History of Turkish tank troops quite remarkable. This country was capable of large quantities purchase relatively modern weapons. However, in the main, mass, proven samples were purchased. Geography of purchases of armored vehicles during the 1930s. changed several times. In the early 1930s Turkey focused on Great Britain, in the middle of the decade on the Soviet Union, and during the Second World War preferred German tanks.
The first Turkish tanks were Renault FT. They were purchased from France in 1928. Several tanks entered the infantry school in Istanbul. The next time the Turks returned to buying French tanks was in 1940. These were also light Renaults, the R-35 series.
Subsequently, Turkey received:
- British Vickers Carden Loyd tankettes (1930), at least 30
- Vickers Carden Loyd M1931 amphibious tanks (1934), unknown number
- light tanks Vickers 6ton Mk E (1933), at least 10
- Vickers Mk VI b (late 1930s), 13
However, the first combat-ready armored unit of the Turkish army was formed only with the arrival of Soviet tanks. In 1935, the country received 67 T-26 light tanks and 60 medium armored vehicles of the BA series. Tanks went to the formation of the 1st tank battalion in Luleburgaz (European part of Turkey). Its first commander was Major Tahsin Yazici. These combat vehicles remained in service in Turkey until 1942.
Western sources claim that the Turks received 5 T-27 tankettes, 2 T-28 medium tanks, several BT-2 units. Russian researchers question these data; there is no mention of such deliveries in the archives.
In the early 1940s Turkey was mainly guided in the purchase of weapons by the Third Reich. So the country received in 1943 53 Pz. III and 15 Pz. IV G. Thus, the German leadership tried to persuade the republic to take part in the 2nd World War on its side, in extreme cases, to prevent it from taking the side of the Allies.
A separate article is Czech-Turkish military cooperation. In the 1930s Czechoslovakia was rightfully one of the ten most industrially developed countries in the world. High quality Czech-made technology contributed to its spread in Europe, and in Asia, and in Latin America. As a result, Turkey received a significant number of army tractors and tractors from CKD. Including: 434 TN, 62 TN7, 40 TN 6, 16 T9. Deliveries began in 1937 and continued even after the German occupation of Czechoslovakia until at least 1943.
At the beginning of 1940, Turkey had:
Subordinate to the 1st Army:
Armored brigade (deployment - Istanbul) - 9 BA-6, 16 Mk VIB, 48 T-26 B, 96 R-35
2nd Cavalry Division (deployment - the city of Luleburgaz, the European part of Turkey) - 16 BA-6
Subordinate to the 3rd Army:
there was the 1st tank battalion - 16 BA-6 and 16 T-26 B
In 1940, the 1st Tank Regiment (1. Zirhli Alayi) was formed; French 100 R-35s and British Mk. VIB.
In 1942, the 1st Armored Brigade was relocated from Luleburgaz to Istanbul. In 1943, two more brigades were formed in Istanbul, and the 1st was renamed the 3rd. Materiel - American and British: 25 Shermans, 220 Stuarts, 180 Valentines, 150 Mk. VI and 60 BTR Universal.
56 Pzkpfw. III Ausf. J and 15 Pzkpfw. IV Ausf. G
In the mid 30s. Kemalist transformations began to bear fruit: the political and economic position of the state was strengthened, Turkey's authority in neighboring countries increased. This situation allowed Turkish diplomacy to undertake a number of foreign policy actions that were supposed to increase the prestige of the Ankara government on the world stage. The most successful of them should be considered the holding of an international conference in the Swiss city of Montreux, dedicated to the revision of the regime of the Black Sea straits. The convention developed by its participants took into account the main proposals of the Turkish government on security measures in the straits and gave Ankara the right to remilitarize them.
In the last years of Atatürk's life and after his death (1938), the strength of the one-party regime began to weaken. However, his successors, given the aggravation of the international situation on the eve of World War II, preferred to keep this system. The need to ensure the country's defense capability made it possible to apply the principles of etatism in the widest possible way and use the most severe forms of authoritarian rule to suppress any manifestations of discontent. With the outbreak of hostilities, Turkey declared its neutrality. Throughout the years of the war, Ankara, in an effort to maintain the inviolability of its borders, flirted either with the "Axis powers", or with the allies in the anti-Hitler coalition. Only convinced of the inevitability of the imminent defeat Nazi Germany, the Turkish government at the end of February 1945 decided to declare war on Germany and Japan. This purely symbolic act allowed Turkey to be among the founding countries of the UN. However, its prestige in the international arena has noticeably declined, and its relations with the Soviet Union have especially deteriorated. The ruling circles of the country had to radically change their foreign and domestic policy.
