Treaty of Alexandropol
| Type | Peace treaty |
|---|---|
| Signed | 3 December 1920 |
| Location | Alexandropol, First Republic of Armenia |
| Signatories |
 First Republic of Armenia  Grand National Assembly of Turkey |
 tr:Gümrü Antlaşması at Wikisource | |
The Treaty of Alexandropol (Armenian: Ալեքսանդրապոլի պայմանագիր; Turkish: Gümrü Antlaşması) was a peace treaty between the First Republic of Armenia and the Grand National Assembly of Turkey ending the Turkish-Armenian War that had begun on 12 September 1920 with an invasion of Armenia by Turkish forces led by Kazim Karabekir.
It was signed by the Armenian Foreign Minister Alexander Khatisyan in the early hours of 3 December 1920. However, the previous day the Armenian government in Yerevan had resigned and transferred power to a Soviet government backed by Soviet Russia, meaning that Khatisyan was no longer acting on behalf of the government of Armenia and the treaty was technically illegal.[1]
The terms of the treaty was prepared by the Turkish side, with the Armenian side having no input. It required Armenia to cede to Turkey its entire province of Kars together with the Surmalu district of Yerevan province. A large part of the south of Yerevan province was also to be ceded to Azerbaijan.[2]
The second item on the treaty acknowledged the border between the two countries.[3] The Treaty of Alexandropol changed the boundary of the First Republic of Armenia to the Ardahan-Kars borderline and ceded over fifty percent of First Republic of Armenia to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. The tenth item in the agreement stated that Armenia renounced the Treaty of Sèvres.
The Treaty of Alexandropol 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 the accord signed by the resigning Armenian government and Soviet Russia's representatives in Yerevan, Russia recognized the boundaries of Armenia as they had been before the Turkish invasion. However, Soviet Russia eventually acceded to Turkey's territorial demands in the Treaty of Moscow signed on 16 March 1921. The latter treaty was further ratified as the Treaty of Kars, signed by the Grand National Assembly of Turkey and, at Soviet Russia's insistence, the three (now Soviet) republics of Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan.
References
- ↑ Hovannisian, Richard (2005), The Armenians: Past and Present in the Making of National Identity, New York: Routledge, p. 110, ISBN 0-203-00493-0
- ↑ Richard G. Hovanissian, "The Contest for Kars (1914-1921)", p316, in Armenian Kars and Ani, Mazda Publishers 2011.
- ↑ Exact line is stated in Turkish as: "Türkiye ile Ermenistan arasındaki sınır, aşağı Karasu'nun döküldüğü yerden başlayarak Aras Irmağı Kekaç kuzeyine dek Arpaçayı, müteakiben Karahan Deresi, Tignis batısı, Büyük Kimli doğusu, Kızıltaş, Büyük Akbaba Dağı çizgisinden oluşur."
