| General Kazım Karabekir, the signatory from Turkish side, on the road to Alexandropol | |
| Type | Peace treaty |
|---|---|
| Signed | December 2, 1920 |
| Location | Alexandropol, Democratic Republic of Armenia |
| Signatories | Democratic Republic of Armenia Grand National Assembly of Turkey |
| tr:Gümrü Antlaşması at Wikisource | |
The Treaty of Alexandropol (Turkish: Gümrü Antlaşması) was a peace treaty between the Democratic Republic of Armenia and the Grand National Assembly of Turkey ending the Turkish-Armenian War, signed on December 2, 1920, before the declaration of the Republic of Turkey. It was the first treaty signed by Turkish revolutionaries with an internationally accepted state. The terms of the treaty were negotiated between Kazim Karabekir and Armenian Foreign Minister Alexander Khatisyan.
The tenth item in the agreement stated that Armenia renounced the Treaty of Sèvres, which stipulated the Wilsonian Armenia.
The second item acknowledged the newly established border between the two countries.[1] Essentially, the border agreed to was that identified in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (1918) between the Russian SFSR and Ottoman Empire. The Democratic Republic of Armenia had previously denounced the Brest-Litovsk treaty. However, after armed conflict, the border was accepted by Armenia in the Treaty of Batum (1918). In the administrative vacuum created by the dissolution of Ottoman forces due to the Armistice of Mudros, a new state South West Caucasian Republic headed by Fakhr al-Din Pirioghlu and centered in Kars was formed. It existed along with the British general governorship created during the Entente's intervention in Transcaucasia.[2] It was abolished in 1919 by British High Commissioner Admiral Somerset Arthur Gough-Calthorpe, after the occupation of Istanbul. This enabled the Democratic Republic of Armenia to fill these territories.[3]
The Treaty of Alexandropol changed the boundary of the Democratic Republic of Armenia to the Ardahan-Kars borderline and ceded over fifty percent of Democratic Republic of Armenia to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. According to the treaty of Gumru,Armenians have accepted that Treaty of Sevres is void and meaningless. Article 11 declared the Sevres Treaty "null and void." The same article stipulated that the Armenian Government undertook to withdraw its delegations in Europe and America, that are tools in the hands of certain imperialistic governments and circles.The reasons for the military defeat are expressed in the publication Dashnagzoutiun Has Nothing To Do Anymore by Hovhannes Katchaznouni.[4]
The treaty signed by the Armenian government was to be ratified by the Armenian parliament within a month. This did not take place due to the Russian SFSR occupation of Armenia. In 1921 the treaty was replaced with the Treaty of Kars.
In the interest of international justice and permanent peace in the future, the boundaries of the new Armenia ought to be extended as far as the Armenian race extends as an important element of the population, because the Armenians have proved their capacity for self-government even under the almost impossible conditions of Turkish misrule, while Turks and Kurds have again and again proved incapable of governing themselves, much less of governing others.
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