In the fall of 1918, at the demand of the Allies, the Ottoman armies had vacated the Transcaucasus. The British forces, under the command of General William Thomson entered Baku directly from Persia. The remnants of the Ottoman forces assimilated into Azerbaijan’s army and continued to stay in Yelizavetpol province, of which Karabagh [Artsakh] was also a part.
Up until the October Revolution in 1917, the Russian temporary government’s authority over Karabagh was through the Ozakom. MikayelGharabekyan, a native of Shushi, was sent on a mission from Tiflis as the Ozakom representative. Apart from the occasional attacks by bandits, relations between Armenians and Tatars proceeded cordially. In 1918, they had formed a joint committee, choosing seven Armenian and seven Tatar members, havingentrusted the position of president to someone who was neutral.
The Armenian-Tatar calm continued for several months, until the summer of 1918, when the forces of the Army of Islam under the leadership of Nuri Pasha entered the Caucasus. An Ottoman brigade made its way from Yevlakh towards Shushi, bombing and disarming Armenian villages on its way. At the same time, Gharaghishlagh, a large Armenian village which lay on the road going from Sushi to Zangezur, was attacked and destroyed.
When, towards the end of May 1918, the three republics of the Transcaucasus were proclaimed in Tiflis, the Tatar government declared the provinces of Baku and Yelizavetpol to be within the territoryof newly-created Azerbaijan, while trying to establish control over Karabagh and Zangezur with the aid of the Ottoman forces. At the First Assembly of Karabagh Armenians on July 22-24,it was unanimously decided that Karabagh is a part of Armenia. The conference also elected a local government which was to govern Karabagh until it united with Armenia. This government was headed by the Dashnakist Yeghishe Ishkhanyan.
However, in the beginning of September, the Ottoman and Tatar forces sent an ultimatum to the Karabagh government, demanding that they lay down their arms, show no resistance to the Ottoman forces, allow free access to Shushi, and recognise Azerbaijan’s hegemony. At the Second Assembly of Karabagh Armenians, in mid-September, the government was re-named the National Council of Karabagh. The ultimatum was rejected. But a few days later the National Council, in a separate session, decided “to recognise the hegemony of Azerbaijan as the Karabagh issue was to be decided at the Constantinople conference; to ostensibly lay down weapons, handing in the people’s old, useless ones; to allow one Turkish battalion into Shushi; and to invite local Turkish representatives into the structure of the government.”
When the tragic fate of the Armenians of Baku became known in Karabagh, many leaders despaired. The mayor of Shushi, Gerasim Melik-Shahnazaryan, and influential spokesmen of the commercial classes now urged the Third Assembly of Karabagh Armenians, held on October 1-5, 1918, to yield in order to avert an otherwise inevitable massacre. At long last, as nearly 5,000 Turkish troops ascended through the pass of Askeran, the Third Assembly complied with the ultimatum and opened the way to the heartland of Karabagh. On October 8 (September 25 by the old calendar), Jemil Javid Bey and Azerbaijan’s representative, Ismail Khan Ziatkhanov, led the Turkish units into Shushi. The Ottoman military authorities promised peace and justice to the Armenian inhabitants, but they had been in Shushi less than a week when they arrested some sixty civic leaders and intellectuals, installed gallows in the central square, and disarmed thetownsfolk.
Jemil Javid Bey demanded that Armenians hand in their weapons and declare themselves subject to Azerbaijan. At that time, Nuri Pasha arrived in Aghdam, bringing with him two influential people with him from Ganja – Sergey Ter-Israelyan, representative of the local Armenian leadership, and the priest Levon. They were to call on and convince the Armenians not to raise arms against the Turkish-Tatar forces, but rather settle issues on the basis of mutual agreement, in order “not to also endanger the life and property of the Armenians in Gandzak and its mountainous regions.”
The Turks entered Shushi without a fight and disarmed the Armenians. When the Turks were transporting the confiscated arms, the Armenians attacked and seized them. As a result, the Turks hanged three Armenians. Arrests followed the disarming and numerous Armenians were imprisoned. Even though Shushi obeyed, the Armenian villages of Khachen, Jraberd, Varanda, and Dizak continued to resist by rejecting the jurisdiction of the Ottomans and Tatars. In October 1918, a Turkish military unit, headed by local Muslims and several Armenians traitors, entered the Msmna village near Varanda. The Armenians, led by Sokrat Melik-Shahnazaryan, resisted and destroyed the 300-strong Turkish detachment.
Azerbaijan’s aim was to disarm and capture Karabakh. Khalil Pasha had set out for Shushi in 1920 in order to help the Tatars.
In 1919, although the Ottoman Empire was in its death-throes, although it was crushed and shattered, it was nevertheless holding on to the whole of Western Armenia. It is true that, at Britain’s demand, it had vacated the Transcaucasus, but its reputation was still great in Dagestan and in particular in Azerbaijan. The first country was in fact being governed through Kâzim Bey and the second, although it had a Musavat government, was in fact governed by both the moral and physical powers of NuriPasha. The self-governing regions or those rebelling against the Armenian government were in fact under the control of Turkish delegates and officers and that too, not in the name of the Ottoman Empire, but of Azerbaijan. The defeated Ottoman Empire still showed such power that it surpassed that of the newly-created Republic of Armenia.
Meetings with Murderers
From June to November 1918, the Armenian delegation in Constantinople was trying to amend the humiliating Treaty of Batum. However, the months that followed were no less humiliating, when the Armenian delegation (Aharonyan, Papajanyan, and Khatisyan) spent time in Constantinople and had to conduct negotiations with the murderers of Armenians. Until the end of World War I, the Ottoman Empire was in the hands of the Pashas Enver, Talât, and Cemal.
