Soviet foreign affairs and Turkey (1923-1940)

With the October Revolution of 1917, the power in Russia changed and the state entered into a process of great transformation. Like the other state organs of Russia, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has undergone a great change and was reorganized. In this framework, the old diplomatic ranks and rules were abolished and new ones were created. The newly established Soviet Foreign Commissariat declared that Tsarist Ministry of Foreign Affairs represented the ruling class, but it only represents the working and peasant class. The Soviet Commissariat of Foreign Affairs started to establish relations with its close neighbors from the day it was founded, and relations with the Turkish National Movement that started in Anatolia during this period had a particularly important place for the Soviets. The first Soviet representatives sent to Anatolia were generally not of diplomatic origin, but rather members of the military, who were members of the Party, and engaged in propaganda activities along with diplomatic activities. In the process that started with the official establishment of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, Turkish-Soviet relations gradually turned into closer bilateral relations and the Soviet Foreign Commissariat played a very important role in this regard. As a matter of fact, the Soviet Foreign Ministry was organized in Turkey together with all its institutions and organizations. Soviet representatives in Turkey generally operated in the form of Plenipotentiary Representatives, Consulates and Commercial Representatives. In this doctoral thesis, the Soviet's Plenipotentiary Representation, consulates and commercial representations in Turkey, as well as their formation process and institutional structures between 1923 and 1940 were studied. The general strategic and ideological lines followed by these representations in Turkey were also examined.