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Selected Secret Documents from Soviet Foreign Policy Documents Archives - 1919 to 1941Concentrated on 1st and 2nd WW Correspondence and Meetings related to Turkey, Balkans and Iran, with some additions from Afghanistan and India.
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Agreement on the repatriation of prisoners of war and civilian internees concluded between the government of the Ukrainian Soviet socialist republic and the government of the Turkish grand national assembly.
September 17, 1921
The government of the Ukrainian Soviet socialist republic, on the one hand, and the government of the grand national assembly of Turkey, on the other, which have already expressed their firm intention to fix in the treaty of friendship and brotherhood the good‐neighborly relations existing between the two states, prompted by the desire to put an end to the disasters resulting from world war ii, decided to conclude an agreement on the repatriation of prisoners of war and civilian internees and appointed their commissioners for this purpose:
Government of the Ukrainian Soviet socialist republic ‐ Yuri Kotsyubinsky, plenipotentiary representative of the Ukrainian SSR under the government of the RSFSR and member of the all‐Ukrainian central executive committee;
Government of the grand national assembly of Turkey ‐ Ali Fuad pasha, ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the government of the grand national assembly of Turkey under the government of the RSFSR and a member of the grand national assembly from angora.
The designated plenipotentiaries, who met in Moscow and recognized their powers drawn up in the proper form and in due order, agreed on the following:
Article I
The contracting parties undertake to repatriate, as far as possible, within three months from the date of the signing of this agreement, all prisoners of war and civilian internees of the other party who are on their territories.
Article ii
It was agreed that the repatriation of prisoners on both sides would be voluntary and that coercion to repatriation was in no case allowed.
Prisoner registration offices will collect from prisoners of war and civilian internees who have declared their unwillingness to return to their homeland, detailed information about their country of origin, their name and surname, their location, their occupation or their craft, for communication to the delegation of the other party provided for in article ix of this agreement.
Article iii
Prisoners have the right to repatriate their families who were captured or declared prisoners at the same time as them, as well as to repatriate their wives and children, insofar as this applies to families formed during their time in captivity. In this latter case, however, cohabitation is considered compulsory. Family members will be considered: a wife, if she is really in a marital relationship with her husband, children, mother, a weak father, grandchildren, pupils, as well as relatives of the repatriated person, if they live in a common household.
Article iv
Transportation of prisoners and civilian internees, their families and their property to exchange offices will be carried out on the territory of each of the two contracting parties at the expense of the latter. Each of the two contracting parties will, in addition, take care of the housing, sanitary services and food for the prisoners on their territory during their repatriation.
It was agreed that both contracting parties, although they have the right to use prisoners of war and civilians before the start of their repatriation as labor, nevertheless undertake not to use them in particularly difficult jobs.
Both contracting parties also undertake not to use prisoners of war and civilians as labor from the time that their re‐evacuation begins.
Article v
Immediately upon the signing of this agreement, all prisoners convicted of any offense will be released for the purpose of their repatriation, with the exception of those convicted of murder or theft; the same applies to all prisoners in pre‐trial detention, except for those accused of murder or theft.
Cases of those accused of murder or theft must be examined promptly.
Delegations will be presented with a list that will include the names of all persons convicted of murder or theft, with details of who they are, what kind of offenses they are charged with and what kind of sentence they are serving.
Article vi
In the process of repatriation, in the first place, persons who are unable to do without outside help, the sick, the disabled, as well as persons whose family members are on the territory of the other side should be sent as far as possible.
Both parties, observing the conditions set out in the first part of this article, must begin work on repatriation from areas most unfavorable for prisoners and civilian internees in terms of housing, food and hygiene conditions.
Article vii
Within five months from the date of signing of this agreement, both delegations must receive a list of deceased prisoners with all data on their name, surname, marital status, country of origin, illness or cause of death, since this information is at the disposal of the other party.
Article viii
The Ukrainian Soviet government, with the humane goal of facilitating the work of repatriating Turkish prisoners of war and internees, undertakes to select the Ukrainian port of Taganrog as prisoner exchange points, and by agreement with the Russian Soviet government, the Russian ports of Novorossiysk and Tuapse, through which some of the Turkish prisoners of war and civilian internees will be evacuated. ...
The Turkish government, for its part, will choose the ports of Trebizond and Inebol as the exchange point.
