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PUBLISHED DATE: - 14-07-2024
https://doi.org/10.37547/tajpslc/Volume06Issue07-04
PAGE NO.: - 13-17
EVOLUTION OF AFGHAN-TURKISH
RELATIONS IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE
20TH CENTURY
Aziz Fayzullaev
Researcher, Tashkent State University of Oriental Studies, Uzbekistan
INTRODUCTION
The 20th century was a time when the ideas of
national liberation spread widely in different
regions of the world, and the processes of striving
for independence intensified. As a result, the
colonial system weakened and national states
began to form. In Muslim countries, in the first
quarter of this century, several countries reached a
new stage in the processes of statehood. Great
Britain, which was considered the most powerful
empire during this period, began to separate from
its colonies and colonial influence due to the First
World War. The issue of his sphere of influence in
Afghanistan was also resolved. In this situation,
social thought developed in Turkey and advanced
views spread widely. People of the Eastern world,
especially Turkestan and neighboring Afghanistan,
accepted their ideas of modernism with the help of
the "Young Turks" organization and government
established in this country[1;498]. It was this
movement that became the ideological force of
national liberation movements in Central and
South Asia and North Africa. In this way, the
cooperation relations between Afghanistan and
Turkey, which are in similar situations in the
conditions of complex, conflicting and rapidly
changing international relations, began to develop
in a new way.
In 1921, Turkey-Afghanistan friendship and
cooperation
agreement
was
signed
in
Moscow[2;103]. The Afghan people have taken a
special place in the heart of the Turkish nation as a
brotherly country due to their support for the
Turkish War of Independence, which has not yet
ended. In the same way, Afghanistan took a model
of the Turkish modernization model during the
reign of Amonullah Khan, and Mustafa Kemal
Atatürk became the true inspiration of the new
Afghan state[3;153]. During this period, the
Turkish model of development was the most
attractive program for many Muslim countries in
the East. In addition, the Russian government led
by the Bolsheviks did not object to Turkestan
educators studying young people from foreign
countries only in Turkey. This was one of the main
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Open Access
Abstract
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reasons for the development of relations with
Turkey.
METHODS
It is obvious that the relations between Afghanistan
and Turkey intensified at the beginning of the 20th
century. At the invitation of the king of that time,
Habibullah Khan (1901-1919), Turkish delegations
consisting of healthcare and education experts
visited Afghanistan and made a great contribution
to the organization of work in these areas. A
number of educational and medical institutions
were built, repaired and commissioned by Turkish
specialists. For example, the first modern state
hospital in the history of Afghanistan was built in
1912 with the help of Turkish specialists[4;126].
Official diplomatic relations between the two
countries were established on March 1, 1921 on the
basis of the Afghanistan-Turkey Treaty of
Friendship and Cooperation. The relations
between these two countries have always been
friendly due to the common culture, historical
proximity, and especially the presence of a large
number of Turkic tribes in Afghanistan. These close
relations started during Atatürk's foreign policy,
when he paid special attention to Afghanistan.
The sending of Fakri Pasha, the famous defender of
Medina, as the first ambassador to Afghanistan
during the First World War is a vivid example of
Turkey's high level of attention to bilateral
relations[5]. The first diplomatic mission
established in Afghanistan belonged to Turkey. On
June 10, 1921, Mustafa Kamal personally attended
the opening ceremony of the Afghan embassy in
Ankara and raised the flag at the entrance of the
embassy. Members of the Council of Ministers,
deputies and employees of the Embassy of Soviet
Russia also took part in the ceremony. By
participating in this ceremony, Mustafa Kemal
Pasha demonstrated once again that he attaches
great importance to Turkish-Afghan relations. On
March 1, 1922, in order to further strengthen the
relations between the two countries, such an
important person as Fahrettin Pasha (Lieutenant-
General Fahrettin Turkkan) was appointed as
ambassador and extraordinary representative in
Kabul[6;16].
The victory of the Turkish army in a decisive battle
with the Greeks on August 30, 1922 was warmly
welcomed in Afghanistan. This success was greeted
as a national holiday in the country, and King
Amonullah Khan celebrated the Turkish victory
with a banquet in his palace on the evening of
October 10, 1922. The announcement of the
Republic in Turkey caused great satisfaction in
Afghanistan as well. Describing this independence,
Amonullah Khan said: "The star of the republic,
born for the first time in the Islamic world, will
enlighten all the Islamic nations on earth."
