The Turkestan Political Émigré Community: Its Influence on the Foreign Policy of the Turkish Republic and the Soviet-Turkish Relations in the 1920s

In this article the author examines the historical circumstances of the formation of the Central Asian (Turkestan) political emigrant community in the territory of the Republic of Turkey in the first half of the 1920s, as well as its political activities aimed at organisational and ideological unification and attempts to gain political support from the Turkish leadership. The study draws on memoirs, reminiscences, and published notes of prominent representatives of the Turkestan emigration (both in Russian and Turkish), collections of documents published in the USSR, as well as recently declassified archival materials covering the foreign policy of Soviet Russia and neighbouring countries. Despite the cultural and ethnic affinity and pan-Turkic convictions of some members of the Turkish political leadership, Turkey provided only limited assistance to representatives of the Turkmen anti-Soviet emigration. Consequently, emigrant groups and associations were forced to seek political support from Eastern European governments. The author concludes that it was futile to encourage the creation of independent political entities on Soviet territory solely by supporting local anti-Soviet protests from abroad. The viability of such entities required internal objective conditions.

Keywords

Central Asia, Turkestan, North Caucasus, USSR, Eastern Europe, Turkey, Basmachi, emigration, national frontiers, Russian Civil War, foreign policy

Received

13.05.2022

Publication date

13.05.2022

Number of characters

30076

Cite

GOST	Pylev A. The Turkestan Political Émigré Community: Its Influence on the Foreign Policy of the Turkish Republic and the Soviet-Turkish Relations in the 1920s // Novaia i noveishaia istoriia – 2022. – Issue 2 C. 97-107 [Electronic resource]. URL: https://nni.jes.su/S013038640019445-7-1 (circulation date: 05.05.2024). DOI: 10.31857/S013038640019445-7
MLA	Pylev, Aleksander "The Turkestan Political Émigré Community: Its Influence on the Foreign Policy of the Turkish Republic and the Soviet-Turkish Relations in the 1920s." Novaia i noveishaia istoriia 2 (2022):97-107. DOI: 10.31857/S013038640019445-7
APA	Pylev A. (2022). The Turkestan Political Émigré Community: Its Influence on the Foreign Policy of the Turkish Republic and the Soviet-Turkish Relations in the 1920s. Novaia i noveishaia istoriia (2), pp.97-107 DOI: 10.31857/S013038640019445-7

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