Article ix
It was agreed that on both sides an official delegation of three members will be created with the task of intensifying the implementation of this agreement, providing assistance and assistance to prisoners, monitoring the implementation of the provisions of this agreement and the provisions of any further agreement on the same issue.
The members of these delegations will be granted diplomatic immunity during their stay in the capital of the country where they will be staying, as well as during all their movements within the territory of that country.
Both parties undertake to recognize for the official commissioners for the repatriation of prisoners the right to:
1. Communicate with your embassy and government.
2. Visit all places where prisoners are. Local authorities will have the right, if they deem it necessary, to accompany the delegates on these visits.
3. In case of need, provide assistance to the prisoners both in cash and in clothing and food.
4. By agreement with the authorities of the other party in charge of evacuation, use all means to inform prisoners of repatriation. This includes, in particular, the posting of notices in the language of the prisoners and the publication of official messages in the press.
Note. Since Turkey does not have an embassy in Ukraine, Turkish commissioners will have the right to communicate in code with the
Turkish embassy in Moscow and the central government of Turkey.
5. Use official seals.
Article x
Property that, according to the laws and regulations of the country of departure, is the property of the persons specified in article I of this agreement, may be liquidated or taken away without hindrance, subject to the following provisions:
§ 1
It is allowed to take out over hand luggage no more than eight poods per head of family or a single person, five poods for each family member and two poods for children over ten years old.
Section 2
Allowed to take out in baggage, among other items:
1. Linen and clothing; no more than two pieces or pairs of one or another type of clothing and footwear (only one fur coat) and six changes of underwear per person.
2. Items needed on the way, in an amount that does not exceed the actual need, for example, pillows, sheets, blankets, towels, kettles, etc.
3. Persons of special professions, such as workers, artisans, farmers, doctors, artists, scientists, etc., have the right to take out items necessary for their professional activities, even if the weight of these items exceeds the established weight, subject to obtaining in each case special permission.
Section 3
It is prohibited to export:
1. Seals, acts, documents, photographs and all kinds of manuscripts not examined by the competent authorities.
2. Weapons and military equipment.
3. Manufacture, furs, leather, haberdashery, metal products and other items intended for trade and not for personal use.
4. Provisions in excess of 20 pounds per person, including flour and bread over 8 pounds, meat 5 pounds, dairy products 3 pounds and other products ‐ 4 pounds, including sugar ‐ over one pound and 1/4‐pound tea,
5. Livestock and poultry.
6. Cars, motorcycles, all kinds of bicycles, carts and sledges.
7. Raw precious metals, rimless precious stones and gold and silver coins.
8. Items of gold and platinum weighing more than 16 spools each, the same items weighing more than 16 spools per person, and items of silver weighing more than 1 pound per person.
Gold and silver watches, wedding rings, cigarette cases and silver wallets can be exported in the amount of one item per adult. The weight of these items is not included in the weight of the above items.
9. Items made of precious stones (diamonds, diamonds, sapphires, emeralds, rubies, etc.), the total weight of which exceeds one carat. The same rules apply to pearls.
10. Machines and machine parts of all kinds, surgical equipment and musical instruments, other than those referred to in § 2, paragraph 3 of this article; sewing machines can be exported in the amount of one per family.
11. Tobacco products (in excess of 500 cigarettes or half a pound of tobacco for every adult over 18).
12. Soap in excess of one bar of toilet soap per person and one pound of laundry soap per household.
13. Paper money of any issue legally circulating in the territory of the country of origin in the amount of over 100,000 Ukrainian rubles or 100 Turkish pounds.
The export of money in an amount exceeding this norm may be allowed only with a special permit.
14. All kinds of securities, rent, government interest‐bearing securities, bills of exchange, transport receipts, warehouse receipts, if there is no special permission for them.
15. Items of artistic or antique value for which no special permission has been issued.
Article xi
Persons departing under this agreement, as well as their luggage, will not be subject to any taxes or fees charged upon departure.
Article xii
This agreement will be published in the capital no later than 10 days, and in the province no later than one month from the date of its signing. Article xiii
This agreement is not subject to ratification and comes into force from the date of its signing.
In witness whereof the aforementioned plenipotentiaries of both parties have signed this agreement and have attached their seals to it.
Done in duplicate at Moscow on the seventeenth day of September one thousand nine hundred and twenty‐one (one thousand three hundred thirty‐seven).
Kotsyubinsky
Ali Fuad
Publ. In the ʺcollection of existing contracts ...ʺ I, m., no. 24, pp. 281‐285.