At the end of June, a conference was to have begun in Constantinople with the participation of Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria.The Transcaucasian republics had also been invited.
The Ottoman government had promised to the Caucasian states to assist in reconciliation with her other allies – Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Bulgaria. Both to discuss the details of this subject and to solve problems amongthe Georgians, the Azerbaijanis, and the Armenians, convening a conference in Istanbul was accepted.
The Armenians side was under the impression that Germany wanted to review the Batum treaty according to the Brest-Litovsk provisions. The delegation, which had left for Constantinople, was instructed not to spare any efforts in order to expand Armenia’s borders. They stayed in Constantinople for more than four months, until November, and, according to Khatisyan, “tried to prove our incontestable rights to Akhalkalak, Lori, Zangezur, Karabakh and Nakhijevan, over which our Caucasian neighbours were laying claim.”
The Armenian delegation, together with a Georgian mission led by Gegechkori, arrived in Constantinople on June 18. They were soon joined by North Caucasus and Azerbaijani representatives who had also come to the conference to revise the Batum treaties. “The Turks were well aware of our plans and aims, but they did not want the existence of a viable Armenia. They were against uniting Karabakh and Zangezur with Armenia, because they wanted to keep their road towards Baku open,” wrote Khatisyan. “They were against Akhalkalak and Lori being handed to us, because they wanted to keep the road towards Kazakh and Gandzak open. When we presented our map with the borders drawn to the Turks, we saw that the Azerbaijanis and Georgians had also included a string of Armenian lands within their borders. A dangerous internal conflict was arising which later resulted in Armenian-Georgian and Armenian-Azerbaijani clashes, and which has been temporarily suppressed today and will probably surface tomorrow in some form or another.”
After waiting for more than four months, the conference did not take place. The main reason was the failures of the Germans and Turks on the frontlines. The diplomatic activities of the Armenian delegation in Constantinople were limited to meetings within Ottoman officials and foreign ambassadors. “Hakob Kocharyan, the delegation’s first secretary, has recorded the details of the humiliating interviews in pursuance of the first goal. In the presence of numerous Turkish officials, the suppliants proclaimed thanks to the Ottoman Empire for allowing the formation of the Armenian Republic,” wrote historian Richard Hovannisian. “When the delegation called at the Sublime Porte, Talât lamented the misfortune that had befallen the Armenians. He blamed the Kurds, the military, and irresponsible local administrators for the calamity, but the Ottoman Vizier also pointed an accusing finger at the Armenians.”
Khatisyan and Aharonyan met with Talât concerning the September 1918 Armenian massacres in Baku. According to Khatisyan, “When we protested to Talât that the Turkish armies were preparing to attack Karabakh, Talât grabbed the phone and began talking with Enver, saying that, ‘The Armenians are asking not to order the attack on Karabakh.’ After this conversation,Talât informed us that he guaranteed that there will be no attack on Karabakh. After seeing Talât, we felt the need for a new visit to Enver Pasha. Enver once again assured us that he had given orders not to occupy Karabakh.”
In October, the Armenian delegation was also received by the Sultan. According to Khatisyan, “After a religious liturgy, Enver Pasha presented us to the Sultan in the Mosque. Aharonyan made a speech in the name of Armenia and expressed the hope that, from now on, independent Armenia and Turkey would be good neighbours. The Sultan answered that he was delighted that the ‘centuries-old friendly’ relations between the Armenians and the Turks would transform into political friendly relations between Turkey and Armenia. The Sultan expressed the hope that, after returning to Armenia, we would convey the greetings of the Sultan and Turkey to the entire Armenian nation.”
A few days later, Enver Pasha invited Armenia’s delegates to his house for dinner. “The entire magnificence of the Orient opened up in front of us,” wrote Khatisyan. “Enver’s residence was full of gold, silk, carpets, and all sorts of expensive items. The German general von Seeckt, Talât and Izzet Pasha, and the three Caucasian delegations were also invited to dinner. The subject of discussion around the tablewas the future of the newly-formed Caucasian republics.”
The border disputes of the three Transcaucasian republics should also have been discussed in Constantinople. Armenia suggested that Azerbaijan receive 38 percent of the Transcaucasus, Georgia, 33, and Armenia, 29. The Georgian and Azerbaijani delegations rejected it.
The Armenian delegation had an interview with Izzet Pasha, the Grand Vizier of the new cabinet. In the meeting, the withdrawal of the Ottoman army to the borders which had been determined at Brest-Litovsk was accepted. Moreover, Izzet Pasha promised to make necessary arrangements for the return of the refugees and to solve all problems relating to Armenia within one month. For its part, the Armenian delegation expressed the insistence on establishing good relations with the Ottoman government and to prevent the emergence of negative intentions.
After the conclusion of the Soviet-German Supplementary Treaty, Enver confidentially informed Khatisyan and Aharonyan that Turkey would champion Armenian rights to Lori-Pambak and that he was confident a satisfactory arrangement could be worked out with Azerbaijan. It was even possible that the boundaries of Armenia might be extended to the shore of the Akhurian River. After Talât returned from Berlin, more sweeping promises were made. Khatisyan wrote Hamazasp Ohanjanyan that the change in Turkish heart was undoubtedly prompted by the unfavourable course of the war. Then, at the end of September, Talât Pasha announced that his government would grant Armenia concessions even greater than those sought by Aharonyan’s delegation in the preceding weeks.
These, however, were his last official words on the subject, for a few days later, in the prelude to Ottoman capitulation to the Allies, Talât’s cabinet fell.
The Armenian delegates returned to Armenia.
To be contiunued
From Tatul Hakobyan’s book – ARMENIANS and TURKS
