Written: Written on March 9, 1921
Published:
First published in 1965 in Collected Works, Fifth (Russian) Ed., Vol. 52.
Printed from the original.
Source:
Lenin
Collected Works,
Progress Publishers,
1976,
Moscow,
Volume 45,
page 95b.
Translated: Yuri Sdobnikov
Transcription\Markup:
R. Cymbala
Public Domain:
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Comrade Chicherin:
I am extremely anxious about the Turks’ putting off the signing of the agreement on Batum, playing for time while their troops are moving to Batum. We must not allow them such delays. Discuss the following measure: you will adjourn your conference for half an hour to have a talk with me, while Stalin will have a straightforward talk with the Turkish delegation to clear things up and have everything settled not later than today.[1]
[1] This refers to the Moscow Conference for the Conclusion of the Soviet-Turkish Treaty (February 26–March 16, 1921), which ended with the signing of the treaty of friendship and brotherhood between the R.S.F.S.R. and Turkey.
The question of Batum arose in connection with the fact that the Menshevik government of Georgia, which was on its last legs, had, on the advice of the Entente, concluded in the first ten days of March a secret agreement with the Turkish Government under which the city of Batum together with the district and two other districts were to be handed over to Turkey. Under this agreement the Turkish troops advancing on Batum occupied it on March 11, 1921. On March 19, the Turkish troops were forced to retreat from the city.
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