27. Iran during World War II
Obvious pro-fascist sentiments in Iran under the conditions of Germany's attack on the USSR caused great concern among the countries of the Anti-Hitler coalition. At the suggestion of W. Churchill, Britain and the Soviet Union carried out a joint military occupation of Iran. In 1941, British troops were brought into southern Iran, and into the northern part - Soviet troops, after repeated warnings and on the basis of an article of the Soviet-Iranian treaty of 1921, the Foruga government promised to remove German diplomatic representatives and agents from Iran. However, Reza Shah did not take measures to implement the obligations assumed. This policy caused discontent and protest demonstrations in Iran. Reza Shah was forced to renounce the throne in favor of his son Mohammed Reza Pahlavi. Fascist agents in Iran were eliminated.
On January 29, 1942, an alliance agreement was signed in Tehran between the USSR, Great Britain and Iran, which provided for respect by the allies of the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Iran in defense of it from aggression from Germany and other powers, for which the USSR and England received the right maintain their armed forces in Iran until six months after the end of the war. On the basis of this agreement, military equipment and materials were transported through Iran to the USSR.
In 1943, Iran formally declared war on Germany, but Iranian troops did not participate in hostilities. All these events had a great impact on the socio-political life of Iran. The Shah's military dictatorship was abolished. The democratic movement intensified, former political prisoners were released from prisons, a tendency was outlined in society to limit the power of the monarch and increase the role of the Majlis. In 1941, the People's Party of Iran was founded, which soon became the largest political party in the country. She advocated strengthening the national sovereignty of Iran, improving the living conditions of workers, and fighting internal reaction.
At the same time, old politicians are returning to the political arena. Ahmed Qavam (Qavam al-Saltane) tried to create a "Democratic Party", whose main task was to unite all the bourgeois elements of Iranian society. While serving as prime minister in 1942-1943, he contributed to Milspo's second mission. During this period, the Americans, taking advantage of the expulsion of the Germans and the weakening of the position of England, strengthened their positions in Iran. At the end of 1942, under the pretext of the need to ensure the transit of military cargo, the United States sent its troops to Iran. Ghavam invited American economic advisers, as well as advisers for the Iranian army, gendarmerie, police, health ministry, who proposed a number of measures to stabilize prices and increase production. The Iranian Majlis granted Milspo emergency powers, including control over foreign and domestic trade, storage and distribution of industrial and food products, transport, wages, etc. However, Milspo's mission only aggravated the already difficult situation of Iran's finances and economy. His activity caused general indignation and protests. Milspaugh's mission failed.
England, which had old connections with the ruling circles in Iran, tried not to concede the right of primacy to the United States and also contributed to the consolidation of pro-British groups. In 1943, the British occupation authorities helped the return of Seyid Zia ad-Din from Palestine, who created his own faction in the Majlis.
At the same time, liberal-nationalist parties appear, which include, first of all, the "Iran" party, and Islamic organizations are created, including the clerical-nationalist terrorist organization Fedayane Islam (Proponents of Islam), which aimed to combat the opponents of Islam and foreign influence. . A little later, the Fighters for Islam party arose, whose task was to strengthen the influence of Islam in the socio-political life of the country.
Thus, by the end of World War II, all the political currents that determined the life of the country in the subsequent period were present in Iran.
http://azerhistory.com
NURANI
June 22, 1941 - one of those historical dates, the meaning of which will be clear for a long time without dictionaries and reference books. The memory of the Second World War was present in everything in the USSR, it was part of the official ideology, and with the scale of all this “official memory”, it was difficult to even imagine the astronomical number of “blank spots” and “uncomfortable themes” of the Second World War.
Today, of course, we know much more about the Second World War than during the years of the existence of the USSR. It is officially recognized that our losses have significantly exceeded the textbook 20 million. But the events of the so-called "pre-war period" remain a mystery behind seven seals. And it is somehow strange to think that by that very short summer night of the forty-first year, the second World War already grinded tens of thousands of lives. Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Denmark, Belgium have already been erased from the world map. Drunken SS men were already roaming the Parisian boulevards, and the chimneys of the “death camp” crematorium in Polish Auschwitz were already smoking.
And even more so, Soviet citizens were not allowed to think that not only Germany, but also the USSR hatched expansionist plans for its closest neighbors. Including, or rather, primarily in relation to Turkey.
Today, after the war between the USSR and Nazi Germany, it is difficult to imagine that before June 22, 1941, the political alignment in Europe was completely different. And it was determined to a large extent by the very infamous Ribbentrop-Molotov pact. Which, in fact, turned the USSR and Germany into allies. And this union was not "nominal": according to eyewitnesses, freight trains with bread and other strategic raw materials for Germany crossed the border already a few hours before the war. Hitler’s “blitzkrieg” in Europe was realized on Soviet, that is, mainly Baku, oil, and the idea of \u200b\u200bcapturing or bombing Baku oil fields was discussed in London and Paris in order to deprive Hitler of oil “recharge” from the USSR.
