Declaration independence of Azerbaijan

The last meeting of the South Caucasus Seim was held on May 26, 1918. In a speech, Irakli Tsereteli blamed the Azerbaijani faction for the dissolution of the Transcaucasian federation. He charged that the Azerbaijani faction as well as the Muslim population of the South Caucasus had refused to fight against Turkey, that it had sent its representatives to the Trabzon conference with no intention of negotiating, and that it had sent propagandists into the regions to persuade them to side with Turkey. Shafi bey Rustambeyov, who was responsible for answering Tsereteli, said that the arguments of the Georgian representatives who had decided to secede from the South Caucasus federation were false. In any case, if the Georgians did not want to cooperate, then Azerbaijan would not object to the dissolution of the Seim.

Giorgi Gvazava, a Georgian Nationalist Democrat, found a better way to resolve the disagreements. He said: "Gentlemen, let us stop arguing. Today we choose to dissolve the Seim, so let us do so in a friendly manner. We are meeting as friends, let us separate the same way." Thus, after Georgia"s statement about its secession, the Transcaucasian Seim decided to dissolve itself. The National Council of Georgia announced the independence of the Republic of Georgia on May 26 and formed a government cabinet with Noe Ramishvili as its head. The new government"s first political step in the international arena was the signing of an agreement with Germany that had been prepared beforehand. The Georgian government accepted Germany"s guardianship.

To discuss the crisis because of the dissolution of the Sejm, members of the Azerbaijani faction gathered on May 27 to hold an extraordinary meeting. In considering the complexity of the situation, the meeting decided to assume the responsibility for managing Azerbaijan and, hence, proclaimed itself the Azerbaijani National Interim Council. A vote by secret ballot elected Mahammad Emın Rasulzade a chairman of the Council. His candidature was backed by all Parties, except for "Ittihad". Hasan bey Aghayev and Mir Hidayat Seidov were elected his deputies, and Mustafa bey Mahmudov and Rahim bey Vekilov as secretaries of the National Council. Then delegates elected an executive body of the National Council composed of nine members in charge of various spheres of Republic"s life. Fatali khan Khoyskii was unanimously elected a chairman of the executive body.

The first meeting of the Azerbaijani National Council was held on May 28. Twenty-six people participated in the meeting, and three items were on the agenda: (1) information presented by Hasan Bey Aghayev about the latest events in Ganja; (2) reading of the letter and telegram of Mahammad Emin Rasulzade from Batum; and (3) the position of Azerbaijan related to the announcement of the independence of Georgia and dissolution of the Seim. Member of the National Council Khalil bey Khasmamedov made a report to substantiate the necessity of immediate declaration of the Azerbaijan Republic. He was backed by members of the National Council Nasib bey Usubbeyov, Akber agha Sheikhulislamov, Mir Hidayet Seidov, etc. The National Council (24 votes for, 2 abstained - Soltan Majid Ganizade and Javad Akhundov) passed a decision to immediate declare the state independence of Azerbaijan and proclaim "Act of Azerbaijan"s Independence". The declaration of independence consisted of six Articles:

1) as of today, Azerbaijan, which constitutes southeastern Transcaucasia, and has the right to national governance, is a genuine independent state;

2) the form of governance of the independent Azerbaijani state is established as a people"s republic;

3) the "Azerbaijan Republic" insists on building good relationships with all nations and states;

4) the "Azerbaijan Republic" guarantees citizenship and legal rights for all those who live within its territory, regardless of their nationality, religion, social position, beliefs, or gender;

5) the "Azerbaijan Republic" provides many opportunities for unrestricted development of all nations living within the territory of the republic; and

6) until the Constituent Assembly is formed, a provisional government consisting of the National Council and the Council of Nations, elected on territorial basis, will govern Azerbaijan.

