A. KORITSKY

Political commentator for the Voice of Russia RGRK

Such a date is a good reason to once again recall some of the stages in the development of relations between Russia and the new Turkey. Many researchers, primarily Western ones, touching upon Russian-Turkish interstate relations, whose history spans more than five centuries, immediately begin to calculate the number of years during which our countries fought among themselves, while trying to inflate the long-term military confrontation between Russia and Turkey. We will try to recall events and facts from the history of relations between Moscow and Ankara, which are not often discussed today. It is necessary to recall this in the context of the development of today's good-neighborly partnership relations between Russia and Turkey.

On April 23, 1920, Ankara hosted the opening of the new Turkish Parliament - the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (GNST). The Parliament elected Mustafa Kemal as its chairman. He also headed the government formed from among the deputies responsible to the VNST. The Grand National Assembly has declared itself the only legitimate authority in Turkey. The Assembly has concentrated both legislative and executive functions in its hands. All orders issued by the Sultan and his Government since the foreign occupation of Istanbul were declared unenforceable. This completed the organization of the national power of the new Turkey. Since then, this day has been a national holiday in Turkey - Sovereignty Day and Children's Day.

AT THE ORIGINS OF GOOD NEIGHBORLY RELATIONS

The first diplomatic act of the new government was an appeal to Soviet Russia. On April 26, 1920, Mustafa Kemal sent a letter to V. I. Lenin in Moscow, in which he proposed to establish diplomatic relations and asked for assistance to revolutionary Turkey in the struggle against imperialism.

On June 2, 1920, the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs sent a note to Ankara stating that the Russian government " is following with the keenest interest the heroic struggle waged by the Turkish people for their independence, and in these difficult days for Turkey, it is happy to lay a foundation for its independence."

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a solid foundation of friendship that should connect the Turkish and Russian peoples " ¹ . The document states "consent to the immediate establishment of diplomatic and consular relations between the RSFSR and Turkey." And on November 29, 1920, the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs receives a telegram from Mustafa Kemal, which confirms the receipt in Ankara of a note with the consent of the RSFSR to establish diplomatic and consular relations with Turkey. Russia's assistance played a crucial role in Turkey's struggle against foreign intervention and during its foreign policy isolation. The report on the situation in Turkey prepared by the Caucasian Regional Committee of the Bolshevik Party in early 1920 asked whether the national movement could successfully fight the Entente on its own, without any external support ,and defend Anatolia from complete occupation. ² The main argument was the lack of factories for the production of weapons and ammunition at the disposal of the Kemalists, as well as the blockade of all ports in the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas. The only way to deliver military aid was through Russia. The report also noted that in addition to military assistance, financial support is also needed. As a result, the Politburo of the Central Committee of the RCP(b) decided to supply weapons and gold to Kemalist Turkey.

Gratuitous material and military aid began to flow from Soviet Russia. Already on September 8, 1920, in Erzurum, the first batch of gold bars with a total weight of 200.6 kg was transferred to the Turkish side. And on September 23, the first batch of weapons arrived from Tuapse to Trebizond (now Trabzon - AK). During the autumn of 1920, as well as in 1921 and 1922, Kemalist Turkey received from Russia about 40 thousand rifles, hundreds of machine guns, more than 50 guns, 147 thousand artillery shells, 65 million rounds of ammunition, a large number of various military equipment, and the total financial assistance exceeded 10 million gold rubles ^.3

In 1921, a military mission was sent to Turkey headed by Mikhail Frunze, who at that time held the post of commander-in-Chief of the armed forces of Ukraine. This mission was kept in the strictest confidence. The commander was issued documents in the name of "merchant Mikhailov", with which he arrived on the Italian steamer" Sannago " from Batumi to the Turkish port of Trebizond, from where he and his assistants were transferred to Ankara ⁴ .

During this mission, a favorable ground was created for military-technical cooperation between the two countries. In addition to supplying weapons to Turkey, the crews of Turkish warships were replenished with the command staff of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, and Soviet military experts instructed the command of Turkish land units.

The merits of the Russian military leader were not ignored in Turkey. By personal order of the founder and first President of the Republic of Turkey Kemal Ataturk, his memory is immortalized in a monument in the central square of Istanbul. The sculpture of Frunze in a military uniform is on a par with the heroes of the national liberation movement, next to the sculpture of Kemal Ataturk.

