You are cordially invited to a lecture on the topic of
The Near East Boundaries after WWII and Today:
The Case of Turkey and Kurdistan
with
Haykaram Nahapetyan
Washington, DC correspondent for the Public TV Company of Armenia
and
Dr. Kirmanj Gundi
Professor, Tennessee State University
Moderated by Vilen Khlgatyan
Global Research Center Founder and President, IWP alumnus
Wednesday, March 16
2:00 PM
The Institute of World Politics
1521 16th Street NW
Washington, DC 20036
This event is co-sponsored by the Global Research Center.
On the 16th of March, 1921, the Treaty of Moscow between Kemalist Turkey and Soviet Russia was concluded. This agreement de facto defined the borders of the future USSR and Kemalist Turkey. By extension, it also re-defined the border of Armenia and Georgia with Kemalist Turkey. Today, when relations between Russia and Turkey are tense, Russia’s Communist Party has started a movement to void the Treaty. If passed, this would mean that Moscow will formally stop recognizing the northeastern borders of Turkey. The formal application has been submitted to the President of Russia and the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Similarly, soon after WWII, an attempt was made by the Soviet leader Josef Stalin. The USSR put forward territorial demands, and a possible Soviet-Turkey war became a real possibility. Western countries mostly backed Turkey, marking the first significant standoff between the West and the USSR in the post-WWII era. “Possible World War III forecast,” reported The Washington Post in a December 1945 article.
Additionaly, in 1945, the Kurdish republic of Mahabad was formed in Iran. Analysts indicated possible Soviet support toward this process. However, with the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Iran, the Mahabad Republic quickly collapsed.
The panelists will discuss the parallels of history: how is the formation of Kurdistan today similar and/or different from the process after WWII? Was World War III or a major war a reality in 1945-1946? And how likely is the denunciation of the Treaty of Moscow today, 95 years after it was signed?