Members of the National Council heard a text of the Act, then entrusted Khoyskii to form the Azerbaijani government. In an hour, meeting participants heard Khoyskii"s report on formation of the government. It stated, Fatali khan Khoyskii - Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers and concurrently Internal Minister; Khosrovpasha bey Sultanov - War Minister; Mahammmad Hasan Hajinskii - Foreign Minister; Nasib bey Usubbeyov - Minister of Finance and People"s Education; Khalil bey Khasmamedov - Minister of Justice; Mahammad Yusif Jafarov - Minister of Trade and Industry; Akber agha Sheikhulislamov - Minister of Agriculture and Labor; Khudadat bey Melikaslanov - Minister of Means of Communication; Post and Telegraph; State Controller - Jamo Hajinskii. The National Council of Azerbaijan carried out a great historical mission for the Azerbaijani nation by doing this. Whereas the majority of Muslim states were founded on a religious basis, the Azerbaijan Republic became the first Turkic state built on a universal basis. The founding of the Azerbaijani national state was a historic event in the destiny of the nation. Mammad Emin Rasulzade wrote, "The National Council of Azerbaijan, by publishing the Declaration dated May 28, 1918, confirmed the existence of the Azerbaijani nation in a political sense. Thus, the word "Azerbaijan" was understood not only in a geographical, linguistic, and ethnographic, but also in political sense."

On May 30, information about the establishment of the Azerbaijani Republic was telegraphed to Foreign Ministers of countries worldwide. A radiogram addressed to Constantinople, Berlin, Vienna, Paris, London, Rome, Washington, Sofia, Bucharest, Teheran, Madrid, Haague, Moscow, Stockholm, Kiev, Christiania, and Copenhagen, said, "As the Federative Transcaucasian Republic was disunited due to separation of Georgia, the National Council of Azerbaijan announced May 28 independence of Azerbaijan consisting of Eastern and Southern Transcaucasia. Your Excellency is kindly asked to inform Your Government about it. My government will temporarily by headquartered in Elizavetpol. Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Azerbaijani Republic Fathali khan Khoyskii".

At the Batum negotiations, begun by the Transcaucasian government and continued by the newly created republics, each put forward their articles of peace. It was necessary to define the borders of the newly created republics after the announcement of their independence. The Armenian republic was in the most complicated situation. Armenian representatives who applied to the Azerbaijani government for help before the signature of an agreement were met favorably. The chairman of the Ministerial Council of Azerbaijan, Fatali khan Khoyski, informed the National Council about negotiations with the Armenian National Council held on May 29. He stated that the Armenians needed a political center for the formation of an Armenian federation, because Alexandropol (Gumri) was still in Turkey"s hands. Only Erivan (Yerevan) could become such a political center; hence, it was prudent to give the city to Armenia. While addressing the meeting about this subject, Khalil bey Khasmammadov, Mahammad Yusif Jafarov, Akbar agha Sheykhulislamov, and Mahammad Maharramov evaluated the concession of Erivan to Armenia as an inevitable misfortune. The National Council agreed to give Erivan to the Armenians. Two days later, members of the National Council of Erivan-Mir Hidayet Seyidov, Baghir Rzayev, and Nariman Narimanov-rejected the concession, but the meeting of the National Council of Azerbaijan held on April 1 did not accept this rejection. Thus, the National Council decided to send a representative group consisting of Mir Hidayet Seyidov, Baghir Rzayev, and Mamad Yusif Jafarov to Erivan in order to resolve problems related to the conceding of Erivan to the Armenians. After this, the meeting discussed the Elizavetpol province issue. Nasib bey Usubbeyov andShafi bey Rustambeyov, who had returned from Ganja, presented information on this subject. At the meeting, it was decided to send Usubbeyov to Batum in order to inform the Azerbaijani representatives about the situation in the entire country. Negotiations between Azerbaijani and Armenian representatives in Batum on the subject of borders were held, and both sides reached an agreement. Azerbaijan would allow the creation of an Armenian state within the borders of "Alexandropol province" on the condition that Armenians abandon their claims to part of Elizavetpol province (Garabagh). In return, Azerbaijani representatives promised to help them secure signature of an agreement with Turkey.

