The Armenian-Turkish Relations In 1918-1924

The Armenian-Turkish interstate relations began with the Batumi negotiations which were held from May 30 to June 4, 1918. After signing the Batumi Treaty, the military-political representative of the Ottoman Empire in the Republic of Armenia Mehmet Ali Pasha arrived in Yerevan. The purpose of his arrival was to monitor the implementation of the clauses of the treaty.

After the defeat of the Turks in WWI (the Mudros Armistice, October 1918) and the arrival of the Allied squadron when the arrests of young Turks began in Constantinople, Mehmet Ali Pasha committed suicide (“Hayrenik” newspaper, 04/22/1919).

The ill-fated October 1921 Kars Treaty (which was imposed on us) implied the establishment of diplomatic relations between Soviet Armenia and Turkey.

In 1922 in Tiflis, with the knowledge of Soviet Russia and with its permission, the parties again sat down at the negotiating table and decided to apply the above clause of the Kars Treaty. An agreement was adopted on the opening of embassies in Ankara and Yerevan.

The Turkish Embassy in Yerevan and the Consulate in Gyumri have operated from 1922 to 1924. Armenia also had a representative office in Kars. In 1924, Turkey ceased its diplomatic corps in Armenia, and Turkish diplomats were recalled. In the same year, the Armenian consulate in Kars was also shut down.

Arshaluis Zurabyan