RESULTS
As mentioned above, at the beginning of the 20th
century, national liberation movements began in
the Eastern world. In the relations between
Afghanistan and Turkey during this period, the
issue of the people of Turkestan under the
oppression of the Soviet state was also on the
agenda. Against the harsh treatment of the Central
Asian immigrants who went to Afghanistan in the
1920s and 1930s, under the pressure of the Soviet
state, Mustafo Kamal invited the Afghan
ambassador to the Republic of Turkey, Faiz
Muhammad Khan, to his presence and said: "If
there is a place for Muslim immigrants from
Turkestan in your country, "if not, hand them over
to us!", it is not for nothing. This shows that Turkey
has strong positions on the integration of Turkic
nations in the early years of the Republic's
administration. The above thoughts were also
reflected in the book "Memories" of our late
compatriot Said Mubashshirkhan Kosani, an
immigrant Uzbek. Or, on the initiative of Mustafa
Kemal, in the 1930s, "the Turkish government
invited Turkish-speaking peoples living in many
countries to their country and gave them property
and livestock at a low price." shows.
Although there were no drastic changes in the
dynamics of relations between the two countries
between 1923 and 1928, the modernization steps
of the Turks had a close impact on Afghanistan, and
Amonullah Khan and his wife Queen Suraiya visited
Turkey in May 1928 and were the guests of
President Mustafa Kemal. This visit is the first state
visit to the Republic of Turkey. According to
Turkish historian Seljuk Jolakoğlu, Mustafa Kema
l
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never visited foreign countries during his
presidency. In turn, no state president came to
Ankara. King of Afghanistan Amonullah Khan was
specially welcomed as the first and only head of
state who officially visited Turkey during Ataturk's
time[7;76]. At that time, as the only independent
Muslim countries, Afghan-Turkish relations played
an important role in the system of international
relations of that time.
During Amonullah Khan's visit to Turkey, on May
25, 1928, the "Turkish-Afghanistan Treaty of
Friendship and Cooperation" was signed in Ankara.
This agreement aims to bring the relations
between the two countries to a higher
level[8;191,192]. The first concrete result of the
agreement was the elevation of the representative
offices in the two countries to the level of
embassies. On May 20, 1928, the Vakit newspaper
reported about Amonullah Khan's arrival in
Istanbul: "Yesterday, the brother ruler of
Afghanistan came to our city. And the people of
Istanbul welcomed them with surprise. His
Highness Emanullah Khan: "O Turks, you are the
apple of our eye. I am very happy to be here, in the
country of our brotherly people. I greet you with
respect and love. Afghans are your brothers. "I send
you greetings from all my people[9]" The Afghan
ruler was greatly impressed by the reforms being
carried out in modern Turkey, and he wanted to
implement them in his country. Amonullah Khan's
visit to support and contribute to Afghanistan's
efforts to develop and modernize the education
system was met with great interest and friendship,
and relations between the two countries rose to the
highest level. But Amonullah Khan did not have
enough funds for qualified personnel and reforms.
He tried to buy a lot of planes and build factories
for his country, and made an already troubled
Afghanistan even worse financially. Also, the fact
that the situation in Afghanistan and Turkey is
different and the situation in Afghanistan is not
sufficiently positive was not taken into account,
which caused the above negative events. When
embarking on reforms, Amonullah Khan ignored
Atatürk's friendly advice to be careful, forgot the
great gap between the reforms he wanted to
implement and the opportunities he had, and did
things that could lead to big problems in a tense
situation. increased. To make things even more
difficult, he tried practices that were not practiced
even in Turkey, such as removing women's burqas.
Finally, on the initiative of mullahs and foreign
emissaries, a tribal uprising broke out in
Afghanistan in mid-November 1928. The goal was
to overthrow the king, who was declared a
"heretic". Turkey sent an important delegation led
by Kazim Pasha (Orbay) to Afghanistan to protect
Omanullah Khan[10;93]. A day after the arrival of
the delegation, Amonullah Khan fled to Kandahar.
Bacha-e Saqo (Habibulla Qalaqani) took power.
Turkey did not recognize this government, but
during this period Turkey was one of the few
countries that maintained its mandate and
embassy in Kabul. However, during this period,
Afghan students were sent back from Turkey, and
in turn, Turkish military advisers were forced to
leave
Afghanistan.
Habibullah's
successor,
Nadirshah Amonullah, tried to restore the level of
Afghan-Turkish relations that had been achieved
during the reign of Amonullah. Turkey continued to
send specialists in various fields to Afghanistan.
DISCUSSION
Zahirshah, who ascended the throne at the age of
18, remained in power for 40 years between 1933
and 1973. Atatürk congratulated the new king, who
expressed his desire to develop friendly relations
with Afghanistan. Also, Turkey continued to
actively support Afghanistan's actions in the
regional and international arena. For example,
Turkey acted as a mediator in regulating relations
between Iran and Afghanistan. For a long time, the
border problems in Hashtadan and Seistan, which
are the borders of Iran and Afghanistan, have been
unresolved. In May 1934, it was decided to submit
the long-standing border dispute between
Afghanistan and Iran to arbitration, and Turkey
was chosen as the arbitrator for both countries.
