Memorandum on the Armenian political situation in Karabagh presented by the Eight Assembly of Karabagh to the representatives of the Allied Powers and Transcaucasian Republics
[4 March 1920]
In its Seventh Conference on 15 August 1919 the General Assembly of the Armenians of Karabagh had examined in detail the political situation of the region and had expressed the opinion that definitive incorporation of contested regions to this or that state depends on the Peace Conference and that, therefore, it was necessary to avoid the useless shedding of blood and to establish a modus vivendi between the two peoples.
Adhering to this point of view and in accord with the representatives of the government of Azerbaijan, the Seventh Conference elaborated a regulation of provisional understanding. The representatives of the Armenian people hoped that on the basis of this accord the two peoples would live in good relations without harming each other and that the Tatar government would treat the two peoples in a spirit of impartiality and would insure the social order be observed.
The Eight Armenian Conference assembled at Shosh is unfortunately obliged to make the following painful observation: since the conclusion to the accord to the present, the government of Azerbaijan has been unable to organize and bring any order into Karabagh and has produced nothing but anarchy. Never has the Armenian population been subjected to such misdeeds, been victimized by so many murders, felt so much economic prejudice as since the signing of the Agreement, and this due to the arbitrariness and weakness of the government.
Assassins and noted bandits kill and rob in full daylight the peaceful inhabitants without the government taking any counter measures, without criminals being bothered. The askers [regular Tatar soldiers] pillage Armenian homes, massacre men, women, children, and remain unpunished. The inhabitants of destroyed villages wander to other villages and wait in vain for the government to take measures that will allow them back into their homes.
The principal clauses of that agreement have been violated by the government of Azerbaijan. The first clause has the following formulation: “The present temporary accord is accepted by the parties until the solution of the problem.” However, the temporary governor-general of Karabagh in his note number 1927 dated 19 February 1920, addressed to the Armenian Council of Karabagh, states the following: “Therefore, with regard to the first clause of the accord on this political situation of Karabagh, I request that you submit for discussion the question of the definitive incorporation of Karabagh into Azerbaijan as its economically inseparable part.” In addition, the temporary governor-general of Karabagh, Sultanov, has clearly stated on 19 February to the representatives of the Armenian Society meeting with him, “The Peace Conference no longer exists. France and Italy are incapable of regulating their own affairs, let alone our affairs. We must rely on our own efforts to end this abnormal situation.” These words indicate clearly that Sultanov does not attach any value to the decision of the Peace Conference.
In the fifteenth article of the accord it is stated: “The quantity of [Azerbaijani] troops to remain in Khankend will be maintained at peace time levels.”
However, for six months this clause has not been respected by Azerbaijan. Thus, during the campaign against Zangezur, many regiments came to Khankend and Shushi. They came from Ganja, Baku, Zakatala, provoking strong emotions among the Armenian population of Karabagh. Tatar troops returning from Zangezur have even killed 15 Armenian peasants and 2 teachers near Mazikamuljeh.
The sixteenth clause states, “All movement of troops in Mountainous Karabagh region [District of Shushi, Jevanshir, and Jebrail] inhabited by Armenians cannot take place without the agreement of 2/3 of the members of the Armenian Council.” This clause has been brutally violated from October 1919 to the present. In October, Azerbaijan transported 12,000 soldiers to Zangezur through Askeran, Khankend, and Shushi without any consultation with any members of the Armenian Council.
The Eighth Congress of Armenians in Karabagh, examining the present situation of the country and cognizant of the above-mentioned facts, adopted the following resolution:
RESOLUTION:
Considering that the government of Azerbaijan has continuously violated the most essential clauses of the temporary accord,
That on 22 February 1920 Khankend, Askeran, and on the Sushi-Evlakh route many hundreds have been massacred by the troops and agents of Azerbaijan,
That the Armenian quarters in Khakend have been pillaged,
Addresses its vehement protests to the civilized world against these abominable persecutions,
Attests that the continuation of similar misdeeds will obligate the Armenians of Karabagh to take the necessary measures to defend their lives and their honor,
Exhorts at the same time Tatar peasants of Azerbaijan to join their protests to those of Armenians.
Copies of this resolution have been forwarded to Colonel Haskell, the representative of Allied Powers in Transcaucasia, to the Diplomatic and Military Envoys of the Allies, to the governments of the Free Republic of Transcaucasia, as well as the temporary Governor-General of Karabagh.
[Republic of Armenia Archives, File No. 9]
The Karabagh File, Documents and Facts, 1918-1988, First Edition, Cambridge Toronto 1988, by the ZORYAN INSTITUTE, edited by: Gerard J. LIBARIDIAN, pp. 27-29
