The archival documents and the press of that period have provided sufficient evidence of the atrocities committed by Armenians against Azerbaijanis and the destruction of Azerbaijani settlements by force of weapons in the years 1918-1920.

Armenians, who seized the weapons of the retreating Russian forces from Eastern Anatolia and the Caucasus front following the change of power in Russia in November 1917, perpetrated genocides against the Turkic-Muslim population. The first phase of the mass murders committed by Armenian armed groups against Azerbaijanis in the Iravan province began in early 1918.

By March 1918, Armenian armed groups had destroyed a total of 198 villages - 32 in the Iravan district of Iravan province, 84 in the Echmiadzin district, 7 in the Novo-Bayazid district and 75 villages in the Surmali district, subjecting approximately 135,000 Azerbaijanis to genocide in those districts.

After the Turkish army liberated Kars from Armenian occupation in April 1918, Andranik's forces retreated and entered the city of Gumru, then moved towards Akhilkalak. After ravaging the villages of Boyuk Shishtapa, Ilanli, and Duzkand, Garanamaz, Tazakand along the Arpachay River in the Aghbaba district, the same forces destroyed the Turkish villages in the neighboring Khojabey (later Bogdanovka) district. After suffering defeat in Akhalkalak, Andranik's forces destroyed the Azerbaijani villages in the Voronsovka (later Kalinino district) and Jalaloglu (later Stepanavan) districts adjacent to the Iravan province from May 14 to 1 8. On May 21-22, following their defeat in Voronsovka and Jalaloglu, Andranik's forces moved from the Loru region to Dilijan, then advanced across the Garagoyunlu valley, and on June 12, they destroyed the Azerbaijani villages in the Akhta district on the right bank of Lake Goycha. Later, they devastated the Novo-Bayazid (Kever) district and then the villages of Daralayaz region.

On June 20, 1918, Andranik's forces, entering Nakhchivan from Daralayaz, perpetrated massacres there before moving into Southern Azerbaijan from the direction of Julfa. On June 24, after committing a massacre in Khoy, Andranik's forces attacked Urmia but, fearing confrontation with Turkish forces, retreated to Nakhchivan. By early August, they entered Zangezur through Oghuz valley. By April 1919, Andranik's forces had destroyed more than 500 Turkic-Muslim settlements on the route from Erzurum to Zangezur. By capturing Zangezur, Andranik realized the intentions of the Western countries to cut off the connection between Turkey and the Turkic world. Meanwhile, Soviet Russia formalized the transfer of Zangezur to Armenia, and Nakhchivan was separated from Azerbaijan.

The Iravan Muslim National Council was established in the Iravan province with a view to oppose the Armenian atrocities. The chairman of the National Council was Ali khan Makinski, and the secretary was Jabbar Mammadzade. 

The situation was aggravated after the ceding of Iravan as a political center to Armenia at the meeting of the Muslim National Council held on May 29, 1918.

According to the Treaty of Peace and Friendship signed on June 4 in Batumi between Türkiye and Armenia, the territory of the Republic of Armenia was about 10 thousand square kilometers. The territory of the republic included the Novo-Bayazid district, three-fifths of the Iravan province, one-fourth of the Echmiadzin province, and one-fourth of the Alexandropol province. However, the Armenians were not satisfied with this and by continuing the policy of ethnic cleansing against the Azerbaijanis by force of arms, they captured new territories.

At the meeting of the National Council of Azerbaijan held on June 13, 1918, the alarming news from Iravan regarding the massacres committed by Armenians against Muslims was discussed. It was reported that the number of refugees displaced from their homes and starving in the territory of Iravan province had reached 150,000 and Armenians had destroyed 206 villages.

According to the Armistice of Mudros signed on October 30, 1918, Turkish forces were compelled to retreat to the borders of 1914. Subsequently, the Armenian army started to annihilate the Turkic-Muslim population in the territories of the Iravan and the Kars provinces. After the last units of Turkish troops left the Iravan province in December 1918, the defense of the local Muslim population was left to the self-defense units of the local national councils. Before the retreat, the command of the Turkish army spared no effort to equip the self-defense units with weapons and ammunition.

The note signed by Adil khan Ziyadxanov, the Deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, sent to the Foreign Minister of Armenia in early January 1919, read that Muslims were subjected to violence by Armenian armed forces in the Iravan province. They were disarmed, killed, and tortured in cities and villages. Armenians attempted to subjugate them by force, and the number of Muslims who drowned while attempting to cross the Araz River to escape the persecution of Armenians alone reached 300.

On February 24, 1919, Adil khan Ziyadxanov, the Deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, informed General W. M. Thomson, the commander of the allied forces in Transcaucasia, about the atrocities committed by Armenians against Muslims in the Novo-Bayazid district. The petition presented to the Azerbaijani government and people originated at the community meeting held by the residents of 26 Azerbaijani villages in the Novo-Bayazid district on March 29, 1919, read as follows: "The forces of the Ararat Republic, Armenian chauvinist and bandit gangs have repeatedly attacked peaceful Muslim villages, obliterating them, subjecting the residents to unseen miseries, and humiliating them with inhumane acts. More than 270 Muslim villages have been demolished, with the main aim being to displace and completely expel the remaining Muslim population in the Iravan province."

The "Azerbaijan" newspaper (in Russian) wrote in its issue dated July 19 that during the summer months of 1919, Armenian bandit gangs looted and burned 300 Azerbaijani villages. Tens of thousands of people, including men, women, and children were killed. All diplomatic correspondence against the ethnic cleansing policy implemented by the Armenian army in the Azerbaijani-populated regions of the Iravan province had yielded no results.

