Internationalism, Diplomacy and the Revolutionary Origins of the Middle East's ‘Northern Tier’

Abstract

Through bilateral treaties between Moscow, Ankara, Tehran and Kabul, revolutionary diplomacy shaped the ‘Northern Tier’ of the Middle East in the early 1920s. This article argues that the infamous Young Turk leaders, though in exile after the First World War, remained at the centre of a significant moment in transnational revolutionary diplomacy in Eurasia. Based on a hitherto underutilised collection of published and unpublished private papers in juxtaposition with other archival sources, this article illustrates the working of a dual process of internationalism. While campaigning for Muslim internationalism, the Young Turk leaders were able to partake in international politics, but ironically reduced their own legitimacy and capacity as non-state actors by championing revolutionary bilateralism between Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan and Soviet Russia.

Petitions, Propaganda, and Plots: Transnational Dynamics of Diplomacy During the Turkish War of Independence

“…74 Meanwhile, Cemal Pasha went from Moscow to Kabul where he lobbied for the Soviet-Afghan and Turco-Afghan treaties of friendship signed in February and March 1921. 75 Hence, the initial international recognition of the Ankara government took place not through the channels of imperial diplomacy in Europe but through the alternative channels of revolutionary diplomacy in Eurasia, in which the transgressions of informal agents, like Enver and Cemal, played a key role as unofficial mediators and lobbyists. In doing so, the Unionist leaders were not only motivated by selfless patriotism but ambitiously envisioned themselves commanding a united front of Muslim countries-Turkey, Iran, and Afghanistan-that were allied with Soviet Russia in a revolutionary-military offensive against the British in the Middle East and South Asia.…”