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  Selected Secret Documents from Soviet Foreign Policy Documents Archives - 1919 to 1941

Concentrated 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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Telegram of the plenipotentiary representative of the USSR in the Turkish republic ca. Vinogradova in the NKID USSR

December 17, 1940

Top secret

Today again Saracoglu invited me to his place. Asking to convey his gratitude to comrade Molotov for the information that Aktay received from comrade Molotov, Sarajoglu said that ʺthe Turkish government is very pleased that from Molotovʹs answer it can be understood that article 2 of the 1929 protocol remained in force.ʺ then Sarajoglu said: “I just wanted to clarify two questions: 1) after answering our question about how compatible the proposals made by the Soviet Union to Bulgaria * were with article 2, Molotov asked Aktay the question of“ why the Turkish government did not inform the Soviet Union about their negotiations, which are currently underway with Bulgaria ”. Aktay told Molotov the data on this issue that we sent him. However, so that there are no misunderstandings, I would like to clarify the following in my answer: the secret protocol to the pact contains an indication of when Turkey and the USSR should inform each other about their negotiations with third countries **. This protocol precisely lists all the countries that should be considered as neighboring states in relation to one country or another. This protocol states that Bulgaria is a neighboring state in relation to Turkey and that therefore the Soviet Union has an obligation to inform the Turkish government of all negotiations that it intends to start with Bulgaria. Turkey, for its part, is not obliged to inform the USSR about its negotiations with Bulgaria, since Bulgaria is not a neighboring state with your country. ʺ I noticed that Bulgaria, like the USSR, is located on the black sea. Sarajoglu again referred to the secret protocol, indicating that Bulgaria was not listed in this protocol as a neighbor of the USSR. He further said that Aktay, while informing Molotov of the data sent to him about our negotiations with the Bulgarian government, obviously did not know about the secret protocol. “I, of course, do not want to say by this that we refuse to inform the Soviet government about this or that of our negotiations with Bulgaria. But I ask you to take into account that we want to fulfill this not as a formal obligation for us, but as a manifestation of friendly feelings, as evidence of good‐neighborly relations. I would like to convey this to you in order to establish a mutual understanding of this issue. ʺ I said that I would bring the question raised by the minister to Moscowʹs attention. At the same time, without going into the essence of this issue, I stated that I want to make a small clarification. I pointed out that, according to the information I have, the question raised by comrade Molotov to Aktay was of a somewhat different order. Comrade Molotov asked Aktay how the negotiations between Bulgaria and Turkey correspond to article 2. As Mr. Minister sees, in the question of comrade Molotov there are no words “why the Turkish government did not inform”, etc. Sarajoglu, embarrassed, remarked: “in this case, Aktay did not inform us correctly on this issue, but I repeat to you again that the Turkish government listened with great satisfaction to Molotovʹs answer on the question of Sobolov’s conversation with the Bulgarian tsar, and is pleased to note that the Soviet government also considers the pact existing between our countries to be in force. I would like, Sarajoglu continued, to clarify one more question: the answer that Aktay received from Molotov on the question of whether the question of Turkey was raised during the berlin talks or not does not satisfy us. The answer that was given to Aktay does not go beyond the framework of the published communique ***. Therefore, I am asking you to inform me about this if you have the relevant information. I ask you to inform Moscow about my request and, if Moscow answers, inform me. ʺ I replied that, as far as I know, Aktay asked comrade Molotov and comrade Dekanozov a question about the berlin negotiations and he did not express the Turkish governmentʹs dissatisfaction with the answers of comrade Molotov and comrade Dekanozov on this matter. I added that I would inform Moscow about the sentiments of the Turkish government, conveyed to me by the minister.

On the last question of Saracoglu, I made him a hint about our position in relation to Turkey in the spirit of the fifth point of Molotovʹs telegram about the berlin negotiations, since I believed that after the conversations between Molotov and Dekanozov with Akte, in which this issue was not raised, I should raise this question should not be asked now. I ask you to give instructions on the questions raised by Saracoglu. I also ask you to tell me what the essence of the secret protocol is, which the minister refers to in his last conversations with me.

Vinogradov

Wua rf, f.059, op.1, p.314, d.2163, l.182‐185.