In the petition dated November 11, 1919, by Teymur bey Makinski, the representative of the Ministry of Charity in Armenia, the true face of the Armenian government was revealed: "As a result of the massacres that continued from February 1918, half a million people fell into a beggarly state (excluding the Nakhchivan district, the Sharur region, the 2nd and 3rd police sectors of the Surmali region, and the Zangezur district)."

The true face of the Armenian government was revealed in the report by Teymur bey Makinski, the representative of the Ministry of Charity in Armenia, dated November 11, 1919: " As a result of the ongoing massacres, which began in February 1918, half a million people are in a state of poverty (except Nakhchivan region, Sharur district, Surmali district, 2-3 police stations and Zangibasar region). In those territories, the Muslim population has lost all their property. In the districts affected by the devastation, the population exceeds 200,000. They die of disease and starvation and are repeatedly subjected to plunder and massacres. The Muslims of the city of Iravan, the villages of Goykumbat, Arbat, Aghjaqishlag and Charbakh of Zangibasar belong to this category. We can confidently say that the number of killed is 100-120 thousand people. 50,000 people arrived in Azerbaijan as refugees. Approximately the same number live in Iravan, Zangibasar region, two areas of the Surmali district, and in Echmiadzin. The rest of the refugees have found shelter in the Nakhchivan region, the Sharur district, the third area of the Surmali district, and the Gaghizman district of the Kars province. Some migrated to the khanate of Maku and the territory of Türkiye... The number of starving people in the city of Iravan is 8,000."

On December 16, 1919, the Council of Ministers of Armenia discussed the issue of attacking Zangibasar. On December 21, the Armenian army began military operations against the Muslims of Zangibasar region. On January 3, 1920, the representatives of the Muslims of the Zangibasar region of Iravan province sent a letter to the diplomatic representation of Azerbaijan in Georgia, requesting to convey their appeals regarding the situation of Zangibasar Muslims to the High Commissioner since they were unable to meet with the High Commissioner of the Allied states. They emphasized in their appeals that every delayed hour meant the destruction of thousands of Muslim families.

On January 25, 1920, Mir Mahmud Mirbabayev, a representative of the diplomatic mission of Azerbaijan in Armenia, sent a confidential letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, in which it was noted that Armenian armed forces aimed to cleanse Zangezur of Muslims population completely, wanted to present the Paris Peace Conference with a fait accompli. Further, M.M. Mirbabaev writes that the Iranian side, making contact with the Armenians and the British, made tempting promises to encourage the people of Nakhchivan to migrate to Iran so that Nakhchivan would weaken and the Armenians would have an opportunity to infiltrate there. The activity of the Nakhchivan organization (referring to the National Council or the Araz-Turkish government - N.M.) covers the territories of the Boyuk Vedi and Aralıg regions, a connection has been established with Zangibasar. After the massacres in Surmali and Echmiadzin, the population of Zangibasar was forced to arm themselves and invited instructors to conduct military training. M.M. Mirbabayev further writes that there are entirely Muslim-populated 12 villages in Zangibasar, located at a distance of 8-12 versts from Iravan, with one end reaching the Araz River. The issue of refugees was discussed at the session of the Azerbaijani Parliament held on January 5, 1920, noting the arrival of 300,000 refugees from Armenia.

On March 7, Abdurrahim bey Hagverdiyev, the diplomatic representative of Azerbaijan in Armenia, was attacked by Armenian bandits with firearms while traveling on Tiflis – Iravan train. They robbed him of 2 million South Caucasus bonds, 3.4 million Azerbaijani bonds, and personal funds amounting to 40,000 manats that he carried for the diplomatic mission. Following this incident, A. Hagverdiyev resigned from his position as the permanent representative in Armenia some time later. On March 16, Teymur bey Makinski, the representative of the Ministry of Charity in Armenia was appointed to this post.

On June 15, 1920, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia announced the termination of the activity of the diplomatic mission in Iravan, referring to the establishment of Bolshevik power in Azerbaijan. Following the Armenian army's subsequent attack on Vedibasar in July 1920, the "Red Battalion," led by Abbasgulu bey Shadlinski, gradually retreated towards the Iranian border, and the surviving population also crossed into Iran. Thus, the Armenians completely took control of Vedibasar.

The letter sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of France on July 20, 1920, by the High Commissioner of France to the Caucasus, Damien de Martel, has revealed the facts proving the crimes committed by Armenians against the Azerbaijani people. Currently preserved in the archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of France, the document shows how 4,000 Azerbaijanis, including women and children residing in the suburbs of the Armenian capital of Iravan, fell victim to a mass murder by the Armenian army in June 1920. The document specifically notes that these 4,000 people, including women and children, were thrown into the Araz River and killed by Armenian soldiers.

The telegram sent by Azerbaijan's extraordinary and plenipotentiary representative in Georgia to the Armenian MFA on July 5, 1920, stated that Armenian military units launched an attack on the Nakhchivan-Sharur region after destroying Zangibasar and cleansing the area of Muslim villagers. It was also reported that Armenian military units attacked the Gazakh district on July 5, at 4 a.m. The Azerbaijani government interpreted this as a violation of the agreement reached on July 2 and an open attack against Soviet Azerbaijan.

In 1916, there were 373,582 Azerbaijanis registered in the Iravan province, while by November 1920, only a total of 12,000 Azerbaijanis were registered in the Armenian SSR. In general, the population of nearly 500 Azerbaijani villages in present-day Armenia was subjected to genocide during the years 1905-1920. After the ethnic cleansing, most of these villages were repopulated by Armenians who had migrated from abroad.  In the years 1918-1920, after the Azerbaijani-populated 130 villages in present-day Armenia were demolished by Armenian armed groups, they remained permanently abandoned.

 

Nazim Mustafa

Doctor of Philosophy in History