The Azerbaijan–Turkey border ( az, Azərbaycan–Türkiyə sərhədi, tr, Azerbaycan–Türkiye sınırı) is a short long

international border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...

between the

Republic of Azerbaijan A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th ...

and the Republic of Turkey. The border is located at the southeastern tip of the

Iğdır Province Iğdır Province ( tr, Iğdır ili, ku, Parêzgeha Îdirê, , ) is a province in eastern Turkey, located along the borders with Armenia, Azerbaijan (the area of Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic), and Iran. Its adjacent provinces are Kars to the nor ...

on the Turkish side and at the northwestern tip of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic (Nakhijevan in Armenian) on the Azerbaijani side; running entirely along the

Aras river , az, Araz, fa, ارس, tr, Aras The Aras (also known as the Araks, Arax, Araxes, or Araz) is a river in the Caucasus. It rises in eastern Turkey and flows along the borders between Turkey and Armenia, between Turkey and the Nakhchivan excl ...

, it is the shortest border for both countries.

Geography

The

marks the border for its entire length. The land in the immediate vicinity is flat and undeveloped, with the exception of a four-lane highway and two customs checkpoints. The nearest settlement is the village of Sədərək, located approximately east on the Azerbaijani side, while the nearest settlement on the Turkish side is the village of Dilucu, located approximately northwest.

History

During the 19th century the Caucasus region was contested between the declining

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

, which was expanding southwards. Russia had conquered most of Persia's Caucasian lands by 1828 and then turned its attention to the Ottoman Empire. With the 1829 Treaty of Adrianople (ending the Russo-Turkish War of 1828-29), by which Russia gained most of modern Georgia, the Ottomans recognised Russian suzerainty over Eastern Armenia. By the

Treaty of San Stefano The 1878 Treaty of San Stefano (russian: Сан-Стефанский мир; Peace of San-Stefano, ; Peace treaty of San-Stefano, or ) was a treaty between the Russian and Ottoman empires at the conclusion of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-18 ...

, ending the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878), Russia gained considerable land in what is now eastern Turkey (termed

Western Armenia Western Armenia (Western Armenian: Արեւմտեան Հայաստան, ''Arevmdian Hayasdan'') is a term to refer to the eastern parts of Turkey (formerly the Ottoman Empire) that are part of the historical homeland of the Armenians. Weste ...

), extending the Ottoman-Russian frontier south-westwards. Russia's gains of

Batumi Batumi (; ka, ბათუმი ) is the second largest city of Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, located on the coast of the Black Sea in Georgia's southwest. It is situated in a subtropical zone at the foot of t ...

, Kars and

Ardahan Ardahan (, ka, არტაანი, tr, hy, Արդահան, translit=Ardahan Russian: Ардаган) is a city in northeastern Turkey, near the Georgian border. It is the capital of Ardahan Province. History Ancient and medieval Ardaha ...

were confirmed by the

Treaty of Berlin (1878) The Treaty of Berlin (formally the Treaty between Austria-Hungary, France, Germany, Great Britain and Ireland, Italy, Russia, and the Ottoman Empire for the Settlement of Affairs in the East) was signed on 13 July 1878. In the aftermath of the ...

, though it was compelled to hand back part of the area around Bayazid (modern

Doğubayazıt Doğubayazıt ( ku, Bazîd, ) is a district of Ağrı Province of Turkey, and it is the easternmost district of Turkey, lying near the border with Iran. Its elevation is 1625m and its area is 2,383 km². Doğubayazıt's population in 2010 was 115 ...

) and the

Eleşkirt Eleşkirt ( ku, Zêdikan) is a town and district of Ağrı Province in Turkey. Its name is a transference from Alashkert ( hy, Ալաշկերտ, translit=Alaškert), the valley's former administrative centre but now a village known as Toprakkale. ...

valley. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Russia invaded the eastern areas of the Ottoman Empire. In the chaos following the 1917 Russian Revolution the new Communist government hastily sought to end its involvement in the war and signed the

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (also known as the Treaty of Brest in Russia) was a separate peace treaty signed on 3 March 1918 between Russia and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire), that ended Russia's ...

in 1918 with Germany and the Ottoman Empire. By this treaty, Russia handed back the areas gained by the earlier Treaties of San Stefano and Berlin. Seeking to gain independence from both empires, the peoples of the southern Caucasus had declared the

Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic The Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic (TDFR; (), (). 22 April – 28 May 1918) was a short-lived state in the Caucasus that included most of the territory of the present-day Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, as well as pa ...

in 1918 and started

peace talks A peace process is the set of sociopolitical negotiations, agreements and actions that aim to solve a specific armed conflict. Definitions Prior to an armed conflict occurring, peace processes can include the prevention of an intra-state or in ...

with the Ottomans. (Armenian Perspective) (Turkish Perspective) Internal disagreements led to

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

leaving the federation in May 1918, followed shortly thereafter by

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ' ...

and

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of t ...