It is known that the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact pushed the mechanism of the annexation of the Baltic countries, the division of Poland between the USSR and Germany, etc. But something else is much less known: those same “secret protocols” also stipulated Soviet expansion to the south. Including in the direction of those same straits of the Bosporus and the Dardanelles.
Soviet historians, including Lev Bezymensky, admit that Stalin was “dissatisfied” with the southern borders of the USSR before the war. And he clearly intended to "fix" them. In his book “Stalin and Hitler before the fight,” Bezymensky points out: “A complex diplomatic game was going on around Turkey in 1940, in which the Axis powers, England, and, of course, the USSR took part. Going to Berlin, Molotov made a serious claim for the satisfaction of his interests in Turkey on the part of Germany: they concerned primarily the straits, but not only them. As is clear from Stalin's additional instructions, Molotov was given the authority to discuss the issue of dividing Turkey.
Perhaps the reports of Soviet intelligence on this matter also played a role. It is not difficult to guess that the prospect of dividing Turkey between Bulgaria (the eastern part, Soviet bases on the strait) and Soviet Union. Stalin's mentality of that time is quite clearly indicated by his words spoken to Dimitrov on November 25, 1940: “We will expel the Turks to Asia. What is Turkey? There are two million Georgians, one and a half million Armenians, one million Kurds, etc. There are only 6-7 million Turks.” Thus, the very fact of the existence of expansionist plans for Turkey, alas, does not cause doubts.
Armed neutrality
In Turkey, however, they were in no hurry to get involved in a European war. The country paid too high a price for participation in the first world war, not without reason believed in Ankara, and Turkey should hardly be in a hurry to get involved in the second. The post of President of Turkey at that time was held by Ismet İnönü. Yusuf Ozturk, a member of the Turkish Parliament from the CHP, said in an interview with Radio Liberty: “Ismet Pasha was a real artist.
“Inenu's mustache is always full of a second meaning,” they said then among the people. He maneuvered as best he could to prevent Turkey from being drawn into the cycle of hostilities. He, like a real artist and diplomat, skillfully negotiated with opponents. He assured the Germans of his eternal friendship and at the same time met with representatives of the allied powers, whom he promised to think about their proposals to join the coalition. He firmly knew that Turkey could perish and be dismembered by the allies.
Turkish historians admit: Ismet Pasha, who took the surname Inenu after the name of the place where the Turkish army under his command utterly defeated the Greek interventionists, brilliantly solved the political task facing him. The Second World War began less than a year after he led the country, but İnönü managed to "keep the balance."
Not without reason, he considered the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact a source of threat to Turkey and managed to conclude agreements with France and England in October of the same year, providing for the provision of economic assistance to Turkey. On March 25, 1941, İnönü signed a non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union, and a few days before the Nazi attack on the USSR, with Germany. Inönü also pursued a balanced policy during the war.
From Stockholm to Istanbul
Perhaps it is difficult to find in the world more dissimilar cities than Stockholm and Istanbul. Heavy Swedish Gothic, familiar to the inhabitants of the post-Soviet space from the architecture of old Tallinn, is so unlike the minarets and domes of Istanbul under the bright southern sky. But there is still a similarity: the narrow tongue of Lake Mälaren and the strait that connects it to the Baltic Sea are somewhat reminiscent of the Bosphorus.
And it is all the more surprising to realize that it was Istanbul and Stockholm during the years of the Second World War that became the centers of that very “intelligence war”, leaving much more “hyped” Switzerland far behind. Sweden and Turkey were neutral states. The embassies of the Axis countries, that is, Germany and its allies - Japan and Italy, and the states anti-Hitler coalition.
The game, as experts admit, was worth the candle. Hitler dreamed of drawing Turkey into the war against the USSR. Everything was used, from allusions to the threat from the USSR to propaganda campaigns with the participation of the Mufti of Jerusalem al-Hosseini, who assured the gullible flock that Hitler had secretly converted to Islam.
Scouts from other countries, including the United States and Great Britain, played their game in Istanbul. And it was in Istanbul that one of the most famous stories in the world of intelligence and counterintelligence. Formally, the capital of Turkey since the proclamation of the republic is Ankara. However, during the Second World War, many embassies had not yet moved to Ankara from the former capital, Istanbul. The British mission was no exception. English Ambassador in Turkey, Sir Netubull Hughessen was afraid of losing the keys to the safe with secret documents, so he left the safe open. And he certainly had no idea that German intelligence crept up to his valet Elyasv Bazny.
