occupied by the British, French, Italians and Greeks. In the east,
Armenians had begun to establish a state with support from the Great
Powers who were keen to see a Caucasus buffer between Turkey and
Soviet Russia, Ankara’s only foreign ally. Coincidentally, the Turks’
strongest army was based in Erzurum under the command of Kâzım
Karabekir and the Turks’ weakest opponent was Armenia. So a
Turkish victory over Armenia would open up a corridor to Soviet Russia,
boost the morale of the nascent Turkish independence movement and
allow needed supplies to be redirected to the western front against the
Greeks, in particular.
In April 1920 the Red Army occupied much of the Caucasus,
prompting Karabekir to move against the Armenians from the opposite
direction and on 20 September 1920 his 15th Army Corps did just that.
On 30 October, the Turks seized Kars and continued on toward Gyumri
(Gümrü). The Armenians asked for a cease-fire on 6 November and on
3 December the Gyumri Agreement was signed, pacifying the Turks’
eastern frontier and allowing them to focus on the western front.
The 15th Army Corps had moved against Armenia from the west and
north but there was another Turkish detachment operating in the remote
enclave of Nakhchivan to the south that provided additional pressure
on the Armenians and helped the Turks eventually carry the day.
What follows is a first-hand account of the Battle of Nakhchivan
written by one Colonel Veysel, evidently a participant on the Turkish
side, and published in Ottoman in the “Askeri Mecmua” (Military
Magazine) in March 1927. Herewith TNT presents the English
translation of the article.//
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Writer: Colonel Veysel
The Battles of an Independent Detachment During the War of
Independence
1
(7 November Battle)
Since the beginning of the year 336 (1920), a detachment of ours was
engaged in battles with the Armenians in the region of Nakhchivan. In
November of that year, the Turkish Army had advanced as far as the
Arpa Çayı. During this operation, from the Nakhchivan Detachment
one infantry battalion, a mountain battery, a cavalry company and a
transport detachment were taken by the 11th Division to the Iğdır
region for participation in the attack on Iğdır. So, in Nakhchivan, only
a detachment comprised of heavy machine gun company and two
infantry battalions remained. At most, there were 170 combatants in
the battalions. The detachment also had a mountan gun seized from
the Armenians and 3 Lewis guns.
While the army was attacking Kars, the detachment was fighting with
Armenian gangs in the Durmalı Mountains of Ordubad. After this
duty was completed, the Nakhchivan Detachment was ordered to
move effectively in the direction of Yerevan.
The situation is shown on map number 1.
Turkish front
Turkish Detachment (Nakhchivan)
Armenian front
Armenian regular troops (Shah Tahtı)
Detachment’s communication lien with the army and with the rear
Scale: 1/1,000,000
Iran is at bottom, Nakhchivan is the dark spot just above it.
As is seen on the map, the detachment was surrounded on three sides
by Armenians and on the fourth by the Aras River, which is forded
only at known, dangerous passes. Our only means of crossing was
barge at Kanberkent and our communication lines from Kanberkent to
Maku in Iran were quite long. The enemy had at least an infantry
regiment and a cannon battery at Shah Tahtı. An armored train was
always stopping and threatening us. In the other areas around us the
Armenian forces were made up of militias and we had our own
militias, as well.
The people of the area had mostly fled to Iran and sold their rifles
there. The militia organization had decreased by 50%. The
countryside was left to looters and hunger prevailed. The
detachment obtained its food from Doğubeyazit, but only with
great difficulty.
Two Bolshevik cavalry regiments came as friends from Karabağ but
when their communications with Karabağ were cut off by the
Armenians, they were stuck in Nakhchivan. Because of their dogma,
they were seen as enemies by everyone so they kept to themselves.
The detachment began to prepare after its return from Ordubad.
1 – Partial battalions were made from the volunteers from among the
Şerur refugees and other militias. Additionally, with the remaining
fighters two militia groups were organized – one comprising 150
fighters and the other 70. In total, 440 volunteer infantrymen were
brought into the detachment, whose strength was 600 men – but only
165 of these were regular army. We also had about 400 volunteer
horsemen in service.
2 – The mountain gun seized from the Armenians previously was
made serviceable by the infantrymen.
3 - A health detachment made up of volunteers ( 8 stretchers,
2 oxcarts)
4 - A transport group
5 – Training was initiated for the volunteers ( a 10-day course)
6 – The militias were given only 40 bullets per rifleman.
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