplomatic ties with it, thus allegedly violating this article. Oskanyan states that by this action, Turkey is putting the validity of the treaty into doubt.<ref name="Armenia-kars">{{cite news
| title = In Vartan Oskanian's Words, Turkey Casts Doubt On The Treaty Of Kars With Its Actions
| url = http://www.mediaforum.am/armtoday.php?year=2006&month=12&day=13&LangID=1
| agency = Noyan Tapan
| work = Armenians Today
| publisher = All Armenian Mass Media Association
| location = Istanbul
| date = 13 December 2006
| accessdate = 3 March 2007
| archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20071009175655/http://www.mediaforum.am/armtoday.php?year=2006&month=12&day=13&LangID=1
| archivedate = 9 October 2007
}}</ref>


== See also == == See also ==
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Revision as of 16:49, 24 March 2017

Treaty of Kars
The frontier established in the Treaty of Kars
TypePeace Treaty
Signed13 October 1921
LocationKars, Turkey
ConditionRatification
Signatories Grand National Assembly of Turkey
Soviet Armenia
Soviet Azerbaijan
Soviet Georgia
LanguagesRussian, French
Full text
Treaty of Kars at Wikisource

The Treaty of Kars (Template:Lang-tr, Template:Lang-ru, Georgian: ყარსის ხელშეკრულება, Template:Lang-hy, Template:Lang-az) was a peace treaty that established the common borders between Turkey and the three Transcaucasian republics of the Soviet Union (today the independent republics of Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan). The treaty was signed in the city of Kars on October 13, 1921 and ratified in the Armenian capital Yerevan on September 11, 1922.

Signatories of the Treaty of Kars included representatives from the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, which in 1923 would declare the Republic of Turkey, and also from the future Soviet Armenia, Soviet Azerbaijan, and Soviet Georgia, all of which formed part of the Soviet Union after the victory of the Bolsheviks in the Russian Civil War and the December 1922 Union Treaty, with the participation of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.

The treaty was the successor treaty to the earlier Treaty of Moscow of March 1921. Most of the territories ceded to Turkey in the treaty were acquired by Imperial Russia from the Ottoman Empire during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878. The only exception was the Surmali region, which had been part of the Erivan Khanate of Iran before it was annexed by Russia in the Treaty of Turkmenchay after the last Russo-Persian war.

Signatories

The treaty was signed by the Turkish Provisional Government Representative General Kâzım Karabekir, MP and Commander of Eastern Front Veli Bey, MP Mouhtar Bey, and Ambassador Memduh Şevket Pasha, Russian Ambassador Yakov Ganetsky, Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs Askanaz Mravyan and Minister of Interior Poghos Makintsyan, Azerbaijani Minister of State Control Behboud Shahtahtinsky, and Georgian Minister of Military and Naval Affairs Shalva Eliava and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Financial Affairs Alexander Svanidze.

Terms

The Treaty of Kars reaffirmed the terms of the earlier Treaty of Moscow concluded in 1921 between the Grand National Assembly of Turkey and the Russian SFSR. It defined the boundaries between the new Turkish Republic and all three Transcaucasian republics.

The Tsarist-era Batum Oblast.

Georgia and Adjara

The Kars treaty provided for the territory of the former Imperial Russian Batum Oblast of the Kutais Governorate to be divided. The southern half of the former oblast, largely correspondent to the Artvinsky Okrug with the city of Artvin, would be annexed to Turkey. The northern half, largely correspondent to the Batumsky Okrug with the strategic port city of Batum, would become part of Soviet Georgia as the Adjar ASSR (present-day Adjara). The treaty required that the region be granted political autonomy due to the largely Muslim local population and that it implement "an agrarian system in conformity with its own wishes." Caucasus scholar Charles King referred to this part of the treaty as a "rare instance in international law in which the internal administrative structure of one country has been secured by a treaty with another." Additionally, the treaty guaranteed "free transit through the port of Batum for commodities and all materials destined for, or originating in, Turkey, without customs duties and charges, and with the right for Turkey to utilize the port of Batum without special charges."

Armenian-Turkish border

The treaty created a new boundary between Turkey and Soviet Armenia, defined by the Akhurian (Arpachay) and Aras Rivers. Turkey obtained the territory of the former Kars Oblast of Russian Empire, including the cities of Kars, Ardahan, and Olti, Lake Childir, and the ruins of Ani. From the former Erivan Governorate, it also obtained the Surmalinsky Uyezd (Surmali), with Mount Ararat, the salt mines of Kulp (Tuzluca), and the city of Igdyr, as well as the Aras corridor, a narrow strip of land between the Aras and Lower Karasu Rivers that had been part of the Erivansky Uyezd.

