According to reports in diplomatic circles here, the Commissariat for Foreign Affairs has also requested the Moscow Missions of Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey, and Czechoslovakia to close most of their Consular offices in the Soviet Union.
According to these reports, the closing of three Afghan Consular offices, among them the Consulates General in Tashkent and Merv, has been requested by the Soviet Government, so that there are no more Afghan Consulates left at all in the Soviet Union. Eight Iranian Consular offices, among them the Consulates at Ashkhabad, Erivan, Batum, and Baku, are likewise to be closed; the Soviet authorities stated that of a total of 11 Soviet Consulates in Iran, 10 would also be abolished. Turkey is said to have been requested to abolish 4 of the 5 Consulates at Odessa., Batum, Baku, Erivan, and Leninakan . . . (group missing) ; it has not yet been decided which of the above-named 5 Turkish Consulates is to be maintained. The Soviet Union would retain one Consular representation at Istanbul. Particularly amazing, however, is the report that the closing even of the Czech Consulate General at Kiev, which was established only a year and a half ago as the only Czech Consular office, has been requested by the Soviets, in spite of the close relations between Moscow and Prague.
The request for the closing of a total of 22 Consular agencies in the Soviet Union, including the 5 Italian, 5 German, 2 Japanese, and, 2 Polish Consulates which have already been closed, indicates the systematic endeavor of the Soviet Government to limit its relations with foreign countries as much as possible.
Schule requests that the above report of Moscow D.N.B. representative Schule be transmitted as soon as Possible to the D.N.B. in Berlin.
SCHULENBURG