The great significance of Russia's support for the national liberation movement in Turkey is evidenced by the statement of the famous English historian A. Toynbee: "At the critical moment of the struggle, they (the Turks-A. K. ) fervently seized the hand that Russia extended to them, and this support was of great value for their cause. In addition to material assistance in equipment and money, their spirit was strengthened immeasurably by the realization that they would not have to fight the victorious allied Powers alone, but that they had behind them a country that, even in defeat and adversity, remained a potential great Power. " ⁵

And here is the assessment given by Mustafa Kemal. Speaking in parliament, he stated: "We are friends with Russia, because Russia recognized our national rights and showed respect for them earlier than anyone else. Under these conditions, both today and tomorrow, and always, Russia can be sure of Turkey's friendship. " ⁶ The Turkish press noted "the most sincere feelings of friendship and brotherhood that the Turkish people have for their great and noble ally, Soviet Russia." Students of Istanbul University at the general meeting demanded the nomination of V. I. Lenin for the Nobel Prize ⁷ .

Almost immediately after

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after establishing diplomatic relations, both sides begin to form the legal framework of their relations. Its cornerstone was the Treaty of Friendship and Brotherhood between Russia and Turkey, signed in Moscow on March 16, 1921. It exempted Turkey from "all monetary and other obligations based on international agreements previously concluded between Turkey and tsarist Russia." ⁸ The Moscow Treaty was a decisive factor in strengthening the international position of Kemalist Turkey.

In the following years, Russia and Turkey signed a number of other important agreements and protocols. Among them is the Trade Agreement signed in 1931. In accordance with its provisions, the Soviet Government granted Turkey a loan of $ 8 million in 1932 to purchase the latest machinery and industrial equipment in the USSR. Soviet specialists were sent to Turkey to perform project work, and Turkish specialists were trained in Soviet universities.

In October 1933, a Soviet government delegation headed by Konstantin Voroshilov visited Turkey. The visit gave a new impetus to bilateral relations. In May 1934, construction of the largest textile mill in the Near and Middle East began in Kayseri. In 1935, after Kemal Ataturk's appeal to the government of the USSR, the organization "Turk kusu" was created, which later became a forge of personnel for the Turkish Air Force. From 1935 to 1940, Turkish military pilots were trained in flying at the glider school in Koktebel and at the Moscow School of Military Pilots. Among them was Kemal Ataturk's adopted daughter, Turkey's first military pilot Sabiha Gokcen.

The period of World War II and the decade and a half after the war were years of deterioration of Soviet - Turkish relations in all directions, when at certain historical moments there were outbreaks of mutual antipathy generated by ill-considered actions on both sides, which further aggravated interstate contradictions. As a result, the border of the Soviet Union and Turkey became the southern border of the confrontation between the two main military-political blocs - NATO and the Warsaw Pact. By the will of fate and historical events, two neighboring countries and two neighboring peoples have become hostages of ideological and military confrontation in the world. A minimum of information, and even then false, about each other, and the maximum efforts of Ankara's Western allies to erase the events of 1920-1940 in the memory of the peoples of the two countries, led to a unique situation when life in the neighboring country seemed mysterious and dangerous.

TOWARDS RESTORING MUTUAL TRUST

However, time, despite ideological and bloc prejudices, gradually put everything in its place. In the early 1960s, a period of gradual restoration of mutual trust, trade and economic ties, and cultural cooperation began. On March 25, 1967, Moscow and Ankara signed an agreement on economic, technical cooperation and construction of industrial and other facilities. In accordance with this document, with the direct participation and assistance of Soviet specialists, 16 major facilities and enterprises that form the country's economy were built in Turkey. Many of them are the largest not only in Turkey, but also in the region. These are the Iskenderun metallurgical plant with a capacity of 2.2 million tons of steel per year, the aluminum plant in Seidisehir with a capacity of 60 thousand tons of aluminum and 25 thousand tons of rolled products per year, as well as the Izmir Oil Refinery, the Orhaneli thermal power plant, power lines, a dam and reservoir on the Ahuren River, sulfuric acid plants in Bandyrma and sodium dichromate in Mersin, etc.

