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13TRANSFER OF ZANGAZUR TO THE ARMENIA SSR
Mammadov N.
Dr, Associate Professor at the Department of History of Garabagh, Institute of History named after Abbas-
gulu Bakikhanov of National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan
orcid.org/0000-0002-3114-1856 DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.7148315
Abstract
The article describes the historical picture and political situation of Zangazur lands. The process of "giving" Zangazur, native lands of Azerbaijan to Armenia in 1905-1920-is a result of one-sided positions and deliberate policy of Russian policymakers, XI Red Army, the Caucasian Bureau of RCP(b), and the Transcaucasian CEC is traced in this paper on the basis of sources. In addition, interested States' goals in the region are clarified and serious consequences of these measures are analyzed.
Keywords: Azerbaijan, Zangezur, territory, Armenia, occupied, North Caucasus district, iyezd, Russia.
Introduction. From the first decades of the 19th century, the territory of North Azerbaijan, occupied as a result of the Russian-Gajar war (1804-1813) by Russia, was annexed to the Russian Empire. The imperial circles of Russia also created gubernias and uyezds in the occupied territories of North Azerbaijan, answering their interests. One of the uyezds created by the imperial circles of Russia on the territory of the Garabagh region of North Azerbaijan was Zangazur. In 1868, when the official circles of the Russian Empire formed the Yelizavetpol gubernia, the Zangazur uyezd also was included in this new gubernia. The administrative center of the new Zangazur uyezd became the city of Go-rus. Gorus was one of the ancient settlements and the most healing and life-giving corners of Azerbaijan. On the north side of the city is the peak of Kecheldag, and the Gorus River flows along the south of the city. The strong flow of the Gorus River created favorable conditions for the construction of a hydroelectric power station here. The city of Gorus is surrounded on all sides by rich water resources and forests. The Zangazur uyezd covered the territories of Sisian, Gorus, Gafan, Mehri, Zangilan, Gubadly and Lachin. The settlements of the Zangazur uyezd were surrounded by mountains, the peaks of Zangazur, Artiz, Salig, Mekiz, Kepez, Kecheldag and Khustun. Zangazur uyezd had an area of 7892 square kilometers. The territory of this uyezd on all sides was surrounded by mountains, so the Zangazur uyezd resembled a perfect natural fortification. It is no coincidence that for centuries the population of this region had used just these conditions to protect themselves from attacks of foreign invaders. Such famous popular heroes as Davud bey, Qachag Nebi, Shemil bey, Ferzeli bey for long years lived in the mountains and forests of Zangazur and fought for justice. Rich natural hayfields, fresh waters, cool weather, the endless plateaus of Zangazur created favorable conditions for the development of livestock-breeding in the region. These natural resources were at the same time the objects of rich pastures for cattle and small cattle for neighboring uyezds and gubernias of the Russian Empire.
Discussion. At the beginning of the 20th century, garden plants and melons and gourds were grown in Zangazur uyezd. The land was plowed with wooden plough; farmers grew wheat, rice, barley, millet, cotton. On the plains, the people grew apricots, apples, pears,
cherries, sweet cherries and other fruits. The villagers were engaged in silkworm breeding. Such crafts as woodworking, pottery, carpet weaving, shawl production, and stokers were widespread in Zangazur uyezd. Seasonal work of the local population of Zangazur was the extraction and transportation of salt. There were also copper deposits in the village of Kovdar, Gafan region. Copper ores mined here were transported to various industrial enterprises of the Russian Empire.
In 1885, there were 64.443 dessiatina (a dessiatina = approx. 2 3/4 acres) of state lands in Zangazur uyezd, and in 1917 the total volume of these lands, having decreased by 17 times, was reduced to 4108 dessiatina. Our investigations show that these lands, which previously belonged to the old Azerbaijani landowners - the Sultanov, Javanshirov, Behbudbeyov, Agabeyov, Hajibeyov families, were transferred by the imperial government to the Armenian families of Orbelyan, Kalantarov, who were recently resettled in Azerbaijan. S.P.Zelinsky, who at that time studied the issues of land and property, noted: "People, resettled in Zangazur (i.e. Armenians - N.M.), for seizing lands do not abstain at all. There is no doubt that they will gain a lot very soon. Since, they have good defenders in high positions, hundreds of false witnesses and forged documents". Our research show that the ruling circles of the Russian Empire, resettling Armenians in the region, by the end of the 19th century had created "favorable conditions" for the deportation of the local Muslim population of Zangazur.
