Armenian National Council of Karabagh
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The Karabakh Council () was the unrecognised government over Mountainous Karabagh (
Nagorno-Karabakh Nagorno-Karabakh ( ) is a landlocked region in the South Caucasus, within the mountainous range of Karabakh, lying between Lower Karabakh and Syunik, and covering the southeastern range of the Lesser Caucasus mountains. The region is m ...
) in eastern
Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ' ...
between 1918 and 1920. The council's body was elected by the assembly of Mountainous Karabakh—the representative body of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh—on 27 July 1918. Initially it was called the People's Government of Karabakh, but in September 1918 it was renamed into the Karabakh Council. The Karabakh Council's control throughout 1918–1920 did not exceed the ethnic Armenian locales of Karabakh which were subordinate to them. The council's statehood related to the historical Artsakh province and the modern-day self-proclaimed
Republic of Artsakh Artsakh, officially the Republic of Artsakh () or the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (),, is a breakaway state in the South Caucasus whose territory is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan. Artsakh controls a part of the former ...
founded in 1991. Its capital was the city of Shushi (
Shusha / hy, Շուշի , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = ShushaCollection2021.jpg , image_caption = Landmarks of Shusha, from top left:Ghazanchetsots Cathedral • Yukhari Govha ...
).


Formation

According to Armenian sources the Karabakh Council was an independent national government which exercised its powers during the periods following the congresses. Emanuele Aliprandi, an Italian writer who edits the bi-weekly newsletter of the Italian Armenian community's online website has published such claims in ''Le ragioni del Karabakh'' (2010), which is "the first text in Italian on the little
Republic of Artsakh Artsakh, officially the Republic of Artsakh () or the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (),, is a breakaway state in the South Caucasus whose territory is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan. Artsakh controls a part of the former ...
." Aliprandi claims that Council considered itself authorized to act both as a legislative and an executive body, and that the decisions on major political and economic issues of the region during 1918–1920 were taken by the Karabakh Congress. Geographically, the scope of the powers of the Council covered the mountainous regions of Karabakh, including the Armenian villages of Gandzak District. The first provisional government included: *Justice Department: Commissar Arso Hovhannisian, Levon Vardapetian *Military Department: Harutiun Tumanian *Department of Education: Rouben Shahnazarian *Refugees Department: Moushegh Zakharian *Control Department: Anoush Ter-Mikaelian *Department of Foreign Affairs: Ashot Melik-Hovsepian. The Council was chaired by Yeghishe Ishkhanian, and Melikset Yesayan was elected its secretary. When the
Yerevan Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and i ...
-based
Armenian Congress of Eastern Armenians The Armenian National Congress (or Congress of Eastern ArmeniansTer-Minassian p.30) was a political congress established to provide representation for Armenians of the Russian Empire.Adalian p.76 It first met at the Artistic Theatre in Tbilisi on . ...
was established at October 1917, it incorporated the Armenian National Councils all around the Russian Empire including activities of Armenian National Councils in Karabagh, Tiflis and Baku.


