“GEGHARD”
SCIENTIFIC ANALYTICAL
FOUNDATION
2025
2025
The Ottoman Empire, having been defeated in World War I, accepted its unconditional surrender with the signing of the Armistice of Mudros on October 30, 1918. Under the terms of the armistice, Turkey withdrew its troops from the occupied territories in the South Caucasus.
Simultaneously, the Turks were establishing “Muslim republics” in these regions to prevent their unification with the Republic of Armenia. One such entity was the Southwestern Caucasus Republic, which emerged in the former territory of the Kars region and was governed by the Kars Muslim Council (National Council – Milli Shura). [1]
After the withdrawal of the Turks, the question of Kars region's territorial affiliation remained uncertain. The region was claimed by Russia (the Volunteer Army of southern Russia[2]), Georgia, and Azerbaijan.
At the same time, with the support of the British forces that had entered the region, a congress of Muslim delegates was held on January 17-18, 1919, where it was decided to proclaim the provisional national government of Southwestern Caucasus. It claimed the territory from Ajaria to the Persian border, including Nakhijevan. The center of it was the Armenian city of Kars.
The “Shura” was composed exclusively of Muslims and operated under the influence of the Turkish Union and Progress Party. At the same time, the Republic of Azerbaijan began asserting claims over the Kars region and other adjacent Armenian territories. It provided financial assistance to the “Shura” and sought to control its activities. [3]
As Kars governor Stepan Ghorghanyan noted:
“…The rebellion of the local Turks was supported not only by Baku’s gold and agents but also relied on the Turkish command.” [4] In 1917, the Turkish benevolent society of Baku, influenced by the Caucasian Tatar Musavat party, was operating in Kars. According to Stepan Ghorghanyan, "…it was carrying out preparatory work in the Kars province for the future Shura, thereby paving the way toward Baku, toward the future Azerbaijan, and the pan-Islamic dream…” [5] The president of the Shura, Mamed bek Alibekov, was arming the Turks and following the instructions of Baku’s Musavat Party.
The Shura government demanded recognition of its rights over Kars, Batumi, Akhalkalaki, Akhaltsikhe, Sharur, and Nakhijevan. Anti-Armenian movements were incited and organized in these territories. A key role in this played the Azerbaijani diplomatic mission in Yerevan, led by Ali Khan Tekinski, while the press of the Republic of Azerbaijan played a significant role in the propaganda efforts.
On April 10, 1919, British General Thomson issued a statement announcing the dissolution of the Southwestern Caucasus Government, noting that the Paris Peace Conference would determine the final status of Kars and other disputed territories. On April 12, 1919, the British arrested members of the Muslim parliament and government operating in Kars, including 18 Turkish insurgents. [6]
On April 19, the British handed over power to Stepan Ghorghanyan, the governor of Kars appointed by the government of the Republic of Armenia. On April 23, the British forces were replaced by Armenian troops. Thus, Kars was united with the Republic of Armenia. However, Azerbaijan refused to recognize this unification and instructed Ali Khan Tekinski: “Immediately establish contact with the Kars government. Provide all kinds of support, find out its needs, and wire us to take the necessary measures...”
Azerbaijani historian Aydin Hajiyev noted that in the territories of the Kars and Batumi regions, an independent statehood was forming, which leaned more toward the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic than toward Turkey. [7]
The Republic of Azerbaijan was also actively working on the international stage. On August 20, 1919, a protest note was presented at the Paris Peace Conference against the establishment of Armenian control over the Kars region, Nakhijevan, Sharur-Daralagyaz, Surmalu, and parts of Yerevan. The Azerbaijani delegation expressed deep concern about how the desire of the Muslims of the Kars region to join Azerbaijan through a referendum could be violated (it is interesting to note that Azerbaijan was categorically opposed to solving the issues of Nagorno-Karabakh and Zangezur based on the same principle).
On August 29, 1919, the Azerbaijani delegation presented a memorandum and a map at the conference, making territorial claims. These included Batumi, Kars, Ardahan, Olti, Akhaltsikhe, Kaghzvan, Surmalu, Vagharshapat, Sharur, Nakhijevan, and territories from the provinces of Yerevan, Alexandrapol, and New Bayazet, as well as several southern regions of Georgia. These demands contradicted Azerbaijan’s declaration of independence, which stated that Azerbaijan encompassed Southern and Eastern Transcaucasia, while the claimed territories were not part of these regions. [8]
In the early months of 1920, Azerbaijan continued its anti-Armenian policies, especially in the Kars region and Zangibasar, where the local Muslim population rioted, which was quickly suppressed. Representatives of the Muslim populations of Zarishat, Aghbaba, and Chyldyr assured the Armenian leadership of the Kars province that they wished to live in peace with the Armenians, and that the rebellion had been incited by propagandists sent from Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan’s claims to control Kars were thwarted. During the Turkish-Armenian war of the autumn of 1920, Kars was captured by Turkish forces. The Soviet-Kemalist Moscow Treaty on March 16, 1921, and the subsequent Kars Treaty on October 13, 1921, Kars was ultimately ceded to Turkey.
The aggressive ambitions and claims of the artificially created Azerbaijani state were not accidental. Behind it stood Turkey, which sought to keep Kars and the surrounding territories within its sphere of influence at any cost.
[1] Richard G. Hovhannisian, The Republic of Armenia, Volume I: The First Year, 1918-1919, Yerevan, 2005, pp. 219-234.
[2] Petrosyan G., The Issue of Kars and the Struggle Around It (December 1918 – April 1919), Bulletin of Yerevan University, 3 (114), Yerevan, 2004, pp. 22-35.
[3] See: Vratsian S., The Republic of Armenia, Yerevan, 1993, p. 309.
[4] The Kars Region in the First Republic of Armenia (April 1919 - October 1920). Memoirs of Kars Governor Stepan Ghorghanyan / by Vladimir Harutyunyan, Yerevan, 2018, pp. 28, 29, 32-33.
[5] Ibid, p. 25։
[6] The Kars Region in the First Republic of Armenia (April 1919 - October 1920). Memoirs of Kars Governor Stepan Ghorghanyan / by Vladimir Harutyunyan, Yerevan, 2018, p. 32.
[7] Aydin Hajiyev, Democratic Republics of the Southwestern Caucasus, Baku, "Nurlan," 2004, pp. 50-51.
[8] Harutyunyan A., Formation of the State of Azerbaijan and the Problem of Ethnogenesis of Azerbaijanis, Yerevan, 2025, pp. 132-133. Carte de la Re՛publique de l,Azerbaidjan (1919) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_the_Azerbaijan_Democratic_Republic_(1919).jpg