In intelligence documents, he was listed under the nickname "Cicero". Bazny skillfully played the stupid servant. And every evening, under the pretext of putting things in order in Sir Hughessen's office, he opened the safe and took out a camera from a bucket, covered with a floor cloth. For each batch of pictures, he received about 15,000 pounds. The total amount was a record - more than 300 thousand pounds. And the documents were worth it - at the end of December 1943, the agent handed over the protocols of the Tehran Conference with the decision of the allies to open a second front in Europe in May-June 1944.
However, the Germans did not take advantage of Cicero's reports, they were afraid of disinformation, they did not believe that an ordinary servant could get such information. And besides, they paid him with counterfeit pounds. No less impressive activity was launched in Turkey by Soviet intelligence. And not always in white gloves. And one of the most high-profile operations of Soviet intelligence in Turkey is the attempt on the life of the German ambassador to this country, von Papen, in 1942.
Bomb for the former chancellor
The popular Istanbul newspaper Milliet described those events as follows: “February 24, 1942. Early in the morning, a bomb exploded on Ataturk Boulevard in Ankara, which tore apart a man holding a bundle in his hands. It is believed that this item was a bomb that went off. The German ambassador and his wife were at a distance of more than ten meters from the place where the explosion occurred. From the impact of the blast wave, they fell to the ground, then rose unharmed and reached the embassy building. An investigation into the circumstances of the explosion has been launched."
And very soon the Turkish police came to the "Russian trail". Many details of that failed terrorist attack can be reconstructed. And, most importantly, to understand why a German diplomat in Ankara was sentenced to death at the Lubyanka. The fact is that the German ambassador Franz von Papen was not just an ambassador. He belonged to an ancient aristocratic family, the origins of which are lost in the centuries. In any case, at the end of the 15th century, his ancestor Wilhelm von Papen was the owner of large estates. In addition, von Papen was considered one of Hitler's close associates. He also had extensive experience in intelligence.
Back in the fall of 1913, the 34-year-old officer of the General Staff von Papen, on the personal instructions of the Kaiser, was appointed military attache to the United States. In 1915 he was expelled from America for espionage. During the First World War, he becomes a close friend of Captain Canaris, the future admiral and leader of the Abwehr. In the early 1930s, von Papen received the post of Vice-Chancellor, then went as ambassador to Austria. He played not the last violin in Hitler's rise to power and in the Anschluss (the peaceful annexation of Austria to Germany). In April 1939, Hitler appointed von Papen as ambassador to Turkey, where he was faced with the task of inciting Ankara to go to war with the USSR.
But very soon von Papen finds himself at the epicenter of a much larger “game”. We are talking about those very attempts to conclude separate peace- Many German oppositionists were looking for "contacts" with the British government, with the US authorities. And in the USSR, this diplomatic "fuss" was followed with understandable anxiety. Scouts and analysts presented their possible options developments - and came to the conclusion that von Papen might be the best candidate for a negotiating partner. The heir to an aristocratic family, he was “his own” both for the Hitlerite elite and for the circles of the army elite opposed to the regime.
And, most importantly, it was not stained with blood. As a result, Papen had to play a triple game in Ankara - the ambassador, the secret envoy of Hitler and the representative of the opposition. The main partners in the game were the American and British ambassadors and the nuncio of the Vatican. Pope Pius XII, like the Fuhrer, sent to Turkey not a simple clergyman, but a talented diplomat and "apparatchik" Giuseppe Roncali. After the war, Roncali will succeed Pius XII and become Pope John XXIII. And this seriously frightened Moscow.
One way or another, in 1942, Vice-Consul of the USSR Pavlov and international journalist Leonid Naumov appeared in Istanbul. They settled on board the Svaneti passenger liner, which was standing in Istanbul, turned into a hotel for "foreign employees". In reality, Pavlov and Naumov were famous terrorists Georgy Mordvinov and Naum Eitingon.
The latter recently returned from Mexico, where he organized the assassination of Leon Trotsky. Initially, the assassination attempt on von Papen was scheduled to take place in the theater. He was supposed to be shot by the Soviet parachutist Muza Malinovskaya. But the plan fell through: Naumov-Eitingon simply fell in love with her and did not take risks. In the end, they decided to use a 26-year-old Bulgarian as a terrorist. It is known that he studied at Istanbul University under the name of the Macedonian Omer.
According to the Soviet version, the Bulgarian fired a pistol perfectly, which was checked by the consulate staff. But they also provided him with a shellless bomb, saying that it was a smoke bomb that would help him escape from the scene of the crime. In reality, this bomb should no longer kill von Papen, but Omer himself.
