Abkhazian Communists in Turkey in the Late 1920 and Early 1921

Türkçe Tercüme

A crowded group of Bolsheviks from Abkhazia, led by Efrem Eshba and Nestor Lakoba, visited Turkey at the end of 1920 as representatives of the Abkhaz Soviet Socialist Republic.  After arriving through Trabzon on December 17, 1920, they stayed in British-occupied Istanbul until January 27, 1921, and witnessed a crumbling empire. Then they traveled through Anatolia and met with the leaders of the Ankara government.  They aimed to perceive whether Turkey was suitable for the Soviet orbit and to gain supporters for revolutionary Bolshevik ideologies among the North Caucasian emigrants in Turkey.  Suleiman Bganba, a well-known public figure of the North Caucasian emigration, was one of the commanders of the Sukhum detachment that landed in Ochamchira in 1918 and was rescued from the Georgian Mensheviks by the Abkhazian Bolsheviks.  Bganba did not forget about the favor of his fellow Bolsheviks. During their stay in Turkey, he arranged meetings for the Abkhazian Bolsheviks with prominent figures, including Mustafa Kemal and leaders of the North Caucasian emigration.  To date, there is no indication in the archival records that Lakoba and Eshba met with Ethem Bey, although Ethem Bey, whose Bolshevik tendencies were well known to everyone, was perhaps the most important person with whom the Abkhazian Bolsheviks would have been eager to meet in Turkey. However, whether it was a coincidence or not, the timing coincided with Ethem Bey's liquidation. Ethem Bey demobilized his forces on January 28, 1921, and crossed to Greece via Izmir, after nineteen months of medical treatment in Athens, he left for Germany in November 1922.
Lakoba and Eshba were unsatisfied with their meeting with Bekir Sami Kundukh. Bekir Sami Kundukh argued that communist policy did not fit into reality. Forget independence, Muslims and non-Russian peoples could not even gain decent autonomy.  He asked Eshba why Stalin had separated Dagestan from Terek and complained that a person like Ordzhonikidze had been determining the Soviet Caucasus policy.  Efrem Eshba, on the other hand, stated that a centralized policy on autonomy was being pursued due to the need for a centralized army and that as enemies were eliminated, significant steps would be taken on the self-determination of nations.
In their reports to the headquarters of the Russian Communist Party, Lakoba and Eshba stated that in all other meetings they had held, they were convinced that the conditions were favorable for Turkey to become part of the Soviet Union.  Lakoba allegorized Mustafa Kemal to a merchant-minded politician and stated that he was trying to play the Entente and the Soviets off against each other, trying to get rid of both of them, like killing two birds with one stone only.
In the attached 70 pages of Russian archive documents you will find the entire secret report to the Politburo of the Soviet Communist Party on the activities and impressions of Lakoba and Eshba in Turkey.

Cem Kumuk
Istanbul, 13 September 2024