The Georgian Question in the Minutes of the Closed Session of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (1920–1921)

Abstract

It is known that the Ottoman Empire suffered defeat in the First World War and signed the Armistice of Mudros on October 30, 1918. The victorious Entente powers took control of the Arab states that were part of the Ottoman Empire and began to divide the Ottoman territory itself.
On April 23, 1920, a new parliament was convened in Ankara, which was called the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. Mustafa Kemal Pasha was elected chairman. The Grand National Assembly declared itself the sole legitimate government of Turkey. On May 3 of the same year, a government was formed under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal. Thus, a dual system of government was established in Turkey. The Sultan in Istanbul, and Mustafa Kemal in Ankara.
The government of the Democratic Republic of Georgia still had its own diplomatic representation with the Sultan’s government in accordance with the Batumi Treaty of June 4, 1918. As for the establishment of diplomatic relations with the Ankara government and the recognition of the Democratic Government of Georgia by the Ankara government, it took place on February 8, 1920, when the Georgian diplomatic representative Simon Mdivani presented his credentials to Mustafa Kemal Pasha in Ankara. Earlier, Colonel Kyazim (Dirik), an official representative of the Ankara government, arrived in Tbilisi and presented his credentials to the Georgian government. Relations between Ankara and Tbilisi were more or less cooperative, although the border issue remained unresolved.
During the Bolshevik expansion in Georgia, the Ankara government’s approaches to Georgia changed somewhat. Ankara demanded that Tbilisi withdraw its troops from the Artvin and Artaani regions, and expressed different approaches regarding the Batumi issue. This was expressed, on the one hand, in the condition of the annexation of the Batumi region to Turkey, and on the other hand, in the condition of holding a plebiscite in the same region.
The aim of the article is to study the relationship between the democratic governments of Ankara and Georgia according to the closed sessions of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. Based on their analysis and comparison, to present the political events taking place in the South-West Caucasus and the results obtained. This will allow readers interested in the history of the region to critically assess what happened.