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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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Conversation of the first deputy peopleʹs commissioner for foreign affairs of the USSR al. Vyshinsky with the ambassador of the Turkish republic in the USSR at Aktaem

Sent to comrade Stalin, comrade Molotov, comrade Vyshinsky, comrade Lozovsky, general secretariat

December 6, 1940

The ambassador came to me with the following questions:

1. About the border incident that took place on November 17 this year. In the area of the border post number 383, as a result of which 2 Turkish soldiers were killed.

I told the ambassador that I would get acquainted with this case, check the facts, and only then could I give an answer.

2. About the transit of some goods through the USSR from Sweden and Finland to Turkey. The ambassador presented the attached list of notes verbales sent by the Turkish embassy to the NKID, to which a response has not yet been received. The ambassador asked to speed up the response to them.

I promised the ambassador to familiarize himself with these notes and take measures to expedite the resolution of the transit issue.

3. On the strengthening of trade relations between the Soviet Union and Turkey. The ambassador said that the Turkish government is very willing to develop commercial relations between Turkey and the Soviet Union. The ambassador spoke on this topic on behalf of his government with the deputy peopleʹs commissar for foreign affairs Dekanozov, who promised to give the ambassador an answer in the near future.

At the moment, the Turkish government is ready to begin discussing the question of what goods Turkey can supply to the Soviet Union and what goods it would like to receive from the USSR.

The ambassador handed me a copy of the note on trade relations between the USSR and Turkey, handed to him by Dekanozov

November 13, 1940

I told the ambassador that I will try to answer this question as soon as possible.

4. About calculations for the Sardarabad dam. The ambassador handed me a copy of the memo on this issue, also handed to him on November 13 this year. V. Dekanozov. The ambassador told me that he will take any decision on this issue, he is ready to consider me an arbiter in this matter.

I told the ambassador that I am not aware of this issue, so it is difficult for me to be an arbiter now; I promised to get acquainted with the details of the case.

5. The ambassador handed me a copy of the note handed over to him on November 13/20 of this year. V. Dekanozov, about the complaints of the Turkish consul in Batumi about the hostile attitude from the local authorities.

I told the ambassador that I would ask the Batumi authorities for an explanation on the merits of this case. The embassy will be notified of the results.

6. At the end of the conversation, the ambassador, referring to a previous conversation with me *, said that he conveyed my opinion on the Italian‐Greek conflict to his government. The Turkish government was very pleased with this message. After comrade V. M. Molotov to berlin, the ambassador talked with comrade Dekanozov, who made some explanations to the ambassador about this trip. The ambassador is very grateful for these explanations, which dispelled the false rumors that took place in connection with the visit of comrade V. M. Molotov. The ambassador asked me if I could tell him something about the mission of comrade Soboleva in Sofía *.

I replied to the ambassador that, unfortunately, I am not fully aware of this matter, since comrade Molotov is in charge of this matter directly.

To this the ambassador told me that he was interested in comrade Sobolov’s visit because after comrade Sobolov’s visit to Sofía, Bulgariaʹs position had changed dramatically: Bulgaria, which had recently called for war, had calmed down and maintained its neutrality. The Turkish government believes that this change in the position of Bulgaria can be attributed entirely and only to the influence of the Soviet government.

Our conversation ended there.

Comrade Chumakova was present at the conversation.

Attached are copies of the notes mentioned in the text **.

A. Vyshinsky avp rf, f. 07, on. 1, p. 2, d. 27, l. 4‐6.