Note of the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the RSFSR to the Ambassador of Turkey to the RSFSR Ali Fuad.

 A source: USSR foreign policy documents. Volume 4. p. 169. Moscow. State Political Publishing House. 1960

June 6, 1921 No. 11/1297

Mr. Ambassador,

In response to your No. 498 of June 3, to which the instructions are attached, I must first of all note that Article XV of the Moscow Treaty, to which you refer, remained unfulfilled not at all through the fault of the Russian Government or the Governments of the Transcaucasian Soviet Republics, but because of the only The reason is that the Turkish delegation, which left Tiflis for a short time in order to enter into direct contact with its Government, has not returned to Tiflis since then, which made it impossible to conclude the agreements provided for between Turkey and the Transcaucasian Republics.

As a result, the latter have not yet assumed the obligations that are

based on the Moscow Treaty and will follow for them from the treaties that they will sign with the Government of the Great National Assembly. However, they are not abandoning the implementation of Article XII, which concerns the right of residents of the Kars territory to leave this territory if they so wish. For me, there is no doubt that the messages made to us regarding the alleged refusal of some border authorities to admit Molokans to the territory of the Soviet Republics are the result of a misunderstanding, since in the course of our exchange of views with the Transcaucasian Governments regarding the Russian population of the Kars territory, these governments never did not question their willingness to admit Molokans to their territory. However, it should be added, that according to the same article, residents who wish to leave this territory, by virtue of the agreement, have the right to take with them all their property, which, unfortunately, was denied to the Molokans by the Turkish authorities; moreover, the Molokans were subjected to robbery and all kinds of oppression; they were deprived of their land plots, kicked out of their homes and, half-dead from hunger, were herded into sheds and stalls. It is this unheard-of treatment to which the Russian population of this territory was subjected that caused such unrest in the Soviet Republics that we consider it necessary to categorically insist that a strict investigation of the actions of those responsible for all this be carried out. the Molokans were refused by the Turkish authorities; moreover, the Molokans were subjected to robbery and all kinds of oppression; they were deprived of their land plots, kicked out of their homes and, half-dead from hunger, were herded into sheds and stalls. It was this unheard-of treatment to which the Russian population of the said territory was subjected that caused such unrest in the Soviet Republics that we consider it necessary to categorically insist that a rigorous investigation of the actions of those responsible for all this be carried out. the Molokans were refused by the Turkish authorities; moreover, the Molokans were subjected to robbery and all kinds of oppression; they were deprived of their land plots, kicked out of their homes and, half-dead from hunger, were herded into sheds and stalls. It is this unheard-of treatment to which the Russian population of this territory was subjected that caused such unrest in the Soviet Republics that we consider it necessary to categorically insist that a strict investigation of the actions of those responsible for all this be carried out.

The forced mobilization of the Russian population of the Kars territory is equally contrary to Article XII and is an act of arbitrariness against which we protest in the most resolute manner.

Your messages regarding the so-called revolutionaries in the Kars territory seem to me to be an idle fiction, stemming from those elements who want to shake the friendship so happily established between our two countries and so necessary for both countries. I would venture to suggest that the presence of certain elements among your authorities that are hostile to the close alliance between your Government and a revolutionary Republic like ours may be the reason for the appearance of false information, deliberately aimed at sowing a sense of suspicion among your leaders. relation to the Union Republic.

The Armenian Soviet Government, the seat of which is Erivan, along with other governments, pursues the same foreign policy course as the Russian Government, and does not at all harbor any subversive intentions in relation to the Turkish authorities in the territories now recognized as yours. These reports about the notorious revolutionaries do not explain at all, however, the measures taken against the Molokans, a religious sect that has nothing to do with Bolshevik revolutionary ideas. As in Muslim countries, no one would think of accusing the reactionary ulama of pro-communist actions, and it is more than strange to explain the alleged intrigues of these latter persecutions directed against a Christian sect remote from worldly affairs. The assumption that the Molokans can be evicted to the center of Asia Minor,

I allow myself to hope that you will make the most energetic submissions to the Government of the Grand National Assembly in order to eliminate the possibility of such actions, which could only lead to the need for repressive measures, since the broad masses of our compatriots would not agree that such actions remain unanswered ...

Please accept, Mr. Ambassador, my sincere assurances of my highest consideration.

[Chicherin]