Treaty of Kars

Infobox Treaty
name = Treaty of Kars
long_name =

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image_width = 300px
caption = The frontier established in the Treaty of Kars
type = Peace Treaty
date_drafted =
date_signed = October 23, 1921
location_signed = Kars, Turkey
date_sealed =
date_effective =
condition_effective = Ratification
date_expiration =
signatories = flagicon|Turkey Grand National Assembly of Turkey
flagicon|Armenian SSR Soviet Armenia
flagicon|Azerbaijan SSR Soviet Azerbaijan
flagicon|Georgian SSR Soviet Georgia
parties =
depositor =
languages = Russian,
website =
wikisource = Treaty of Kars

The Treaty of Kars ( _tr. Kars Antlaşması, _ru. Карсский договор / "Karskiy dogovor") was a friendship treaty between the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, which in 1923 declared the Republic of Turkey, and representatives of Soviet Armenia, Soviet Azerbaijan and Soviet Georgia (all of which formed part of the Soviet Union after the December 1922 Union Treaty) with participation of Bolshevist Russiaru icon [http://www.amsi.ge/istoria/sab/yarsi.html Text of the Treaty of Kars] ] [http://groong.usc.edu/treaties/kars.html English translation of the Treaty of Kars] ] . It was a successor treaty to the earlier Treaty of Moscow of March 1921 and established contemporary borders between Turkey and South Caucasus states. It was signed in Kars on October 23, 1921 and ratified in Yerevan on September 11, 1922.

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 Surmalu region which was annexed by Russia in the Treaty of Turkmenchay after the last Russo-Persian War with Iran.

Signatories

The treaty was signed by Turkish Nationalist Representative General Kazım Karabekir, MP and Commander of Eastern Front Veli Bey, MP Mouhtar Bey, and Ambassador Memdouh Shevket Bey, Russian Ambassador Yakov Ganetsky, Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs Askanaz Mravian and Minister of Interior Poghos Makintsian, 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.

The agreement

The treaty provided for the territory of the former Russian Batum District of the Kutaisi Governorate to be divided. The northern half with the port city of Batumi itself was ceded by Turkey to the Soviet Union. The southern half with the city of Artvin would be annexed by Turkey. It was agreed that the northern half would be granted autonomy within Soviet Georgia, eventually evolving into the Adjar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (today Adjara). 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."

The agreement also created a new boundary between Turkey and Soviet Armenia, defined by the Akhurian and Aras Rivers. Soviets ceded to Turkey most of the former Kars Oblast of Russian Empire, including the Surmalu uyezd, with Mount Ararat and the cities of Iğdır and Koghb (Tuzluca), the cities of Kars, Ardahan, and Oltu, the ruins of Ani, and Lake Çıldır, which were already under Turkish military control. In return to these concessions, Turkey was to pull out of an area roughly corresponding to the western half of Armenia's present-day Shirak province (including Alexandropol (Gyumri)). Armenia gained Zangezur (now Syunik), who was a uzeyd of former Elisabethpol Governorate and west part of Qazakh uzeyd (now Tavush) and Daralagez (now Vayots Dzor) part of Sharur-Daralagez uzeyd from Azerbaijan but eastern part of Qazakh uzeyd was left to Azerbaijan.

The treaty also allowed for the creation of Nakhchivan, a territory comprising the Nakhchivan and Sharur part of Sharur-Daralagez uyezds of former Erivan Governorate of Russian Empire. In 1924, Nakhchivan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was formed on this territory as an exclave subordinate to Azerbaijan SSR, and sharing a 15-km boundary with now Turkish district of Surmalu. It was also agreed that both Turkey and Russia would become guarantors of Nakhchivan's status.

Attempted annulment

After World War II, the Soviet Union attempted to annul the Kars treaty and regain its lost territoryFact|date=August 2007. On June 7, 1945, Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov told the Turkish ambassador in Moscow that the regions 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.Fact|date=August 2007

Soviet claims were put forth by the Armenians to the leaders of the Allies of World War IIFact|date=August 2007; however, opposition stemmed from British leader Winston Churchill who objected to these territorial claims as additional areas of where the Soviet government could exert its influence while President of the United States Harry S. Truman, felt that the matter should not concern other parties. Ultimately, the USSR gave up its claims against TurkeyFact|date=August 2007.

During the crisis, the USSR also asked Turkey for a military base on the Bosphorous. 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 USS "Missouri". 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.

Post-Soviet history

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the governments of Turkey, Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan have all accepted the Kars treaty. Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan reaffirmed Armenia's recognition of the treaty on December 13, 2006. "Armenia has never made a problem of validity of the Treaty of Kars, as Armenia remains loyal to all agreements inherited from the Soviet Union," he said. Additionally, Oskanian 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 Nagorno-Karabakh, 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. [http://www.mediaforum.am/armtoday.php?year=2006&month=12&day=13&LangID=1 All Armenian Mass Media Association: In Vartan Oskanian's Words, Turkey Casts Doubt On The Treaty Of Kars With Its Actions] ]

Footnotes

See also

* Aftermath of World War I
* History of Adjara

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