According to the memoirs of Simon Vratsian, the last Prime Minister of the First Armenian Republic, the Bolsheviks attempted to renegotiate the status of Ani and Kulp and retain them as part of Soviet Armenia. Ganetsky emphasized the "great historical and scientific value" of Ani for the Armenians and declared Kulp to be an "inseparable part of Transcaucasia." However, Turkey refused to renegotiate the terms agreed upon in the Moscow treaty, much to the disappointment of the Soviet side. Most of the Armenian territories ceded to Turkey had already been under Turkish military control since the Turkish–Armenian War. The treaty required Turkish troops to withdraw from an area roughly corresponding to the western half of Armenia's present-day Shirak Province, including the city of Aleksandropol (Gyumri).

Azerbaijan and Nakhichevan

Article V of the treaty established the region of Nakhichevan as an autonomous territory under the political jurisdiction of Soviet Azerbaijan. The new autonomous Nakhichevan territory comprised the former Nakhichevansky Uyezd and the Sharur part of the Sharur-Daralagezsky Uyezd of the former Erivan Governorate. In 1924, the Nakhichevan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was formed on this territory as an exclave subordinate to the Azerbaijan SSR. The creation of this new autonomous republic allowed Azerbaijan to share a common 15-km boundary with the now-Turkish-controlled Aras corridor.

Impact on Turkish-Iranian relations

Reza Shah and Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.

The Kars treaty also impacted Turkish-Iranian relations. The annexation of Surmali and the Aras corridor now gave Turkey a slightly more extensive border with Iran. In the late 1920s, the Kurdish Ararat rebellion erupted in the vicinity of Mount Ararat. As Turkey attempted to quash the rebellion, the Kurdish rebels fled across the Iranian border to the eastern flank of Lesser Ararat, which they used "as a haven against the state in their uprising." In response, Turkey crossed the border with Iran and occupied the region. The Lesser Ararat area became the subject of discussion between Turkish and Iranian diplomats in border delineation talks. In Tehran in 1932, Iran agreed to cede the area to Turkey in exchange for some territories further south.

However, the agreement was delayed due to objections from some Iranian diplomats who viewed the Lesser Ararat area as strategically important and who also questioned the validity of the Treaty of Kars. These diplomats felt that Turkey did not have a legitimate claim to the territory of Surmali, which had been part of Iran before it was ceded to Imperial Russia in the Treaty of Turkmenchay. In addition, because the wording of the Turkmenchay Treaty was vague, they advocated annexing parts of the area. After a constructive meeting with Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in Ankara in 1934, Reza Shah, who initially favored annexing the Aras corridor, finally ordered his diplomats to drop any objections and accept the new border agreements.

Attempted annulment by the USSR

Main article: Soviet territorial claims against Turkey
File:USSR territorial claims to Turkey 1945-1953.png
Soviet territorial claims to Turkey

After World War II, the Soviet Union attempted to annul the Kars treaty and regain its lost territory. According to Nikita Khrushchev, deputy premier Lavrentiy Beria goaded his fellow Georgian Joseph Stalin into taking action on the issue, insisting on the return of historical Georgian territories. Stalin eventually agreed and on June 7, 1945, Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov informed the Turkish ambassador in Moscow that the provinces of Kars, Ardahan, and Artvin should be returned to the USSR, in the name of both the Georgian and Armenian Soviet republics. Ankara found itself in a difficult position: it wanted good relations with Moscow but at the same time refused to give up the territories. Turkey was in no condition to fight a war with the Soviet Union, which had emerged as a superpower after the Second World War. Soviet territorial claims to Turkey were supported by the Armenian Catholicos George VI and by all shades of the Armenian diaspora, including the anti-Soviet Armenian Revolutionary Federation.

The British and the Americans opposed the Soviet territorial claims against Turkey. As the Cold War began, the American government saw the claims as part of an "expansionist drive by a Communist empire" and viewed them as reminiscent of Nazi irredentist claims over the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia. The State Department was concerned about the strategic military significance of the Kars plateau to the Soviets. They concluded that their earlier support for Armenia since President Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921) had expired since the loss of Armenian independence. During the crisis, the USSR also asked Turkey for a military base on the Bosphorus. The State Department advised US President Harry S. Truman to support Turkey and oppose the Soviet demands, which he did. Turkey joined the anti-Soviet NATO military alliance in 1952.

Following the death of Stalin in 1953, the Soviet government renounced its territorial claims on Turkey as part of an effort to promote friendly relations with the Middle Eastern country and its alliance partner, the United States. The USSR continued to honor the terms of the Kars treaty until its dissolution in 1991. However, according to Christopher J. Walker, Moscow revisited the treaty in 1968, when it attempted to negotiate a border adjustment with Turkey in which the ruins of Ani would be transferred to Soviet Armenia in exchange for two Azerbaijani villages in the area of Mount Akbaba. However, according to Walker, nothing resulted from these talks.