According to Atatürk's order, as a result of
Fahrettin
Altai
Pasha's
arbitration
and
investigation, the 300 km border between Iran and
Afghanistan, which had not been marked for more
than 1000 years, was demarcated. This event
clearly shows the degree to which Turkey began to
show interest in this region in the context of
international relations in the 30s of the 20th
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century. Under these conditions, Afghanistan
joined the League of Nations on September 27,
1934 at the initiative and invitation of Turkey, and
now Afghanistan has become a full-fledged subject
of international relations. Also, in 1937, a pact was
signed between Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan
to establish an international organization, and
Atatürk and Zahirshah warmly congratulated each
other on this occasion. Thus, the Saadabad Pact was
the first experience of Afghanistan's participation
in a regional organization. This pact aims to ensure
security in the Middle East in addition to the
guarantees provided for in the League of Nations
agreement. In a word, Turkey has made a great
contribution to the activity of Afghanistan as an
equal member in international and regional
processes.
Turkey continued to increase its aid to Afghanistan
in the 1930s, giving particular priority to the
development of the training and education system.
Many young Afghans were given scholarships and
studied at Turkish lyceums and faculties. In
addition, educational institutions were established
in Afghanistan, teachers and professors were sent,
and Afghans began teaching in their own countries.
Meanwhile, Afghan students who graduated from
high school preferred to continue their studies in
military,
medical,
law
and
construction
departments in Turkey.
Ataturk's death in 1938 caused deep grief in
Afghanistan. Turkish historian Bilal Shimshir in his
book "Atatürk and Afghanistan" quotes the
following about this: "During nearly twenty years
of Turkish-Afghan relations, kings, dynasties and
governments have changed in Afghanistan, but
Turkey's relations with Afghanistan the policy of
friendship and fraternity has not changed. No
matter how the kings and rulers of Afghanistan
observed mutual conflicts and struggles for the
throne, they believed in Atatürk's Turkey and had
high hopes for it. "Turkey fought for Afghanistan to
remain independent and free, to develop and rise,
and to take a place among civilized
countries"[11;350].
The biggest event in the international relations of
this period was the Second World War, and
Afghanistan declared its neutrality in this conflict
situation as in the First World War and did not
come close to any of the warring parties. The
changed political conditions after the Second
World War forced Turkey to conclude new
international agreements, and relations between
the two countries weakened considerably, as
Afghanistan followed a policy of neutrality during
this period[12;82]. At the end of the war, the
greatest heroism was performed by the USSR, but
in the background of the events, the United States
of America began to appear as a new world leader.
This country's assistance to developing countries
has attracted the attention of Afghan officials and
intellectuals. The rulers of Afghanistan wanted to
improve their relations with this new great country
and benefit from it, and they achieved it in a short
time. Turkey, becoming the only member of NATO,
began to provide a lot of support to Afghanistan in
international affairs. As a result, Afghanistan
received a very good loan from America. With this
loan, a new economic development began in the
country through American firms and technicians.
However, this movement of development, which
started in Afghanistan, stopped after the British
realized that they could no longer take away the
independence and freedom of the various peoples
under their rule, and decided to recognize the
independence of these peoples. On February 20,
1947, after three centuries of exploitation, the
British decided to withdraw from India and
announced in a declaration that they would allow
the Muslim population to form a state. After that,
the Afghan government appealed to the British to
allow the remaining Afghan tribes on the Indian
side of the Durand Line to unite with their brothers
in Afghanistan. However, this demand was rejected
at first, and then, on the basis of a plebiscite, the
people of the region announced that they had
chosen Pakistan, which had just emerged as a
Muslim state. This situation and the subsequent
events caused great unrest between Afghanistan
and Pakistan. America offered to mediate between
these two anti-Soviet governments. However, this
proposal was rejected by Pakistan. America offered
mediation to Turkey, which is a friend of both sides
and has resolved the Afghanistan-Iran and Iran-
Iraq conflicts in the past.
CONCLUSION
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In conclusion, it can be said that the formation and
development of cooperation relations between
Afghanistan and Turkey coincided with the period
of unique historical processes. The Republic of
Turkey became an ideological and cultural leader
for the modernism of the first independent state of
Afghanistan. During this period, the specialists sent
from Turkey paved the way for the guidance of
Afghanistan in technological, military, healthcare,
education and other fields.
Turkey has a great contribution in Afghanistan
signing a number of regional and international
documents and becoming a full-fledged subject of
international relations. Afghanistan's accession to
the League of Nations in 1934 or Afghanistan's
invitation to the Saadabad Pact for the Middle East
in 1937 was a direct result of Turkey's invitations.
In a word, Turkey played the role of a gateway to
Afghanistan's integration into the world
community.
After World War II, due to changes in Turkey's
foreign policy, Afghanistan became closer to the
USSR, and this rapprochement ended with the
intervention of Soviet troops in Afghanistan in
1979. Turkey expressed its dissatisfaction with
these events. During the years when the Soviet
troops were in Afghanistan, the relations between
the two countries stopped growing. However,
Turkey continued to use ethnic Turkic nationalities
in Afghanistan. General Abdurashid Dostum
appeared as one such person.
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