ARF-D: "Treaty is invalid"
Declaration by the Supreme Body of the ARF-Dashnaktsutyun:
"The 90th anniversary of the infamous treaty signed on 16 March 1921 by the government of Russia's Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and Turkey's Grand National Assembly is approaching.
According to the mentioned treaty, by violating the norms of international law and fundamental principles and without the Armenian side's consent and participation, the parties decided to donate the Kars province and the Surmalu colony to Turkey and hand the Nakhichevan territory to Azerbaijan as an autonomous "territory". The part of the Moscow agreement referring to Armenia is a crude violation of international law since the agreements can only refer to the signing parties and not lead to any obligation or right for the third party, which is not part of the agreement without the third party's consent.
In addition, before the signing of the treaty, the Socialist Federative Soviet Republic of Russia was not recognized as a state or a subject of international law and it is obvious that its government didn't have the competence to sign an international treaty. The Turkish party, the so-called "government of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey" was simply a non-governmental organization in the legal Turkish state. What's more, the Turkish party was representing itself on behalf of Mustafa Kemal, which was a criminal who had escaped and had been sentenced to death by the Turkish military tribunal. With that said, according to the above mentioned, the Moscow treaty is illegitimate and has no force from the angle of international law.
Thus, the Republic of Armenia must declare that it doesn't recognize the treaty signed in Moscow on 16 March 1921 and that the Kars Treaty imposed on the Bolshevik government of Armenia on 13 October 1921 is invalid. The Republic of Armenia must also immediately reject the Turkey-Armenia Protocols by which the Turkish side is aimed at legitimizing the illegitimate deal between Lenin and Ataturk.
What is also troubling is the fact that in the background of the modified agreements on the Russian-Armenian strategic partnership, as well as the assurances for the strengthening and development of the traditional friendly ties between our nations, the "Russian-Turkish council on cooperation at the highest level" is taking place in Moscow during the days of the 90th anniversary of the illegitimate, anti-Armenian treaty.
There is no doubt that the bilateral relations may create grounds for friendship, if they are based on justice and are not geared against a third party."
