The ARF Coat of Arms

YEREVAN (ARF Press Service)—The Armenian Revolutionary Federation Supreme Council of Armenia, issued a declaration Tuesday on the eve of the 90th anniversary of the signing of the Kars Treaty between Turkey and the Soviet Union.

The declaration calls the treaty, illegal and invalid and urges the government of Armenia to make an announcement rejecting the treaty. The ARF declaration also call of the government to immediately end the ill-fated Turkey-Armenia protocols process and withdraw Armenia’s signature from the defeatist documents.

Below is the text of the declaration:

The 90th anniversary of the signing of the notorious treaty between the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Government of the Turkish Grand National Assembly on March 16, 1921, is being marked. The parties of this treaty, in violation of the basic principles and norms of international law, without the  participation and consent of the Armenian party, decided to donate to Turkey the province of Kars and the region of Surmalu, and to hand over Nakhichevan as an autonomous “territory” to the protectorate of Azerbaijan.

In the treaty of Moscow, the clauses on Armenia are in gross violation of international law, as treaties can only pertain to the parties to the treaty and cannot create any obligations or rights for a third party  not party to the treaty without its consent.

In addition, at the time of signing of the treaty, the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic was not a recognized state, and therefore not a subject of international law and, naturally, its government had no authority to enter into international treaties.

As for the so-called “government of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey” representing the Turkish side, it was merely a non-governmental entity in circumstances where Turkish legal authorities existed. Furthermore, the Turkish side acted on behalf of Mustafa Kemal, who at the time was a criminal on the run, sentenced to death by the Turkish military court and the highest clergyman of the empire.

Thus, based on the above-mentioned facts, the Moscow Treaty is illegal and, according to international law, is invalid. Hence, the Republic of Armenia should declare that it does not recognize the treaty signed in Moscow, on March 16, 1921, and the October 13, 1921, treaty of Kars, based on the latter and forced upon the Bolshevik rulers of Armenia, is null and void.

Simultaneously, the Republic of Armenia must immediately withdraw from the Armenian-Turkish protocols, which the Turkish side is using to retroactively legitimize the Lenin-Ataturk criminal transaction. Also, the fact that – on the backdrop of renewed agreements of Russian-Armenian strategic partnership and the assurances of strengthening and development of the traditional friendly relations between our two peoples – during these days which mark the 90th anniversary of the signing of the above-mentioned illegal and anti-Armenian treaty, the High-Level Cooperation Council between Russia and Turkey is holding a meeting in Moscow raises concerns.

Surely, bilateral relations can provide basis for friendship, if they are based on justice and not directed against third parties.

ARF Supreme Council Of Armenia
March 15, 2011