One way or another, on the evening of February 20, 1942, the Istanbul-Ankara fast train takes Vice-Consul Pavlov and student Omer to the Turkish capital. Coincidentally, the next day, Svaneti raises anchor in the Bosphorus and, together with the "Soviet diplomats", sets off for their homeland. The liner carefully presses against the Turkish coast and only at 12.10 on February 23 moored in the port of Poti, where a cavalcade of black "emoks" awaited it.
After 22 hours, von Papen and his wife were walking along Atatürk Boulevard, heading to the German embassy. He was extremely punctual and showed up on the boulevard at the same time. According to the secret services, the Bulgarian approached the Papenov couple, took out a bomb and a pistol, set the fuse in action - and the "hellish machine" worked in his hands. Only shreds of meat and a shoe on a tree remained from the Bulgarian. The blast wave knocked the Papenov couple off their feet, but the couple escaped with only a slight concussion. A passing motorcyclist stopped. At this moment, Papin, who was lying on the ground, raised his hand, and the motorcyclist began to help him.
And in the USSR, meanwhile, they covered their tracks. "Svaneti", which once delivered Naumov and Pavlov to Istanbul, was converted into an ambulance, but at the same time armed with five 45-mm 21K cannons and two 12.7-mm DShK machine guns. On April 16, 1942, in Sevastopol, 221 wounded, 358 people from the 40th Cavalry Division, 60 residents of the city and 65 pilots who were on their way to receive new aircraft were loaded onto the liner. On the same day at 21.20, the ship, guarded by the destroyer Vigilant, left the harbor and headed for Novorossiysk.
The next day, Svaneti was attacked by He-111 torpedo bombers. Two torpedoes hit the bow of the ship. The liner lost speed and began to sink with a roll to the left side and a trim on the bow. Of the 18 boats on board, only five were launched, three of which were covered by the hull of the sinking ship. People who did not fit in the boats threw themselves overboard in life jackets and without them.
According to one version, cavalrymen jumped onto the deck of the ship, having no idea about the mechanisms for launching boats into the water. They snatched out the checkers and chopped the first blocks (lopar) that came to hand holding the boats, and those, breaking off along with the people, flew overboard, turning over or breaking on the water. After staying afloat for 18 minutes, the Svaneti sank at a depth of 2000 m, dragging people who were swimming nearby into the funnel formed. 753 people died, including 220 wounded and 112 crew members.
When the air raid began, Vigilant abandoned the transport and went beyond the horizon. At the end of the raid, the destroyer returned and began rescuing people. 143 people were rescued, of which 17 died on the deck of the ship from hypothermia in the water. This is how most of the witnesses of the “standing in the Bosphorus” perished.
Irina Lagunina: And at the end of this hour - again about the history of the Second World War. Turkey formally tried to remain neutral. But even on the territory of this state, a battle was unfolding, however, invisible to the eyes of outsiders. Tells our correspondent in Istanbul Elena Solntseva.
Elena Solntseva: Somewhere far away there was a war, but in serene Istanbul everything was as usual - from the "bells" installed on the poles, the song of the rising pop star Musien Senar sounded. On the Bosphorus pier, the fishermen laid out their morning catch: small sweet horse mackerels. The boys dived from the pier in search of mussels, the dukkans opened their shops and, leaving them in the care of underage assistants, went from early morning to a nearby tea house to spend the whole day in political discussions. Military reports were published daily on the pages of newspapers. Everyone was worried about whether Turkey would enter the Second World War, and if this happens, on whose side. About allied relations with Soviet Russia there was no question - communism was more feared than Nazism. In the face of danger from the East, just three days before the start of the war, the Turks signed a non-aggression pact with Hitler. The entry of the country into the war on the side of Germany seemed inevitable. The then President of Turkey, Ismet İnönü, argued that Turkey would remain neutral - participation in the war for Turkey could be deadly. After all, the country has not yet recovered from the First World War. Former politician, representative of the Republican People's Party in the country's parliament, Yusuf Ozturk.
Yusuf Ozturk: Not so long ago, a scandal erupted due to the fact that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan compared the country's second president, Ismet Inenu, with Adolf Hitler. He called him an incompetent politician, but this is far from being the case. Ismet Pasha was a real artist. "Inenu's mustache is always full of a second meaning," they said then among the people. He maneuvered as best he could to prevent Turkey from being drawn into the cycle of hostilities. He, like a real artist and diplomat, skillfully negotiated with opponents. He assured the Germans of his eternal friendship and at the same time met with representatives of the allied powers, whom he promised to think about their proposals to join the coalition. He firmly knew that Turkey could perish and be dismembered by the allies.
