On April 11, 1920, a little over a century ago, Mustafa Kemal was declared a criminal. On May 11, the Turkish military court sentenced him to death – an order which was approved by the Sultan on May 24. Mustafa Kemal was put on the wanted list.
Factually, the founder of modern Turkey Mustafa Kemal was a criminal at large in 1920-1922. And his regime – that is, the government of the Turkish Grand National Assembly – in those years had no legal right to represent the country in international relations.
According to the 7th article of the constitution of the Ottoman Empire, at least until November 1922 – that is, until the departure of Sultan Muhammad VI from Istanbul – only the sultan himself could provide any person with the authority to act on behalf of the state.
This fact did not prevent the leadership of Soviet Russia from cooperating with Kemal, recognizing the illegal government of the Turkish Grand National Assembly, and then entering into a military-political alliance with him and providing the Kemalists with money, military specialists, and weaponry.
Already on April 26, 1920, the Russian-Turkish union became more than real. And on December 2 of that year, the Republic of Armenia ceased to exist under its blows.
On March 16, 1921, according to the notorious Moscow Treaty, the territory of Armenia was divided between the two predators.
It should be noted here that at that time, the government of Soviet Russia was also not recognized by the international community.
Read also: The Establishment Of Atatürk’s Personality Cult In Turkey
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