It is noteworthy that Turkey turned to its Western allies for help in constructing these extremely important facilities for the development of the national economy. However, these requests remained unanswered, or the answer was: why do you need to produce, buy from us. This was particularly the case with the production of sodium dichromate in Mersin. Western partners persistently offered to buy raw materials in Turkey, produce products at home, and then sell them at a high price to the Turks-

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kim consumers. In other words, a different approach to understanding the partnership relations of Moscow and the West with Turkey has clearly emerged.

FRUITS OF COOPERATION

In the early 90s of the last century, the Turkish side, realizing the profitability and capacity of the Russian market, began to actively develop it. The volume of works and orders of Turkish contractors in Russia exceeds $ 14 billion. With the participation of Turkish specialists, dozens of industrial enterprises and social and cultural facilities were built and reconstructed. Among them there is a Business Center, a 1000-bed hospital for the disabled of the Great Patriotic War, a maternity hospital, and the Institute of Cardiovascular Surgery named after V. I. Abramovich. Bakuleva in Moscow, a tobacco factory in Krasnodar, residential and tourist complexes, administrative buildings in the Tver and Kursk regions, Sochi, Tyumen, Kazan, Novokuznetsk, Yakutsk, Saratov, Voronezh, Krasnoyarsk, etc.

During these years, the complementarity of the two countries ' markets has been clearly demonstrated, and the mutually beneficial nature of bilateral trade and economic relations has become obvious. Understanding these two aspects, as well as a correct assessment of the previous experience of bilateral trade and economic cooperation, enabled Moscow and Ankara to implement the unique Blue Stream project for the first time in their history. By 2010, Turkey will take the first place in purchasing Russian natural gas. Currently, the volume of deliveries is 15 billion cubic meters. In five years, when the Blue Stream gas pipeline reaches its full capacity, this figure will increase to 30 billion cubic meters. m per year. Purchases of Russian crude oil are also increasing. According to the Turkish state-owned company BOTASH, in 2004 these purchases increased by 75% compared to 2003 and amounted to 4.7 million tons.

Turkish investment in the Russian economy is also growing. In 1998, after the severe financial crisis that hit the Russian economy, Turkish companies, unlike many Western ones, did not leave the Russian market. In Ankara, at a special meeting, the Cabinet of Ministers appealed to Turkish businesses not to curtail their activities in Russia. Today, the largest Turkish companies Arcelik, Vestel, Koch Holding, and Ejazajibashi are developing new projects that will be implemented in Russia in the near future.

Not far behind are small and medium-sized firms of the two countries that intend to establish joint ventures in Russia. In March 2005, a Protocol on Russian-Turkish cooperation in the development of small and medium-sized businesses was signed in Moscow, which laid the legal basis for cooperation between the two countries in this area. And at the end of April this year, a representative delegation of the leading Turkish Association of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs visited Moscow. Bulent Shahinalp, General Director of Matele Energy Holding, said in an interview with our magazine that the Turkish market is very promising for Russian investments. By the way, the same opinion is shared by the head of RAO "UES of Russia" A. Chubais, who called, in particular, the Turkish energy market "fantastically attractive".

Ankara supported Moscow in the issue of Russia's accession to the WTO. On April 19, 2005, the Russian-Turkish Protocol on Russia's Accession to the WTO was signed in Ankara. The head of the Russian delegation, Minister of Economic Development Grigory Gref, and his Turkish counterpart, State Minister Kurshad Tüzmen, agreed to sign a Memorandum between the two ministries - a kind of plan of concrete measures for the next two years, the implementation of which will allow in 2007 to reach the volume of bilateral trade and economic relations in 25-27 billion dollars. It provides for the opening of a Turkish commercial investment zone in the Moscow region, the participation of Russian companies in the privatization of Turkish energy companies, and the joint development of tourism infrastructure with the participation of Turkish companies on the Black Sea coast of Russia.

In addition, Moscow and Ankara agreed to step up cooperation in the field of space technologies and to use Russian achievements in this area by Turkey. It was also decided to prepare a draft agreement between the customs services of the two countries. Gref's stated willingness to pay off the existing debt to Ankara in the amount of about $ 300 million by supplying Russian equipment, primarily aviation, in which Turkey is interested, is also important.

