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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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From: conversation of the plenipotentiary representative of the USSR in Germany Dekanozov with the ambassador of the kingdom of Bulgaria in Germany Draganov

Sent out to comrade Molotov, comrade Vyshinsky, general secretariat

18 February 1941 secret

At 12 oʹclock the Bulgarian envoy Draganov came to me on his first visit. He tried to explain his belated arrival to me by the fact that at first, he was absent from berlin, and then was ill. After a short conversation on general topics, I said that Draganov could be congratulated on the ʹnew agreement between Bulgaria and Turkey, which was published today, and asked how this agreement should be understood. Draganov said that regarding the question of interest to me, he can say the following: there is a treaty of eternal friendship between Bulgaria and Turkey of 1926. Both countries adhered to this agreement all the time, although there were times when Turkey was not happy with Bulgaria, and Bulgaria with Turkey. Recently, the Turks have concentrated 24 divisions on the Bulgarian border. Bulgaria could not be indifferent to this, since it is natural that the concentration of troops on the border of any state causes concern for this state. Therefore, Bulgaria turned to Turkey with a proposal to clarify relations between the two countries. On this occasion, an exchange of views took place, which resulted in the published declaration of friendship, according to which Turkey pledged not to attack Bulgaria, and Bulgaria pledged not to attack Turkey.

I noticed that at the present time, as Draganov evidently knows, there are many assumptions about the possible passage of German troops through Bulgaria. How should this be understood in the light of the declaration ‐ will Turkey react in any way in the event of such a passage of troops. Draganov replied that, as follows from the treaty, Turkey will defend itself only if it comes under attack. Therefore, in the event that the German troops really passed through Bulgaria, Turkey could take any measures only if it were attacked by these troops. As long as German troops do not attack Turkey, Turkey, in turn, will not take any steps. Draganov added that it is perfectly clear from the agreement, that this is exactly how this agreement should be understood and that otherwise there would be no point in concluding this agreement.

Then Draganov began to say that the Bulgarians are a peaceful people. That they have always wanted peace in the Balkans, but this does not depend on Bulgaria. In general, small peoples cannot determine their fate, and the proverb “you cannot escape fate” is quite suitable for them.

...............

However, Hitler has always done what he said so far. Therefore, even now he, obviously, will not allow England to settle in any point of Europe. The offensive of the army, which is concentrated in Syria, was still impossible, since first, due to the rapid advance of Germany, France was incapacitated, and then the British were busy with actions in Africa. Now that the situation in Africa has become favorable, the British can engage in the transfer of this army to the Balkans, wishing to carry out their plan to create a new front together with the allied Turkey and Yugoslavia (Draganov made a reservation that Bulgaria was and remains neutral), as well as disorganize the Balkans as a source raw materials for Germany.

....

The conversation lasted 1 hour and 50 minutes.

Plenipotentiary of the USSR in Germany v. Dekanozov avp rf, f. 082, on. 24, p. 105, d. 6, l. 124‐130.