As in 1905-1906, in 1918-1920, also after the Soviet coup in April 1920 in North Azerbaijan, Armenia did not renounce unfounded territorial claims to the Azerbaijan SSR. Still during the years of existence of the Republic of Azerbaijan (1918-1920), the official authorities of Armenia intended to seize the primordi-ally Azerbaijani lands, such as Nakhchivan, Zangazur, Daghlig Garabagh (Nagorno-Karabakh), Sharur-Dere-leyez. Armenia, which without much effort captured and appropriated the ancient Azerbaijani city of Iravan on May 29, 1918, kept its occupying troops in Zangazur in the 20s of the 20th century in order to implement the crazy idea of Greater Armenia. And Soviet Russia pursued a dual policy in this area. The official authorities of Armenia either put forward their views on the "dis-putability of these territories", or on the "transfer of these territories to Armenia". In the summer of 1920,
Armenian troops, taking advantage of the favorable situation, attacked Zangibasar and Sharur, and exterminated the civilian population of these settlements. Armenians set on the fire 48 villages in Zangibasar, 118 in Vedibasar, 74 in Dereleyez, 76 villages in Sharur and Shahtakhty, and thousands of Azerbaijanis living in these villages were killed and taken prisoners. 70 thousand Azerbaijanis who previously lived in the above-mentioned settlements were forced to flee to Iran, and 400 thousand Azerbaijanis found refuge in Nakhchivan [3].
In Zangazur, Garabagh and other Azerbaijani territories, armed Armenian gangs used brute force against the civilian population, frightened and looted them, set the entire villages on fire, carried out criminal propaganda, and provoked bloody clashes. The main goal of the Armenian gangs was to seize the primordial Azerbaijani lands, first of all Garabagh, Nakhchivan and Zangazur. For instance, on June 19, 1920, a representative of the Communist Party of Armenia, speaking at the II Congress of the Komintern, said: "Independent and united Armenia" - the current government of Armenia, clearing its territories, laying Muslim villages waste with fire and sword, practically implements this cherished, holy dream" [4].
On August 10, 1920, the leadership of Soviet Azerbaijan, without informing the Azerbaijani people, signed an agreement with Soviet Russia and the Dash-nak government of Armenia, consisting of six points. Under the terms of this agreement, the Sharur-Dere-leyez region, which belonged to Soviet Azerbaijan, was completely, without reserve, transferred to Armenia. And the territories of Garabagh, Zangazur and Na-khchivan were declared "disputed areas". This is evidence of that Soviet Russia, having violated the sovereign rights of Soviet Azerbaijan, without the participation of the Azerbaijani leadership, confirmed that "the above-mentioned territories belong to Armenia". The "generous" transfer of the Azerbaijani Sharur-Dere-leyez region to Armenia increased the unreasonable ambitions of the Armenians, and this circumstance prepared a favorable political ground for the occupation of other territories of Azerbaijan, including Zangazur. Nariman Narimanov (1870-1925) expressed dissatisfaction with the position of the central Moscow leadership, sent alarming telegrams to Moscow, and a delegation of Soviet Azerbaijan to the political center of the Soviet state [5].
The Russian policy of Sovietization of Armenia at the expense of the Soviet Azerbaijani lands hampered the stabilization of the situation in Zangazur. By the end of 1920, the Zangazur region had turned into a battle arena: the territory of the Zangazur region passed into the hands of either the Dashnaks or the Soviet troops. The Nakhchivan region was completely occupied by the Russian army, and the situation in Zangazur was still tense. On December 1, 1920, the Armenians, having received a satisfactory "declaration" from the communist Soviet leadership of Azerbaijan, with all their might accelerated the annexation of Zangazur to Armenia. On December 25, 1920, the Dashnaks created a puppet structure called the "Free Government of
Syunik" here (i.e. in Zangazur - N.M.). Under the conditions of the Sovietization of Armenia, it received opportunities to unite the Zangazur region to the "New Soviet Republic". Armenians realized that the Zangazur region, which was then an integral part of Azerbaijan, could not be completely occupied. Therefore, they decided to occupy the Zangazur region by splitting it. Armenians, using forces of their emissaries, who had long settled in Moscow, proposed to divide Zangazur into two parts - the western and eastern ones. They proposed to the imperial center to separate the western part of Zangazur and call it the "Zangazur uyezd". Armenians also proposed to the center to separate this region to the eastern part and call it the "Kurdistan uyezd", where Kurds made up an insignificant part of the population. The leadership of Armenia and the command of the XI Red Army took joint measures to complete the process of annexation of the Upper Zangazur to Armenia. In June 1921, units of the Special Caucasian Soviet Empire took the offensive and in mid-July seized Zangazur. Thus, the process of annexation of the Upper part of Zangazur to Armenia was completed [6].
