South West Caucasian Republic

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The Democratic Republic of South West Caucasus (December 1, 1918 - April 19, 1919) (Turkish: Cenubî Garbi Kafkas Cumhuriyeti) or the Kars Republic was a short-lived and nominally independent provisional government, headed by Fakhr al-Din Pirioghlu and centered in Kars and constituted after the Armistice of Mudros that end abolished by British High Commissioner Admiral Somerset Arthur Gough-Calthorpe. Armenians consider it as a Ottoman puppet state.

Its territory was to include the predominantly Muslim-inhabited regions of Kars and Batum, parts of the Erivan district in the province of the same name, and the Akhaltsikhe and Akhalkalaki districts of the Tiflis province. However, in practical terms, the republic was confined to the Kars province. It existed alongside with the British general governorship created during the Entente's intervention in Transcaucasia. ^[1]

Contents 1 Background 2 Establishment 2.1 Relations with ADR 2.2 British enforcement and dissolution 3 Aftermath 4 Timeline 5 See also 6 Sources 7 Footnotes

[edit] Background

Russia lost Kars, Ardahan and Batumi to Ottoman Empire by the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk on March 3, 1918. Once the Russians left, the Ottoman Army engaged in heavy fighting with Armenian forces advancing west. In 1918, General Tovmas Nazarbekian was the commander on the Caucasus front and Andranik Toros Ozanian took charge of the territories that were to return to the Ottoman Empire under the treaty. Under heavy pressure from the combined forces of the Ottoman army and of local militias, the Democratic Republic of Armenia was forced to withdraw from eastern Anatolia, first from Erzincan to Erzurum, and then to evacuate also Erzurum and Sarıkamış after resisting at the Battle of Kara Killisse (1918), the Battle of Sardarapat, and the Battle of Bash Abaran. Van was abandoned as well in 1918, while on the Black Sea coast Vehib Pasha took back Trabzon, where the Russians had left huge quantities of supplies. These conflicts were brought to conclusion with the Treaty of Batum and the Ottoman army which took the control of Kars on April 25, turned Kars into its military headquarters.

The Ottoman Empire conducted plebiscite on incorporation of Batumi and Ardahan into Ottoman Empire, results of which were heavily disputed.{{fact)) The World War I ended the same year, with, for the Ottoman Empire, the signing of the Armistice of Mudros (October 1918). The armistice foresaw that the Ottomans would withdraw to the frontiers of 1914, and then dismantle their army. The British occupied Batum and Baku but a movement was initiated around Kars that led to the formation of a pro-Turkish provisional government led by Dr. Esad Oktay Bey and Fahrettin Pirioğlu.

[edit] Establishment

On September 27 1918, the Muslim National Committee under the leadership of Dr. Esad Oktay Bey was formed in Kars, which advocated an autonomy or independence, similar in nature to Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and/or Democratic Republic of Armenia from Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic in other previously Russian territories.

On December 1 1918, gathered in congress in Kars, the Muslim National Committee made an unilateral declaration of independence of the republic (Cenubî Garbi Kafkas Cumhuriyeti) and elected Cihangirzade Ibrahim Bey as the President of the Republic.

On January 13, 1919, a delegation of 60 Armenians were sent to Kars by the British Command in Batum to install an Armenian politician, Korganov as the governor of Kars. The Parliament of the Republic rejected this proposal and refused to further negotiate with the Armenians. Incidents of violence between the parties increased dramatically after this event.

In the meantime, during the same month of January 1919, the Republic had seen democratic elections leading to the formation of a parliament on January 14, elected at a ratio of one deputy per 10,000 voters. The parliament consisted of 64 people, including 60 Muslims, three Greeks, and one Molokan Russian.

The Parliament of the new republic assembled on January 17th and adopted the constitution, "Teskilâtı Esasiye Kanunu". With the new 18 article long constitution, women were granted voting rights, Kars was declared the capital city and Turkish proclaimed the official language. On March 27, the parliament approved the new government. The new government also applied the Imperial Government of Japan for recognition.