Opinions within Turkish political circles about the creation of an Armenian state in the South Caucasus and about historically Azerbaijani territories being given to Armenians in order to let them create their own state were not unanimous. Prime Minister Talaat Pasha and Minister of War Enver Pasha, who were defining the foreign policy of Turkey at the end of World War I, did not favor the creation of an Armenian state in the South Caucasus. They considered that the creation would result in a weak country that would not be powerful enough to survive. Halil bey Menteshe ( the Minister of Justice) and Mehmet Vehib pasha (the commander-in-chief of the Caucasian Front), representatives of Turkey at the Batum negotiations, considered the concession of historically Azerbaijani territories to Armenians inevitable and, with that end in view, they advised the Azerbaijani representatives to recognize the existence of Armenia at the international level and to make certain compromises. When Halil bey, who was in Batum, informed Enver Pasha about the territorial compromises, he opposed these. In his telegram to Vehib Pasha, sent on May 27, he wrote, "As can be understood from the telegram of Halil bey, the Armenians, as a concession for those lands returned to us, want to obtain a part of the territories belonging to the Muslims of the South Caucasus, and Muslims would agree to this. I think that this is totally wrong. If today, a small Armenia, populated by five or six hundred thousand people and having sufficient territory, were to exist, then in the future this state would come to have a population of millions of people formed on the basis of American Armenians returning here. This will create a Bulgaria in the East, and this country would be a more harmful enemy for us than Russia. Enver Pasha preferred that the territories occupied by the Armenians, and in the first place Erivan province, where the majority of the population was Muslim, should be free of Armenians. He wrote, "If this situation, which is the most suitable for our benefit, does not take place, then it would be unavoidable to let the Armenians remain. In that case, it is necessary that they be allowed there in small numbers only. Only in that case could the well-being of our state and the present and future well-being of the Caucasian Muslims evade danger." In a reply to the telegram of Enver Pasha, Vehib Pasha wrote on May 29, 1918, "We cannot completely do away with the Armenians. In any case, we need to and have to let them exist." On the same day, Enver Pasha sent instructions to Batum, stating that the Ottoman government must have a direct border with the state that has Ganja as its capital. In his opinion, this border must pass north of Garakilse and through Nakhchivan.

It has to be kept in mind that "Treaty of Friendship between Imperial Ottoman Government and the Azerbaijani Republic" was signed on June 4 following the Batumi talks of May 11. On the part of Turkey, the Treaty was signed by Justice Minister Halil bey Menteshe and commander-in-chief of the Caucasian Front Mehmet Vehib pasha, on the part of Azerbaijan by Chairman of the National Council Rasulzade and Foreign Minister Hajinskii. That was the first treaty signed by the Azerbaijani Republic with a foreign state. An Article 4 of the treaty said that the Ottoman government undertook to render military aid to the government of Azerbaijan if required for order and security in the country.

Following the Batum conference, Turkey signed a treaty with Georgia and with Armenia on June 4 by recognizing their independence. Under the treaty with Georgia, Turkey had Kars, Batum and Ardahan, as well as Akhaltsikh and Akhalkalaki. Under the treaty with Turkey, Armenia had to recognize provisions of the Brest-Lithuanian treaty, following which Echmiadzin and Alexandropol passed over to Turkey, the latter had the right to operate a route Alexandropol-Julfa. A border of Armenia passed along Erivan, and the latter disposed of 6 km railway only. According to the Batum agreement, the Armenian republic was a state of the South Caucasus with a territory of 10,000 square kilometers. Hovhannes Kachaznuni, Alexander Khatisian, and Mikayel Papajanian signed the agreement from the Armenian side. According to the Batum agreement, the Georgian and Armenian republics were now obliged to guarantee safety and free development to the Muslim population living in their territories and to create conditions for the provision of education in native languages and for the free and unhindered observance of religious customs and ceremonies.

Following 3-week activity in Tiflis the Azerbaijani government and the National Council moved to Ganja on June 16. By this moment, first Turkish subdivisions headed by Nuri pasha came up to the city. On June 17, a crisis confrontation took place between supporters of Azerbaijan"s joining Turkey, Turkish command, and advocates of independence, however, it became possible to preserve Azerbaijan"s independence, and the same day a government headed by Khoyskii was formed. Portfolios in the new Cabinet were distributed as follows: Fatali khan Khoyskii - Prime Minister and Minister of Justice; Mahammad Hasan Hajinskii - Foreign Minister; Behbud bey Javanshir - Internal Minister; Khudadat bey Melikaslanov - Communication Minister; Abdulali bey Amirjanov - Finance Minister; Khosrovpasha bey Sultanov - Minister of Agriculture; Nasib bey Usubbeyov - Minister of People"s Education; Khudat bey Rafibeyli - Minister of Public Health. As soon as the governmental crisis was over, on June 23 on the whole territory of the Republic. Composed of the Turkish relulars and Azerbaijani volunteers, the Islamic Army aimed to liberate Baku as historical, political, economic, and cultural center from Bolshevik-Armenian aggressors and return the city to its true owners - Muslims.