History

From 1918 until the Soviet takeover of the region in 1920, the First Republic of Armenia and the
Azerbaijan Democratic Republic The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic), or simply as Azerbaijan in Paris Peace Conference, 1919–1920,''Bulletin d'Information de l'Azerbaidjan'', No. I, September 1, 1919, pp. 6–7''125 H.C.Debs.'', 58., February 24, 1920, p. 1467. Caucasian A ...
both sought control over Nagorno-Karabakh. Some authors claim that Nagorno-Karabakh was not a part of Azerbaijan in 1918–1920 and that it was an independent entity affiliated the Republic of Armenia, however, Azerbaijani historians reject this idea and affirm the region was consistently a part of Azerbaijan. Following Armenia's signing of the Treaty of Batum and capitulation to the Ottoman Empire, Mountainous Karabakh was declared an independent political state by the convocation of the First Assembly of Armenians of Karabakh on 22 July 1918. By September 1918, Azerbaijani–Ottoman forces captured the city of Shushi, however, were unable to penetrate the countryside due to the efforts of local Armenians. Following the
Armistice of Mudros Concluded on 30 October 1918 and taking effect at noon the next day, the Armistice of Mudros ( tr, Mondros Mütarekesi) ended hostilities in the Middle Eastern theatre between the Ottoman Empire and the Allies of World War I. It was signed by th ...
on 30 October 1918, Ottoman forces were obligated to withdraw from the
South Caucasus The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Arme ...
, including Shushi, after which their garrison was supplemented by the British. On 15 January 1919, the British governor of Baku, General Thomson appointed
Khosrov bey Sultanov Khosrov bey Alipasha bey oghlu Sultanov ( az, Xosrov bəy Əlipaşa bəy oğlu Sultanov; 1879 – 1943), also spelled as Khosrow Sultanov, was an Azerbaijani statesman, General Governor of Karabakh and Minister of Defense of the Azerbaijani Democ ...
the "Governor-General of Karabakh and
Zangezur Zangezur ( hy, Զանգեզուր) is a historical and geographical region in Eastern Armenia on the slopes of the Zangezur Mountains which largely corresponds to the Syunik Province of the Republic of Armenia. It was ceded to Russia by Qajar I ...
" within Azerbaijan, despite neither region being completely under Azerbaijani control. On 5 June 1919, due to the refusal of the Karabakh assembly to submit to Azerbaijani authority as prescribed by British command, 2,000 mounted Kurdish irregulars led by the Sultan bey Sultanov—the brother of Khosrov—looted several Armenian villages in the outskirts of Shushi including Khaibalikend, Krkejan, Pahliul, and Jamillu, as well as several remote hamlets resulting in the deaths of some 600 Armenians. As a result of the bloodshed, the Karabakh Council was compelled to sign a provisional accord with the Azerbaijani government on 22 August 1919, submitted to their rule pending their final status decided in the Paris Peace Conference. The signing ceremony was attended by members of the Karabakh Council, Bishop Vahan, Khosrov bey Sultanov, and other notable Armenian and Muslim officials. The agreement provided for Armenian cultural autonomy, the formation of a six-member council of three Armenians and three Muslims, the continued existence for the 4 uezds which make up the Karabakh region, the limitation of Azerbaijani garrisons to the cities of Shushi and Khankend ( Stepanakert). Following the signing of the agreement, the British forces stationed in the region immediately withdrew, setting the stage for Azerbaijan to enforce its will on Karabakh beyond the limits defined in the provisional agreement. Despite the agreement stipulating the requirement of consent of two-thirds of the six-member council for Azerbaijan to make military movements, in November 1919 Azerbaijani forces were being transferred throughout Karabakh in preparation of an incursion into Armenian-controlled Zangezur. As the Paris Peace Conference was inconclusive on the issue of the South Caucasus territorial disputes, on 19 February 1920 Khosrov bey Sultanov issued an ultimatum to the Karabakh Council to consent to the region's permanent incorporation into Azerbaijan. During meetings of the Eighth Assembly of Armenians of Karabakh from 28 February to 4 March, the delegates expressed discontent with the Azerbaijani administration and warned that they would resort to countermeasures if their existence was threatened. Despite the approaching
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...
of the
Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...
, Azerbaijan moved the bulk of its forces including 5,000 soldiers, 6 field guns and 8 mountain guns to Karabakh. In the uprising that followed, due to the unsuccessful attempt by local Armenian forces to disarm the Azerbaijani garrisons in Shushi and Khankend, Shushi befell a pogrom which saw the Armenian half of the town looted and destroyed, with its Armenian inhabitants evicted and 500–20,000 being massacred. To support its forces in Shushi, the Azerbaijani army penetrated the Askeran pass, capturing the town of Askeran, and secured the road into Mountainous Karabakh. Azerbaijani forces were also successful in recapturing Armenian villages in the northern sector of the region known as Gyulistan or Shahumyan. Shortly after the Sovietization of Azerbaijan, the 11th Army of Soviet Russia entered Mountainous Karabakh, routing the forces of Armenia, thus permanently ending the existence of the Karabakh Council. According to
Armenian-American Armenian Americans ( hy, ամերիկահայեր, ''amerikahayer'') are citizens or residents of the United States who have total or partial Armenians, Armenian ancestry. They form the second largest community of the Armenian diaspora after A ...
historian Richard G. Hovannisian, if the Republic of Armenia had incorporated Mountainous Karabagh they could recruit some 10,000 local Armenians for their army which desperately lacked manpower in its objective of expanding westward into Armenia's awarded territories.


References

{{Reflist, 2 Government of the Republic of Artsakh Former governments in exile History of the Republic of Artsakh