Signing of the Turkish-German pact, 1941

According to the source, the photograph shows the signing of the Turkish-German “Non-Aggression Pact” on 18 June 1941. Men in suits sit around a table covered with papers, and one of them stands reading a document. Parts of flags are visible on the wall: one bears a swastika, the other a star.

According to the source, during the war years Turkey actively cooperated with Nazi Germany but never entered the war against the USSR, taking advantage of the contradictions between the diplomacies of the Soviet Union, Germany and Great Britain. In 1941–1942, 50 Turkish divisions (about 700,000 soldiers) were concentrated on the borders of Soviet Armenia, waiting for the defeat of the Soviet army on the Volga.