. With the Ottomans having invaded the Caucasus and quickly gained ground, the three new republics were compelled to sign the

Treaty of Batum The Treaty of Batum was signed in Batum on 4 June 1918, between the Ottoman Empire and the three Transcaucasian states: the First Republic of Armenia, the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and the Democratic Republic of Georgia. It was the first ...

on 4 June 1918, by which they recognised the pre-1878 border. With the Ottoman Empire defeated in Europe and Arabia, the Allied powers planned to partition it via the 1920

Treaty of Sèvres The Treaty of Sèvres (french: Traité de Sèvres) was a 1920 treaty signed between the Allies of World War I and the Ottoman Empire. The treaty ceded large parts of Ottoman territory to France, the United Kingdom, Greece and Italy, as well ...

. Turkish nationalists were outraged at the treaty, contributing to the outbreak the

Turkish War of Independence The Turkish War of Independence "War of Liberation", also known figuratively as ''İstiklâl Harbi'' "Independence War" or ''Millî Mücadele'' "National Struggle" (19 May 1919 – 24 July 1923) was a series of military campaigns waged by th ...

; the Turkish success in this conflict rendered Sèvres obsolete. Ottoman gains in Armenia were consolidated by the Treaty of Aleksandropol (1920). Armenia and Azerbaijan had fought for control of Nakhchivan, with Azerbaijan backing the pro-Azeri

Republic of Aras The Republic of Aras ( az, Araz Respublikası; also known as the Republic of Araks or the Araxi Republic) was a short-lived and unrecognized state in the South Caucasus, roughly corresponding with the territory that is now the Nakhchivan Autonomo ...

. The dispute was rendered moot when, in 1920, Russia's

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...

invaded Azerbaijan and Armenia, ending the independence of both. In order to avoid an all-out Russo-Turkish war the two nations signed the Treaty of Moscow in March 1921, which created a modified Soviet-Ottoman border, granting Turkey a short strip of land connecting it to Nakhchivan. Nakhchivan itself was confirmed as an autonomous region of Azerbaijan 1924. However further fighting took place on the ground and the talks stalled; the treaty's provisions were later confirmed by the

Treaty of Kars The Treaty of Kars ( tr, Kars Antlaşması, rus, Карсский договор, Karskii dogovor, ka, ყარსის ხელშეკრულება, hy, Կարսի պայմանագիր, az, Qars müqaviləsi) was a treaty that est ...

of October 1921, finalising what is now the Azerbaijan-Turkey border at its current position The border was then demarcated on the ground in March 1925-July 1926 by a joint Soviet-Turkish commission. Turkey's independence had been recognised by the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne. Azerbaijan was initially incorporated along with Armenia and Georgia in the

Transcaucasian SFSR , conventional_long_name = Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic , common_name = Transcaucasian SFSR , p1 = Armenian Soviet Socialist RepublicArmenian SSR , flag_p1 = Flag of SSRA ...

within the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

, before being split off as the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic in 1936. The Kars Treaty border remained, despite occasional Soviet protests that it should be amended, notably in 1945. Turkey, backed by the US, refused to discuss the matter, and the Soviets, seeking better relations with their southern neighbour, dropped the issue. Following the collapse of the USSR in 1991 Azerbaijan gained independence and inherited its section of the Turkey-USSR border.

Border crossings

There is only one crossing of the border. The Umut Bridge carries the D.080/ M7 highways across the Aras river. Plans for a railway into Nakhchivan from Turkey have been presented by the Turkish government since 2012, but no action was taken.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Azerbaijan-Turkey border 1921 establishments in Azerbaijan 1921 establishments in the Ottoman Empire 1921 in international relations Azerbaijan–Turkey relations Geography of Iğdır Province Borders of Azerbaijan Borders of Turkey International borders

Geography

History

Border crossings

See also

References