History since 1991

Position of the Republic of Armenia

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the post-Soviet governments of Russia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan accepted the Treaty of Kars. Armenia's position is different, due to the absence of diplomatic relations between Turkey and Armenia. In December 2006, Yerevan's then-Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian said that Armenia accepts the Kars treaty as the legal successor to the Armenian SSR, but noted that Turkey was not adhering to the terms of the treaty. For instance, the treaty called for Ankara to open a consulate in each of the three Transcaucasian republics. However, due to tension between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, Turkey closed its land border with Armenia and severed diplomatic ties with it, thus violating this article. Oskanian stated that by this action, Turkey was putting the validity of the treaty into doubt.

Position of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation

The Treaty of Kars is overtly rejected by the Armenian Revolutionary Federation. The ARF specifically condemns the treaty as a "gross violation of international law" and argues that, because the three Transcaucasian republics were under the control of Moscow in 1921, their independent consent was questionable. The ARF also questions the validity of the treaty based on the authorities of the sides that concluded it. They contend that the Grand National Assembly of Turkey had no legal authority to sign international treaties. In addition, they argue that because the USSR was not founded until 1922, and therefore not a recognized state, it was also "not a subject of international law and, naturally, its government had no authority to enter into international treaties."

Aftermath of the 2015 Russian Sukhoi Su-24 shootdown

Following the shootdown of the Russian Sukhoi Su-24 over the Syria–Turkey border in November 2015 and the rise of Russo-Turkish tensions, members of the Communist Party of Russia proposed annulling the Treaty of Moscow and by extension the Kars treaty. Initially, the Russian Foreign Ministry considered this action in order to send a political message to the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. However, Moscow ultimately decided against it once Russo-Turkish relations started to improve.

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ English Translation of Treaty of Friendship between Turkey, the Socialist Soviet Republic of Armenia, the Azerbaijan Socialist Soviet Republic, and the Socialist Soviet Republic of Georgia, Armenian News Network / Groong.
  2. ^ Tsutsiev, Arthur (2014). Atlas of the Ethno-Political History of the Caucasus. Translated by Nora Seligman Favorov. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 79. ISBN 978-0300153088.
  3. ^ King, Charles (2008). The Ghost of Freedom: A History of the Caucasus. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 189. ISBN 978-0195177756.
  4. ^ Template:Ru icon Договор о дружбе между Армянской ССР, Азербайджанской ССР и Грузинской ССР, с одной стороны, и Турцией - с другой, Заключенный при участии РСФСР в Карсе
  5. Tsutsiev, p. 14–15.
  6. Parrot, Friedrich (2016) . Journey to Ararat. Translated by William Desborough Cooley. Introduction by Pietro A. Shakarian. London: Gomidas Institute. p. xxix. ISBN 978-1909382244.
  7. ^ Vrastian, Simon (1949). "How Armenia Was Sovietized, (Part V)". The Armenian Review. 2 (1): 123.
  8. ^ Tsutsiev, p. 74–75.
  9. Tsutsiev, p. 73.
  10. Shakarian, Pietro A. (23 February 2015). "Debunking a Caucasian Myth". The Abovyan Group. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  11. Yildiz, Kerim; Taysi, Tanyel B. (2007). The Kurds in Iran: The Past, Present and Future. London: Pluto Press. p. 71. ISBN 978-0745326696.
  12. Parrot, p. xxiii.
  13. Tsutsiev, p. 92.
  14. ^ Bournoutian, George A. (2015). "The Iran-Turkey-Armenia Borders as Depicted in Various Maps". Iran and the Caucasus. 19 (1): 103.
  15. Bournoutian, p. 104.
  16. Khrushchev, Nikita S. (2006). Sergei Khrushchev (ed.). Memoirs of Nikita Khrushchev: Reformer, 1945-1964. Translated by George Shriver. University Park, PA: Penn State University Press. p. 426. ISBN 978-0271058597.
  17. ^ Suny, Ronald Grigor (1993). Looking toward Ararat. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. p. 165–169. ISBN 978-0253207739.
  18. ^ Suny, p. 175–177.
  19. Walker, Christopher J. (1990). Armenia: The Survival of a Nation (2nd ed.). New York: St. Martin's Press. p. 276. ISBN 978-0312042301.
  20. ^ "In Vartan Oskanian's Words, Turkey Casts Doubt On The Treaty Of Kars With Its Actions". Armenians Today. Istanbul: All Armenian Mass Media Association. Noyan Tapan. 13 December 2006. Archived from the original on 9 October 2007. Retrieved 3 March 2007.
  21. ^ "ARF Calls Kars Treaty Invalid, Urges End to Protocols". Asbarez. 15 March 2011. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  22. ^ Shakarian, Pietro A. (17 February 2016). "Will Russia cancel its 1921 friendship treaty with Turkey?". Russia Direct. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  23. Lomsadze, Giorgi (10 February 2016). "Russian Communists Want to Scrap Historic Treaty with Turkey". EurasiaNet. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  24. "RF MFA's letter on impossibility of dissolution of friendship Treaty with Turkey". Russian-Armenian News Agency. 16 March 2016. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
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