The Battle of Sarıkamış was a conflict between the First Republic of Armenia and the Eastern Front of the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

of the

Grand National Assembly of Turkey The Grand National Assembly of Turkey ( tr, ), usually referred to simply as the TBMM or Parliament ( tr, or ''Parlamento''), is the unicameral Turkish legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by the Turkish Const ...

which was on September 29, 1920, at

Sarıkamış Sarıkamış or Sarikamish ( ku, Zerqamîş, ) is a town and district of Kars Province in the Eastern Anatolia Region of Turkey. Its population was 17,860 in 2010. The town sits in a valley and is surrounded by mountains, many of which are covered ...

Background

In late September 1920 the

Armenians Armenians ( hy, հայեր, '' hayer'' ) are an ethnic group native to the Armenian highlands of Western Asia. Armenians constitute the main population of Armenia and the ''de facto'' independent Artsakh. There is a wide-ranging diasp ...

initiated several attacks against Turkish forces in the area. On 24 September an Armenian force of at least 800 men, supported with nine

machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) ar ...

s, began an unsuccessful attack against the weak Turkish entrenchments in Bardız

Şenkaya Şenkaya is a town and district of Erzurum Province in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly ...

. The attack was repulsed and cost them 47 killed and several wounded. Additionally, two machine guns and ammunition were captured by the Turks. The

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic ...

suffered eight killed and ten wounded during the attack.Ajun Kurter: ''Türk Hava Kuvvetleri tarihi''], Hava Kuvvetleri Komutanlığı, 2009, page 407. These attacks gave the Turkish commanders an insight into Armenian military capabilities.

Active Stage

The Turkish forces quickly defeated the Armenian troops in the town. The remaining Armenian forces retreated to the Kötek- Selim (District), Kars, Selim-

Göle Göle ( hy, Կող, translit=Kogh; ka, კოლა, tr; ku, Mêrdînik) is a small city and surrounding district in Ardahan Province of Turkey. The city was formerly known as ''Merdenik'', ''Merdinik'' or ''Ardahan-ı Küçük'' ("Little Ardaha ...

line and stayed there until 30 September.

Results

By September 29, Karabekir's forces had retaken Sarıkamış and the following day

Kağızman Kağızman ( ku, Qaxizman), formerly Kaghzvan (), is a town and district of Kars Province in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey. The population was 23,100 in 2012. The current mayor is Nevzat Yıldız ( MHP), and the Kaymakam is İshak Çınar ...

References

Conflicts in 1920 Battles of the Turkish–Armenian War 1920 in Armenia 1920 in the Ottoman Empire History of Kars Province September 1920 events {{Battle-stub