Treaty of Kars - The Questioned Validity of The Treaty

The Questioned Validity of The Treaty

The validity of the treaty is under question according to some politologists and scholars. In fact the authorities of the sides that have their signatories under the treaty are questioned. The signing by the Grand National Assembly of Turkey only can be claimed a farce, as it was founded in Ankara on 23 April 1920 in the midst of the Turkish War of Independence in the efforts of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk to found a new state out of the remnants of the Ottoman Empire in the aftermath of World War I and, according to the Constitution of the Ottoman Empire, had no legal authority to sign international treaties. Article 7 of the Constitution of the Ottoman Empire reads:

Among the sovereign rights of His Majesty the Sultan are the following prerogatives: - ………he concludes treaties with the powers; he declares war and makes peace;... .

When the Constitution was revised in August 1909 the same Article 7 stated:

Among the sacred prerogatives of the Sultan are the following: - ……… and the conclusion of Treaties in general. Only, the consent of Parliament is required for the conclusion of Treaties which concern peace, commerce, the abandonment or annexation of territory, or the fundamental or personal rights of Ottoman subjects, or which involve expenditure on the part of the State.

Only in the year 1923 the Turkish Republic was announced by the Turkish GNA and the Constitution of the Ottoman Empire was changed with a new one in 1921. There is also an opinion among researchers that as the Soviet Republics were under strict control of Moscow and so the consent and independence of the parties is also questioned. In addition, the USSR itself was established on December 29, 1922. This inflicts the local Communist governments in the Soviet Republics to be legitimate since the same date.

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