Elena Solntseva:
The Turks acted on the principle of "both ours and yours." On the one hand, they secretly helped Jews who were transported from the occupied territories to Turkey, and then - legally or illegally - to Palestine. Turkish diplomat Necdet Kent during the Second World War stopped a train with Jews who were sent to the death camp from Marseilles, where Kent was consul. He stated that 80 people on the train were Turkish citizens. This was not the only time he intervened in the situation. In total, about 100 thousand Jews from Europe passed through Turkey to Palestine, fleeing the Holocaust. Three-quarters of them were rescued by Turkish diplomats.
On the other hand, the Turks in every possible way gratified the Germans, who were met as the dearest guests and rode on yachts along the Bosphorus. “I especially remember a walk on a large yacht along the Sea of Marmara,” writes German intelligence chief Walter Schellenberg in his memoirs. “When we slowly returned to Istanbul, the sky shone with stars full moon. A great banquet was held at night in a beautiful hotel on the seashore; How surprised I was when the Turkish orchestra suddenly started playing German student songs. Many of the Turks present at the banquet had studied at German universities and brought Rhine songs with them. It was strange to hear a song about Roland's bow on a beautiful eastern night near the Golden Horn Bay." Yusuf Ozturk, former representative of the People's Republican Party in Parliament.
Yusuf Ozturk: Social events in those years were held in the Dolma Bakhce Palace, where there was a garden and everything was buried in greenery and flowers. The international "light" gathered there. Enemies met at receptions: representatives of German, British, American intelligence. They smiled at each other, bowed, but did not shake hands.
Elena Solntseva:
The city was filled with foreign spies. In the back streets, narrow cobbled streets of Istanbul, a fierce war of foreign intelligence services, invisible at first glance, was unfolding. English agents were hiding under the black veil of a Muslim woman hurrying to the market, disguised Soviet spies under the code names "Delen", "Dogu", "Balyk", "Dammar", "Dervish" moved around the country in costumes of dervishes. True, there were punctures. Ismail Akhmedov, an experienced liquidator of the NKVD, unexpectedly turned to the Turkish government with a request - to obtain political asylum. "The Tatar decided to go to his own," this is how the Turkish press regarded this step. After the war, he was allowed to leave for the United States, where he decided to stay forever and wrote his memoirs "Escape of a Tatar from the intelligence of the Red Army."
The Germans usually acted under the brand of commercial representatives of firms. Here is what Walter Schelenberg, the head of German intelligence, wrote in his memoirs:
"It was a carpet shop located in the bazaar of Istanbul and outwardly looked like a small, modest shop. But in the back room, which served as a warehouse for goods, when two large piles of carpets were suddenly pushed aside, I saw in front of me a well-equipped room with equipment for transmitting and receiving radio signals. After talking about official business, drinking a lot of thick black coffee, my interlocutors began to receive messages from the radio station. Watching these people at work, I first noticed how eagerly they were engaged in espionage. Outwardly, this organization looked like a trading company that dealt in carpets, old silver and gold.Behind this facade, over time, a wide intelligence network was developed, covering the Middle East, the leaders of which twice or thrice a month contacted the station in Berlin-Lichterfeld by radio.
Elena Solntseva: In 1941, a citizen of the USSR Leonid Naumov arrived in Turkey as an employee of the Soviet trade mission, along with his wife. It was the NKVD agent Naum Isaakovich Eitingon, punishing the sword of Stalin, one of the organizers of the assassination of Trotsky. His fictitious wife was Muza Malinovskaya, a record holder, parachuting instructor, who was compared much later in Turkish sources with the first Turkish pilot, parachutist, Sabiha Gokcen. Muse made dozens of parachute jumps, was popular in the USSR, her photo was published in Soviet newspapers. Malinovskaya successfully played her role: she took French lessons, attended social events in Beyoglu. Her husband collected information about the military intentions of the Turkish government, the actions of Turkish troops near the borders of the Soviet Union and the activity of the Abwehr and the SD in the country, about the connections and contacts of the US and British intelligence with representatives of the Ankara intelligence services and agents of Berlin. Soviet scouts spread misinformation about Soviet command flipped over from Far East to the Caucasus about fifty divisions, which are just waiting for the order to enter Istanbul and nail their shield to the gates of the city. The main task was to convince the Turks that the war on the side of Germany would have ended in tragedy for them. In 1942, intelligence officers organized an assassination attempt on the German ambassador to Turkey, von Papen. Ahmet Korkak, a history teacher at one of the Istanbul schools.
Ahmet Korkak: Franz von Papen, German ambassador to Turkey, representative of an old aristocratic family, one of the most famous spies of the Third Reich. In the past, the German chancellor, he treated Hitler well, helped him come to power. Von Papen actively persuaded the Turks to enter the war on the side of Hitler. According to some reports, von Papen could lead the German government if Hitler was removed from power by Wehrmacht generals. He was extremely dangerous for the Russians.
