Cihangirzade İbrahim Bey (1874–1948), known as İbrahim Aydın after the 1934

Surname Law Surname law can refer to any law regulating the use of surnames. Canada From 1941 to 1978, the Government of Canada issued disc numbers to identify Inuit in their records. In the mid-1960s Project Surname began, and, headed by Abe Okpik, Inuit w ...

in Turkey, although he is more commonly called under the name he was known prior to the law) was an Azerbaijani-

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

military officer, statesman, and administrator who served the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

and after its defeat in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, became the leader of the

Turkish revolutionaries The Turkish National Movement ( tr, Türk Ulusal Hareketi) encompasses the political and military activities of the Turkish revolutionaries that resulted in the creation and shaping of the modern Republic of Turkey, as a consequence of the defe ...

in his native

Kars Kars (; ku, Qers; ) is a city in northeast Turkey and the capital of Kars Province. Its population is 73,836 in 2011. Kars was in the ancient region known as ''Chorzene'', (in Greek Χορζηνή) in classical historiography ( Strabo), part of ...

and in southwest Caucasia. After the Armistice of Mudros, he led the First Congress of Ardahan, establishing a local administration, and was later declared the head of the Southwest Caucasian National Resistance Government on 5 November 1918. This movement took control of the cities of Kars, Ardahan, and Batum in late 1918. In the Second Congress of Ardahan, held between 7 and 9 January 1919, Cihangirzade Ibrahim Bey was elected as the First President of the

Provisional National Government of the Southwestern Caucasus The Provisional National Government of the Southwestern Caucasus, Provisional National Government of South West Caucasia (Modern Turkish: ''Güneybatı Kafkas Geçici Milli Hükûmeti''; Ottoman Turkish: ''Cenub-ı Garbi Kafkas Hükûmet-i Muvak ...

. Cihangirzade worked for the recognition of the republic and the independence of its territory. On 13 April 1919, the capital of the republic,

, was occupied by the British troops under the command of General

William M. Thomson Lieutenant General Sir William Montgomerie Thomson (1877–1963) was a senior British Army officer who became military governor of Baku in 1918. Military career Born on 2 December 1877, William Thomson was the fourth son of Captain William Tho ...

and after a period of local resistance he was arrested by the British forces and sent, through Batum and

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

, to a one-year exile in

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

(see

Malta exiles The Malta exiles ( tr, Malta sürgünleri) were the purges of Ottoman intellectuals by the Allied forces. The exile to Malta occurred between March 1919 and October 1920 of politicians, high ranking soldiers (mainly), administrators and intellectual ...

) together with 11 members of his cabinet. After his return from Malta, he served as mayor of Kars between 1921 and 1927. He died in 1948. A cenotaph to his memory was erected in Kars in 2003 and a municipal park in the city carries his name.

See also