Khosrov bey Sultanov

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Khosrov bey Sultanov
Xosrov bəy Sultanov
Azerbaijani Parliament)
Preceded byoffice established
Succeeded byoffice eliminated and re-established on November 7, 1918, to be led by Fatali Khan Khoyski
Governor General of Karabakh and Zangezur
In office
January 15, 1919 – April 16, 1920
Preceded byoffice established
Succeeded byoffice eliminated
Personal details
Born(1879-05-10)May 10, 1879
Major General

Khosrov bey Alipasha bey oghlu Sultanov (Azerbaijani: خسرو بگ علی پاشا بگ اوغلی سلطانوف, 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 Democratic Republic.[1]

Early life

Odessa and studied at the Odessa Military School graduating with a degree in Medical Therapy.[1]

During World War I, Sultanov led the Baku Muslim Relief Foundation of the Council for Placement of Refugees from Caucasian Front, set up in Tiflis to help with accommodation and relief of the refugees.[2] In 1917, he joined Musavat Party and participated its first congress. He was also elected as a deputy to Transcaucasian Seim.[3]

Political career

Minister of Defense

Sultanov was one of the signatories of the Declaration of Independence of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic in

Tiflis on May 28, 1918.[1][4] He was appointed the Minister of Defense in the first government of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. Although the office of the Minister of Defense was not officially established on paper, Khosrov bey assumed the duties of the minister until June 11, 1918. The Ministry of Defense was officially established on October 23, 1918, and office of the Minister of Defense was formally inaugurated on November 7, 1918, when Fatali Khan Khoyski took the office.[5]

During his term as Defense Minister, Sultanov was to undertake the formation of the army. According to the parliament approved plan, the most important structures and divisions were to be established by November 1, 1919. Within the time given, two infantry

railway battalions were to be created.[5] Sultanov frequently visited the army units and checked the progress of army establishment.[6]

Governor General of Karabakh and Zangezur

In January 1919, the British forces commander General

Democratic Republic of Armenia, the Armenian government itself, as well as a number of American diplomats and relief officials working in the region, who cited his past collaboration with the Ottoman armies that had occupied the area in 1918.[7][8] In response to criticism of Armenian leaders, Thomson said: "The fact is that in Azerbaijan some Armenians are much disappointed that the British occupation is not an opportunity for revenge. They are reluctant to accept it that the peace conference is going to decide and not military forces."[9]

In mid-April 1919, conflicts in the Zangezur uezd began as Armenians and Muslim inhabitants clashed.[10] The fighting resulted in the expulsion of the Muslims of central Zangezur down to steppes in the east and across the river to Persia. Sultanov requested his government to act and the de facto provisional Azerbaijani rule over Karabakh under Sultanov was recognized by the Allies.[11][12]

Tension in Karabakh

Sultanov, however, was a widely hated figure by the Armenians of Karabakh, objected to his threats to compel them to fully submit to Azerbaijani rule.

Tiflis announced that he had been deprived of his position and was facing charges; while American reports stated that he had been arrested and imprisoned.[17]

Though Sultanov denied any wrongdoing, an investigation carried out by the British military concluded that he had instigated the massacres to take place.[18] But by the end of June, Sultanov had returned to his post to resume his activities, presumably with the support of Colonel D.I. Shuttleworth, Thomson's successor; seeing that further resistance was futile, the Karabakh Armenians agreed to submit to provisional Azerbaijani rule in the region in exchange for their cultural and civic rights. Among other things, the compact stipulated that Sultanov establish a joint Armeno-Muslim administrative council which would limit the movement of the Azerbaijani forces in the region.[19] The agreement was signed on August 22, 1919.[20] Sultanov, in turn, appointed an Armenian as his assistant in civil affairs in addition to three Armenians who were to serve on the council established by the agreement. The earlier blockades to Armenian areas were also lifted.

Although relations started to normalize, enmity between the communities remained with Armenian nationalist resentment towards the Karabakh leadership and Azerbaijani desire for permanent rule rising.[21] Despite the agreement, Sultanov almost immediately violated all these terms; he increased the sizes of Azerbaijani garrisons in Shusha and Khankendi and moved his forces without the council's approval.[22]

In the beginning of 1920, Sultanov intensified his efforts to bring control of the region under Azerbaijani rule by issuing an ultimatum to the Armenian National Council. In early 1920, the Paris Peace Conference had recognized Azerbaijan's de facto claim to Karabakh.