The government of Armenia started resettling Armenians from foreign countries (Iran, Egypt, Turkey and Russia) and settling them in Zangazur. The Azer-baijanis who remained in Zangazur under various pretexts were forced out from their homes. In 1929, three villages of Zangilan district of Azerbaijan were transferred to Armenia.
Thus, on the basis of giving of the southwestern lands of Zangazur as "gift", the Mehri district was created as part of the Armenia SSR, and the main part of the Azerbaijan SSR was separated from Nakhchivan. Our republic lost its land connection with this constituent region of the country [7].
Beginning from the end of 1920, the Armenians, who were striving to seize the Zangazur region completely, often attacked this region. In July 1921, Armenians, together with the armed detachments of the XI Red Army, occupied the Upper part of Zangazur [8]. Thus, the ancient Azerbaijani lands (this mainly included the Zangazur and Sharur-Dereleyez uyezds and the Goycha mahal), having an area of 11 thousand square kilometers, were transferred to Armenia. However, during the Moscow negotiations, the signing of the Moscow Treaty on March 12, 1921, the Turkish delegation showed determination, stated the idea of "the complete maintenance of the Sharur-Dereleyez mahal as part of the Azerbaijan SSR" [9].
In 1921-1923, official representatives of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia held negotiations to solve border problems; local representatives of these three states repeatedly appealed to the Caucasian Bureau of the Russian Communist (Bolshevik) Party, the Trans-caucasian Central Executive Committee, asking to provide them with objective assistance in resolving the problem of "disputed territories". On April 15, 1922, the government of the Azerbaijan SSR made a special decision to resolve the issue of "disputed territories" between Azerbaijan and Armenia. On June 27, 1921, at a meeting of the AC (b) P, the question of the borders between the Azerbaijan SSR and Armenia was brought up for discussion. At the meeting, it was decided that
"the correct solution of this issue lies in the broad involvement of the Armenian and Muslim masses in joint construction" [10].
On July 7, 1921, at the plenum of the Caucasian Bureau of the Republic of RC (b) P, where participated I.V.Stalin (Jugashvili) as well, with the consent of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Georgia and Armenia, the issue of the Lori region of Azerbaijan was discussed. On November 6, 1921, a decision was made in Tiflis to define the borders between Armenia and Georgia. Based on this decision, the Lori region was included in the Armenia SSR. Thus, the Lori region, without the participation and consent of the Azerbaijani leadership, was "gifted" to Armenia. Unfortunately, this "gift" of the leadership of Azerbaijan to the Armenia SSR was not the last "generosity" [11].
As earlier, in 1923 as well, Armenia violated the borders of Zangazur and "Kurdistan uyezds". In order to resolve disputed territorial issues, the Executive Committees of these uyezds officially applied to the CEC of Azerbaijan and the Transcaucasian Central Executive Committee requesting for a fair solution of this issue. The Armenian nationalists were not satisfied with their territorial acquisitions and again, under various pretexts and motives, sought to appropriate, seize more and more new territories of Azerbaijan. In September 1923, the Central Executive Committee of the Armenia SSR, applied to the Transcaucasian Central Executive Committee in order to resolve "disputable border issues" between Zangazur and Gubadly uyezds. On October 18, 1923, the Transcaucasian Central Executive Committee made a decision to resolve this "issue" and a commission was created under the chairmanship of I.F.Sturua (1870-1931). In October 1923, this commission was supposed to resolve the "disputable border issue" between the "Kurdistan" and Zangazur uyezds. On October 18, 1923, the Transcaucasian Central Executive Committee decided to define the boundaries between the Gazakh and Dilijan uyezds. But this boundary line was not fixed, so it was necessary to reconsider this boundary line in the future. In 1923, the pastures of Zangazur, Javanshir and Gazakh uyezds of Azerbaijan with an area up to 150 thousand dessiatina were transferred to Armenia [12].
During the violent and documentary conquest of the primordial Azerbaijani lands, the opinion of the leadership of Azerbaijan and the interests of the Azerbaijani people were not taken into account. In many cases, the opinion of the political leadership of the Azerbaijan SSR was not taken into account. For instance, on March 31, 1927, the Transcaucasian Central Executive Committee, without the participation and consent of the leadership of the Azerbaijan SSR, included 172.8 dessiatina of the border lands of the Zangazur uyezd and lands belonging to Azerbaijan into the category of "disputed areas" and 56.1 dessiatina of these lands were transferred to the Armenia SSR. The government of the Azerbaijan SSR protested, rejected this new decision of the Transcaucasian Central Executive Committee, and instructed the People's Land Commissariat to study "disputed issues" and fairly solve the artificially created problem. On September 6, 1927, the leadership of the Azerbaijan SSR sent the
documents of the Land Commissariat of our country to the Transcaucasian Central Executive Committee and submitted an official application to this body. Azerbaijani leadership stated that the above-mentioned territories are primordially Azerbaijani lands. However, as before, the CEC of the Transcaucasia did not take into account the fair decision of the Azerbaijani government and 56.1 dessiatina of lands were transferred to the Armenia SSR [13].