Elena Solntseva: Here is what the central newspaper Milliet reported about the assassination attempt on the German ambassador: “February 24, 1942. In the early morning, a bomb exploded on Ataturk Boulevard in Ankara, which tore apart a man holding some kind of bundle. It is believed that this object was a bomb " which worked. The German ambassador and his wife were more than ten meters away from the place where the explosion occurred. From the impact of the blast wave, they fell to the ground, then rose unharmed and reached the embassy building. An investigation into the circumstances of the explosion has been launched." Ahmet Korkak continues.
Ahmet Korkak: Turkish police carried out mass arrests. It turned out that the assassin of the ambassador was a Bulgarian named Omer, who was supposed to shoot the ambassador with a pistol and then detonate the device, which, he was told, was not a bomb, but a smoke bomb, which would help him escape. He was nervous, decided to play it safe and at the same time pulled the trigger of the pistol and the fuse of the bomb. Behind him were the Soviet secret services. Two Soviet diplomats were arrested and accused of organizing the failed assassination attempt.
Elena Solntseva:
The Turks gave the Soviet embassy an ultimatum to extradite two employees. Soviet officials initially rejected this demand, but then were forced to agree. At trial, the scouts denied their guilt. The court found them guilty of the crime. The prosecutor demanded death penalty by hanging, but sentenced to 20 years in prison.
An intelligence agent could be a driver, a laundress, a music teacher, a reporter, even an ordinary servant. A large amount - more than 300,000 pounds sterling - was paid in those years in Istanbul to the valet of the British ambassador, who was recruited by German intelligence. It was Elyas Bazny, one of the employees of the British embassy, who delivered photocopies of secret documents to the Germans. For each batch of pictures he received about 15,000 pounds. The British ambassador to Turkey, Sir Netubull Hughessen, was afraid of losing the keys to the safe with secret documents, so he left the safe open. The valet received the code name "Cicero", perhaps because he did not even have a secondary education. Elyas pretended to be a stupid servant, every evening, under the pretext of putting things in order in Sir Hughessen's office, he opened the safe and took out a camera from a bucket, covered with a floor cloth. At the end of December 1943, the agent handed over the minutes of the Tehran Conference with the decision of the Allies to open a second front in Europe in May-June 1944. However, the Germans did not take advantage of Cicero's reports, they were afraid of disinformation, they did not believe that an ordinary servant could get such information. And the British diplomats did not learn anything about the disclosure of secret secrets. After the end of the war, Elyas Bazna freely resigned from the staff of the embassy. He was rewarded for his long and impeccable service. Journalist of the political Internet site Aishe Keman
Aishe Keman: It's funny, but all the hundreds of thousands of pounds sterling received in Istanbul turned out to be counterfeit. The spy was deceived himself. After the war, he sent a request to the government of the Federal Republic of Germany to reimburse the due amount with new marks. He was advised to file a lawsuit against the government of Adolf Hitler. He sued the new government for a long time. For some time he was the owner of the hotel, then, according to rumors, he lost everything and worked as a museum curator in a quiet American town.
Elena Solntseva: During the war, secret Muslim sects became more active, which declared their goal to restore the Islamic caliphate in Turkey. Their representatives made contact with German intelligence, offering informational material. In return for him, the Turks asked for material support for a coup d'état. On behalf of Schellenberg. an Arab information service operated in Istanbul, which cost the Abwehr $5,000 a month. The Germans spread rumors that Hitler had secretly converted to Islam and began to call himself "Haydar". The Fuhrer, they say, preferred Islam, because the whole world was caught in the net of Judaism. German intelligence brilliantly carried out the operation to remove the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Al Husseini, an ardent enemy of England, who managed to escape to Turkey after an unsuccessful coup in Iraq. The operation was carefully concealed from the Turkish police. The Grand Mufti, with his head tied with bandages, was carried in front of the eyes of Turkish border guards and numerous foreign intelligence agents into a plane standing at the ready, like a seriously wounded employee of the German embassy, and sent to Berlin. An employee of the Istanbul mosque Abdurahman Altinkek.
Abdurakhman Altinkek: In the religious environment, Hitler was called the new prophet Muhammad, who came to destroy all religions that were objectionable to Allah. Hitler responded by calling for special trust in Muslims. Cooperation with the politicians of the Arab world allowed the German leadership to get deeply acquainted with the alignment of forces in the Middle East. The Germans obtained valuable information about the movement of ships along the Suez Canal. However, they never managed to realize their dream: to achieve a passage for German submarines through the Bosphorus. On August 2, 1944, Turkey officially severed diplomatic relations with Germany
Elena Solntseva: Not so long ago, sunken German submarines from the Second World War were discovered off the coast of Turkey. According to the Turkish media, these six submarines were sunk in 1944 on the orders of the Nazi command. Turkish researchers managed to find submarine hulls at a distance of 3-5 km from the coast north of Istanbul, they are perfectly preserved boats. In connection with the ban on the passage of German ships through the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles, these boats entered the Black Sea by land. They were first delivered to Romania in parts, from where, already assembled along the Danube River, they entered the Black Sea. After Romania left the Nazi coalition, the submarines were blocked at sea. The captains were ordered to sink the ships, and the crews were ordered to return to Germany by land. All this story was described by the journalist Aishe Keman.