Shosh and rejected the possibility of union with Azerbaijan, Sultanov sought to tighten his control of Karabakh: he forbade Armenians from leaving Shusha without permission, stationed Azerbaijani troops in Armenian homes, ordered Armenian veterans of the former Russian Army to register so that they may not partake in military activities, and drew up plans to destroy several Armenian villages to sever the link between Armenians in Karabakh and the region of Zangezur.[26] In March 1920, mass killings of the Armenian population took place in the Shusha massacre.[27][28]

Post-sovietization

In late April 1920, the

Revkom leader Nariman Narimanov in Baku.[29] He claimed that "revolutionary Karabagh" was now waiting impatiently for the establishment of Soviet order and desired to unite with Soviet Azerbaijan. Narimanov, however, was not convinced by Sultanov's declarations, and on May 14 he appointed Dadash Bunyadzade as extraordinary commissar for Karabakh and ordered him to liquidate Sultanov's self-styled Revkom.[30]

Later years

Following persecution by the Bolsheviks, Sultanov managed to flee to Turkey in 1923 and from then on, lived in Iran, France and Germany. In Germany, he was a professor at a medical university. In 1941–1945, during World War II, he played a significant role in bringing Azerbaijani prisoners of war back to Azerbaijan.[31] After long time in Europe, Sultanov went back to Turkey in 1936 and died in Istanbul in 1943.[32]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b c "Azərbaycan Demokratik Cümhuriyyətinin ilk qəhrəman hərbi naziri – Xosrov bəy Sultanovun doğum günüdür" [Birthday of the first Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic - Khosrov bey Sultanov]. Archived from the original on 2021-02-04. Retrieved 2010-07-19.
  2. ^ "Azərbaycanda xeyriyyəçilik hərəkatı və Həsən bəy Zərdabi" [Charity movement in Azerbaijan and Hasan bey Zardabi]. Retrieved 2010-07-19.[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ Dilqəm Əhməd "Bir ildən yüz ilə"
  4. ^ "Şərqdə ilk demokratik respublika" [First republic on the east]. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2010-07-19.
  5. ^ a b Elbrus Seyfullayev (2010-06-28). "Güclü ordu Azərbaycanın milli təhlükəsizliyinin, müstəqilliyinin və ərazi bütövlüyünün qarantıdır" [A strong army is the guarantor of national security, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan]. Azeri Press Agency. Archived from the original on 2010-07-12. Retrieved 2010-07-19.
  6. ^ "Национальной армии посвящается" [Dedicated to the army]. Archived from the original on 2011-07-06. Retrieved 2010-07-19.
  7. ISBN 0-7007-1162-7
    . Retrieved July 19, 2010.
  8. ISBN 0-520-01984-9
    .
  9. ISBN 0-8179-9181-6
    . Retrieved July 21, 2010.
  10. ^ Hovannisian. Republic of Armenia, Vol. I, p. 194
  11. ISBN 0-312-16452-1
    . Retrieved July 19, 2010.
  12. ISBN 0-231-07068-3
    . Retrieved July 19, 2010.
  13. ISBN 0-8147-1945-7
    .
  14. ^ Hovannisian. Republic of Armenia, Vol. I, p. 162.
  15. ^ Hovannisian. Republic of Armenia, Vol. I, pp. 175-176. One sepoy from the British military mission was killed and another was wounded by the Azeris during the firefight: Hovannisian. Republic of Armenia, Vol. I, p. 176, note 50.
  16. ^ Hovannisian. Republic of Armenia, Vol. I, pp. 176-177.
  17. ^ Hovannisian. Republic of Armenia, Vol. I, p. 180.
  18. ^ Hovannisian. Republic of Armenia, Vol. I, p. 181.
  19. ISBN 0-520-08803-4
    .
  20. ^ Hovannisian. Republic of Armenia, Vol. I, pp. 181-187.
  21. ISBN 0-275-96241-5
    . In an attempt to combat .
  22. ^ Hovannisian. Republic of Armenia, Vol. 3, pp. 132–133
  23. ISBN 90-411-1477-7
    .
  24. ^ Hovannisian. Republic of Armenia, Vol. 3, pp. 139-140
  25. ^ Hovannisian. Republic of Armenia, Vol. 3, p. 142.
  26. ^ Hovannisian. Republic of Armenia, Vol. 3, pp. 145-147
  27. Tatarian
    administration of governor Saltanov. The national clashes ended by the terrible massacres in which the most of Armenians in Shusha town perished. The Parliament in Baku refused even condemn the accomplishers of the massacres in Shusha and the war was started in Karabakh."
  28. ^ S. Neil MacFarlane, Oliver Thränert,, Balancing hegemony: the OSCE in the CIS, Centre for International Relations, 1997, p. 71 "Another event of the period was the massacre in March 1920 of Armenians in Shusha, the historic centre of Karabakh, which shifted its ethnic status from an Armenian-dominated town to an Azeri-dominated one."
  29. ^ Hovannisian. Republic of Armenia, Vol. 3, pp. 193-194
  30. ^ Hovannisian. Republic of Armenia, Vol. 3, pp. 195-196
  31. ^ "General-mayor XOSROV BƏY SULTANOV" [Major General Khosrov bey Sultanov]. Archived from the original on 2011-07-06. Retrieved 2010-07-19.
  32. ^ İlk hərbi nazirimizin məzarı tapılıb
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