RECONNAISANCE AND INSTIGATOR – CONSPIRATORIAL ACTIVITIES OF TURKISH SPECIAL SERVICES IN ARMENIA IN 1920-1922 – 2018-2

Summary

Vanik H. Virabyan

Key words – Turkey; Armenia; special services; Georgia; military representative; attaché; council; spy; Transcaucasia; Yerevan; Emergency committee.

After the declaration of cease fire between the Armenian republic and Turkey in November,1920, the representation of the Command of Eastern Front of Turkey’s Grand National Assembly that had political functions was formed in Yerevan.It continued to operate also after the establishment of Soviet system until September 1923 when the consulate was reorganized. Turkish consulate service also existed in Alexandrapol which started to operate after the compulsory withdrawal of Turkish army. Here, too, Turkish consulate was conducting spy- corrosive activity. RSFRS’s Soviet reconnaissance bodies in Transcaucasia were interested in revealing Turkey’s operations. It’s important to state that the representation of Turkish consulate operated especially more indecently during anti-Soviet rebellion in February 1921 headed by ARF. During that period Soviet-Turkish talks were underway where Armenia had great part in issues under discussion: there was also the issue of ASSR’s participation in the conference. The comparison of the facts shows that the creation of chaotic and messy situation in Armenia was beneficial for Turkey and its special services. Thus, Kemal’s Turkey by taking advantage of its representation in Armenia’s territory conducted spy- corrosive activity through his consulate service and spy-agent network swarming around it , that’s why both Soviet Armenian and Russian reconnaissance bodies during 1920-1922 took some countermeasures. Namely, Russia created its agent network in Armenia with which perhaps the Armenian Soviet reconnaissance services coordinated their actions. Turkish consulate representation that acted in Soviet Armenia often violated the rules, its officials assaulted Armenia’s security which made the Armenian government undertake tough measures against Turkish representation. All these factors made Soviet Armenia and Expert’s Committee of Foreign Affairs declare the representative of Turkish government in Yerevan Bahhadin as persona non grata (a person who doesn’t enjoy grace) and on this basis the latter was dismissed from the council’s office. Thus, reconnaissance data obtained by ASSR’s special services states that Turkish-Azerbaijani plottings continued after Armenia’s Sovietization. They elucidate Turkey’s and Azerbaijan’s objectives to undermine the security of Soviet Armenia through spy- corrosive activity.

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