Aishe Keman: The Germans could not move their submarines from the Mediterranean through the Bosporus and Dardanelles. Turkey remained neutral during World War II. Germany was forced to transfer them across Europe. The operation was very labor intensive. The boats were transported on giant platforms. To reduce weight, they removed engines, torpedoes, and other large-sized equipment during shipment, and then put them back.
Elena Solntseva: But for most modern Turks, World War II is still a BLANK spot in history. Only a few pages are devoted to military operations in university textbooks, and even fewer in school books. Many Turks can hardly answer the question of who fought with whom and when, and even more difficult to say how many people died.
TASS-DOSIER /Kirill Titov/. During the Second World War, the government of the Republic of Turkey, while maintaining neutrality, maneuvered between two opposing military blocs - the anti-Hitler coalition and the "axis" countries. Only on February 23, 1945, Turkey sided with the anti-Hitler coalition and declared war on Germany and Japan. In combat Turkish troops did not participate, but her diplomatic position had a significant impact on the position of the warring parties. Turkey controlled the passage of warships through the Bosporus and Dardanelles, linking the Aegean and Black Seas, and also had an army capable of changing the balance of power both in the Mediterranean and in the south of the Soviet-German front.
At the first stage of the war, in 1939-1940, Ankara cooperated with the Anglo-French bloc. Not wanting to strengthen the position of Italy, the Turkish government concluded on October 19, 1939, an agreement on mutual assistance with Great Britain and France.
After the surrender of France in June 1940, Turkey began to move closer to Germany. On June 18, 1941, an agreement "On friendship and non-aggression" was concluded between these states. As part of cooperation with the Third Reich, the Turkish Republic supplied Germany with chrome ore and other strategic raw materials, and also let German and Italian warships through the Bosporus and the Dardanelles.
After the German attack on the USSR, on June 25, 1941, the Turkish government declared its neutrality in the Soviet-German conflict. However, among the Turkish military and politicians, the prospect of participating in the war with the Soviet Union was actively discussed. Several infantry corps (26 divisions) of the Turkish army were stationed on the border with the USSR; in June-July 1942, Turkish troops carried out large-scale maneuvers in the east of the country. As a response, the leadership of the USSR was forced to keep a significant group of troops in the Transcaucasus in case of a war with Turkey. Tensions in the region eased after the encirclement German troops near Stalingrad on November 19, 1942. Convinced of the failure of the German plans to defeat the USSR, the Turkish government again intensified negotiations with the allies. In 1943, Turkish Prime Minister Erdal İnönü met with the head of the British cabinet, Winston Churchill. In an effort to involve Turkish troops in the hostilities against Germany, the United States and Great Britain began supplying modern weapons to Turkey under the Lend-Lease program. Despite this, the Turkish government continued its policy of neutrality and only in August 1944 broke off diplomatic relations with Germany.
The main reason that prompted Turkey to declare war on the Third Reich on February 23, 1945 was one of the key decisions of the Yalta Conference (February 4-11, 1945). In Yalta, the heads of the USSR, Great Britain and the USA agreed that only those states that declare war on Germany before March 1, 1945 will participate in the creation of the United Nations (UN). Thus, neutral countries risked being outside the system international relations, which was built by the victorious powers.
By the end of World War II, one of the main problems for Turkey was to maintain control over the Black Sea straits. The country's leadership feared that the allies could organize international control of the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles. Joining the anti-Hitler coalition allowed Turkey to avoid the landing of foreign troops on its territory and ensure sovereignty over the Black Sea straits.
Simultaneously with the Republic of Turkey in February 1945, a number of Latin American and Middle Eastern states declared war on Germany and its allies. Six countries joined the anti-Hitler coalition South America: Ecuador (February 2), Paraguay (February 9), Peru (February 12), Chile and Uruguay (February 15), Venezuela (February 16). Later, Egypt (February 24), Syria (February 26), Lebanon (February 27) and Saudi Arabia (February 28) declared war on Germany. The armies of all these countries did not take part in the hostilities.
On June 26, 1945, representatives of 50 states founded the United Nations in San Francisco. Among them were all the countries that declared war on Germany in February 1945.