The talks in Ankara and the agreements reached allowed the head of the Russian Ministry of Economic Development to describe the current period as a " golden age "in Russian-Turkish relations. ⁹

The process of restoring mutual trust, which began in the 1960s with the economy and trade, gradually spread to other areas of bilateral relations. At the same time, there was an invisible connection with the Russian-Turkish relations that developed in their initial period. Here is just one example.

Cooperation between representatives of the armed forces of Russia and Turkey in the 20s and 30s of the last century played a certain role in the recent adoption of the following important decision by the Turkish leadership.

In the mid-1990s, a project was approved in Turkey to create an artistic panorama of major historical battles associated with the name of Kemal Ataturk and depicting crucial events for the fate of the new Turkey: "The Battle of Canakkale", "The Battle of Sakarya" and the "Great Offensive" held near Izmir. Among the applicants for participation in the project were selected Russian masters of battle painting from the Studio of Military Artists named after M. B. Grekov.

The collaboration experience was a success. People's Artist of the Russian Federation Sergey Prisekin, who led a group of 12 Russian battlemasters working in Turkey, was awarded a valuable gift.-

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com of the General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces.

The positive experience of establishing Russian-Turkish relations, their dynamic expansion in all areas, including political ones, and increasing the level of trust between Moscow and Ankara required a scientific understanding of this process. And on June 3, 1998, a Protocol on the establishment of a joint Russian-Turkish research center was signed in Ankara. On the Russian side, the protocol was signed by Valentina Tereshkova, Head of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Rosarubezh Center, and Bulent Akarjaly, a member of parliament and chairman of the Turkish Democracy Foundation, on the Turkish side.

This Protocol was the first document of its kind in the history of Russian-Turkish interstate relations. It provides for conducting joint research on the history and current state of relations between Russia and Turkey, supporting initiatives aimed at developing political, trade, economic, scientific, military, cultural and humanitarian ties. Noting the importance of this document for building trust between Moscow and Ankara, Akardzhaly stated in an interview with our magazine: "Today there are two powerful and influential powers in the region - Russia and Turkey. Whatever they agree on with other countries will not matter as much as the bilateral Russian-Turkish agreements. At the same time, Moscow and Ankara must do everything possible to ensure that these agreements are not hindered by third countries."

The advice of a Turkish politician is topical. The dynamic development of good-neighborly and mutually beneficial Russian-Turkish relations in all areas causes dissatisfaction in Washington. Thus, Richard Holbrooke , a well-known US political figure, in the recent past one of the architects of American foreign policy, the US Permanent Representative to the UN, in one of his comments in March 2005, argued that "Russian-Turkish rapprochement is a dangerous process."

In this connection, I would like to quote the following words of the People's Commissar of Internal Affairs of Russia G. V. Chicherin from his message to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Ankara government Ahmed Mukhtar dated December 19, 1920: "By informing each other about our policy in Europe, we can avoid misunderstandings, which our enemies will undoubtedly try and are already trying, but without success, to sow in the relations between the Turkish and Russian peoples " ¹⁰ .

The quote from the distant 1920 is still relevant today. Fortunately, both in Moscow and Ankara, building good-neighborly relations, they are increasingly recalling and analyzing their history, its positive and negative pages. And this is, as experience shows, an unmistakable guideline for their mutually beneficial further deepening and expansion in all areas.

The working meeting of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, held in Sochi on July 17-18, 2005, also proved this. Putin and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. For about five hours, the two leaders analyzed in detail the entire range of bilateral relations, as well as areas of cooperation on regional and global issues. Their conclusion is that over the past three years, very serious positive changes have taken place in Russian-Turkish relations. These changes are taking place in politics, trade, economy, cultural and humanitarian relations.

At the same time, both Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed that these successes should stimulate the efforts of both sides to further develop the multifaceted partnership between the two countries in all areas. Russia and Turkey have the potential to do this. "Moscow and Ankara have many tasks that they can effectively solve together," the Russian president and the Turkish Prime Minister stated.

Russian and Turkish diplomatic, political and business circles emphasize that the Russian-Turkish summit in Sochi once again demonstrated the existence of an effective and stable political dialogue between Moscow and Ankara, which was initiated 85 years ago in 1920 by the establishment of diplomatic relations between Russia and Turkey.

^{Miller A. F.} 1

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