Questions on the "disputed territories" were repeatedly raised by Armenian nationalists in the 20-30s of the 20th century. For instance, by the decision of the Presidium of the Transcaucasian Central Executive Committee from January 1, 1927, 24 villages of the Jabrail district, by the decision of the meeting of June 20, 1927 of the above-mentioned Committee 1065 des-siatina of lands of the Zangazur-Kurdistan uyezd, became subjects of discussion as "disputed territories". On February 18, 1929, at a meeting of the Transcauca-sian Central Executive Committee, held under the chairmanship of M.G.Tskhakaya (1865-1950), under the pretext of "creating an Armenian region in Mehri", it was decided to transfer 3 villages of the Zangilan district of the Azerbaijan SSR (Tugut, Nuvedi, Einazur) to the Armenia SSR. In 1938-1939, the village of Einazur was merged with the village of Nuvedi, and the village of Tugut with the village of Astazur. On the basis of the decision of the Transcaucasian Central Executive Committee from April 18, 1929, and without a decision and the consent of the Azerbaijani government, the ancient Azerbaijani villages of Nuvedi, Tugut and Einazur, as well as parts of the lands from the villages of Karkivan, Kilid of Ordubad uyezd were transferred to Armenia. At the expense of the primordial Azerbaijani territories, as part of the Armenia SSR was created artificially the Mehri district. Based on the decision of the Transcau-casian Central Executive Committee from February 18, 1929, 9 villages, and in 1930, 2 villages of the Na-khchivan ASSR of the Azerbaijan SSR were transferred to the Armenia SSR. Thus, a distance of 45 kilometers was artificially created between the Azerbaijan SSR and its constituent part, the Nakhchivan ASSR. During the Soviet territorial "operations" 658.4 square kilometers of the territory of the Nakhchivan mahal of the Azerbaijan SSR were "given as gift to the fraternal Armenia SSR" [14].
In one of his speeches, the National Leader of Azerbaijan H.A.Aliyev expressed his attitude to the above-mentioned decisions of the Imperial Center directed against the Azerbaijani people: "In 1929, by the decision of the Transcaucasian CEC, 657 square kilometers of lands from the Nakhchivan SSR were transferred to the Armenia SSR ... And also other lands of Azerbaijan were "gifted" to Armenia ... The truly Azerbaijani village of Nuvedi was also withdrawn from the Azerbaijan SSR in 1929 and transferred to the Armenia SSR. As a result of giving the southwestern lands of Zangazur as "gift" to the Armenians, the Mehri district of the Armenia SSR was created, and the Azerbaijan SSR was separated from the Nakhchivan ASSR. The connection of the Azerbaijan SSR with Nakhchivan and the Republic of Turkey was broken; the Azerbaijani lands were divided into small parts" [15].
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan I.H.Ali-yev, speaking at the annual meeting of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan about the "gifting" of Zangazur district to Armenia, indicated that the decision on "transfer of the ancient Azerbaijani territory - the Zangazur district to Armenia was a great injustice ... Later on, the results of these unfair decisions became negative for our people. These decisions split the entire Turkic world" [16].
Conclusion. As a result of the aggressive policy of Armenia during the years of Soviet power, 12 thousand 779.6 square kilometers of the territory of the Azerbaijan SSR was "gifted" by the imperial Center to the Armenia SSR. If the territory of "Armenia" under the terms of the Batumi Treaty was 9.2 thousand square kilometers, then in 1924 it "increased" to 27.1 thousand square kilometers, and soon to 28.1 thousand square kilometers [17]. But the appetite of the Armenia SSR was insatiable. Soviet Armenia continued its aggressive policy.
In 1928, the highways belonging to the Azerbaijan SSR with a length of 170 km, "by order" were transferred to the Highways Department of the Armenia SSR [18]. All this was the result of the occupation policy created by the administrative-command regime, the result of encroachments on the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and the seizure of Azerbaijani lands, the logical result of the insidious aggressive, adventurous policy of the "Center", adhering to the principle of "divide and rule".
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