[edit] Relations with ADR

See also: Democratic Republic of Armenia

From the first days, republican armed troops had to combat heavily with forces of the Armenian Republic and the Georgian Democratic Republic, unwilling to cede some territories that entered the republic.

[edit] British enforcement and dissolution

See also: Malta exiles

British troops dispatched from Batum on orders from General William M. Thomson occupied Kars on April 19 1919, breaking up the meeting of the parliament and arresting 30 parliamentarians and government members. Eleven of the arrested were deported first to Batum, and then to İstanbul and on 2 June to exile in Malta. As for the Kars province, the English soon placed it under Armenia's rule.

The eleven Malta exiles from the Republic were the following:

Malta exiles
1	Aziz Cihangiroğlu	June 2, 1919		Justice Minister
2	Alibeyzade Mehmet Bey	June 2, 1919	27 16	Civil Governor
3	Hasan Han Cihangiroğlu	June 2, 1919		Defense Minister
4	İbrahim Cihangiroğlu	June 2, 1919	27 17	Parliament leader
5	Mehmetoğlu Muhlis Bey	June 2, 1919	27 27	Communication (postal-telegram-telephone) chief
6	Matroi Radjinski	June 2, 1919	27 25	Russian Member of the Parliament
7	Musa Salah Bey	June 2 1919	27 20	Police chief
8	Pavlo Camusev	June 2, 1919	27 14	Greek Member of the Parliament
9	Tauchitgin Memlejeff	June 2, 1919	27 22	Interior Minister
10	Stefani Vafiades	June 2, 1919	27 26	Social help minister
11	Yusufoğlu Yusuf Bey	June 2, 1919	27 21	Food Minister

[edit] Aftermath

After the Turkish-Armenian War and the concluding treaties, Turkey's present-day Kars Province as well as its adjacent districts constituting the modern-day Ardahan and Iğdır provinces became part of Turkey. A BBC journalist recently on a visit to Kars recalls the brief episode of the republic in this context. ^[2]

A dissident history portraying the short life of the Republic via literature and on the background of a love story, "Russian girl Vasilisa", involving the principal hero Şevket, who takes up cause for the republic and Vasilisa, a young Molokan woman, was written by the scholar Erkan Karagöz. A review by the Turkish language Kurdish daily that was published in Germany, Özgür Politika, on this novel, on its sequel as well as on Karagöz's earlier historical investigation on the Republic makes reference to "Anatolia’s first multicultural, democratic, and independent republic which was based on the principle of brotherhood among peoples that official history disregards". ^[3]

[edit] Timeline

• On March 1878, Kars annexed by Russia from the Ottoman Empire.
• On Mar 3 1918, Russian evacuates Kars under provisions of Treaty of Brest-Litvosk.
• On April 14 1918, Ottoman occupation of Kars region.
• 30 October 1918 The Armistice of Mudros ended the hostilities on Middle Eastern theatre of World War I
•  ? ? ?, departure of Ottoman Army from Caucasus.
• December 1, 1918 South-Western Caucasian Republic proclaimed with capital at Kars.
• January 13, 1919, a Armenians from Democratic Republic of Armenia were sent to Kars.
• On April 10, 1919, abolished by High Commissioner Admiral Somerset Arthur Gough-Calthorpe.
• On April 19, 1919, general William M. Thomson occupied Kars region.
• On March 16, 1921, the Treaty of Kars, Batum region part of Georgia S.S.R

[edit] See also

• Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
• Turkish-Armenian War
• Treaty of Alexandropol (Treaty of Gümrü)
• Treaty of Kars
• Malta exiles
• Turkish War of Independence
• Chronology of the Turkish War of Independence

[edit] Sources

• (Russian) Zavriev D.S. Modern History of North-Western Vilayets of Turkey. Tbilisi, 1947. p. 377
• (Turkish) Erkan Karagöz TÜRK ANAYASA HAREKETLERI VE 1919 CENUB-i GARB-i KAFKAS CUMHURIYETI ANAYASASI.
• (Turkish) Documents and bibliography relating to the South West Caucasian Republic by the Turkish Grand National Assembly

[edit] Footnotes