The Soviets send Turkey a diplomatic note
The Soviet Union had repeatedly expressed its discontentment with Turkey’s policy of neutrality during World War II. Moscow was particularly frustrated about not having any control over the Straits. In addition, the fact that the Allies did not provide arms aid to the Soviet Union while passing through the Straits created a situation similar to the one in World War I.
Yet, Stalin found it unacceptable that according to Montreux Convention, the rights countries bordering the Black Sea had over the Straits was “no more than a gram of what Japan had.” Indeed, at the Yalta Conference during which the “Three Great Powers” (United Kingdom, the U.S., and the Soviet Union) deliberated Europe’s post-war organization, Stalin had stressed that he could no longer tolerate “having Turks at the throat of the Russians.”
The Soviet diplomatic note delivered to the Turkish government on March 19, 1945, was prepared under these circumstances. In this note, the Soviets were demanding amendments to be made to the 1925 Soviet-Turkish Treaty of Friendship and Neutrality for its renewal. In the ensuing days, the Soviet Union would also demand the return of Kars, Ardahan, and Artvin, which were ceded to Turkey in 1921 and request a Soviet base at the Straits for common security and defense.
