Turkish Historians on the Problem of the Black Sea Straits in Soviet-Turkish Relations (1939–1945)

The article is devoted to the problem of the Black Sea straits in Soviet-Turkish relations during the Second World War as reflected in modern Turkish historiography. In Turkish historiography, a negative assessment of the role of the Soviet Union in the history of Soviet-Turkish relations in 1939–1945 traditionally prevails. The leitmotif is the opinion about the continuity of the expansionist policy of the USSR inherited from tsarist Russia. Turkish researchers emphasize that, starting from the pre-war period, the USSR has been preparing to revise the Montreux Convention of 1936. In their opinion, in 1939–1941, the problem of the straits contributed to the deterioration of Soviet-Turkish relations. It is overlooked that in 1941–1944, Ankara repeatedly allowed German warships disguised as merchant ships into the Black Sea. Regarding the post-war period, Turkish historians emphasize the benevolent position of Turkey and the aggressive plans of Moscow. Many authors do not pay attention to the fact that Soviet requirements for Turkey regarding the straits were not contested by any of the powers of the anti-Hitler coalition, including Turkey, and were dictated by the sad experience of Turkish sovereignty over the Bosphorus and Dardanelles. The dominant tendency in Turkish historiography is to limit the study of the Soviet Union’s claims related to the straits to the post-war period. The studies that examine the problem of the straits in Soviet-Turkish relations beginning with the interwar period are generally more objective. To study the topic, studies in English were used, since the works of Turkish scholars are largely based on English-language materials

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