The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, established on May 28, 1918, was written into the history of the entire Muslim East and the Turkic world as the history of the first democratic republic. With the establishment of the Republic, Azerbaijani Turks, who had lived for centuries with the dream of independence, gained their own modern-type independent state.
The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was established under very complex internal and international conditions, when the bloody wars waged by great powers to divide the world during the First World War entered a decisive phase. The first important task of the first Turkic republic was to achieve international recognition of Azerbaijan's independence and to normalize relations with neighboring states. However, immediately after the declaration of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, foreign forces tried to use all means to overthrow it. At that time, the Dashnak-Bolshevik regime led by S. Shaumyan, who had seized power in Baku, was carrying out genocide against the Turkic-Muslim population of Azerbaijan. The newly formed government faced painful problems such as preventing destructive events in the country, protecting the Azerbaijani people and their independence, and also resolving disputed issues among the South Caucasus republics, especially the territorial claims of the Armenians.
The leaders of the Azerbaijani national liberation movement saw the only way to stop the escalating Dashnak-Bolshevik aggression in obtaining military assistance from the Ottoman state. In a very complex international geopolitical situation, the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, which had declared its independence and was in great need of urgent military assistance, decided to conclude a friendship treaty with Turkey as the first step of its international policy. Thus, on June 4, 1918, a friendship treaty was signed in Batumi between the Ottoman state and the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. This document, which was of vital importance for the Azerbaijani people, was the first interstate treaty signed by the Republic's government. In accordance with the terms of the treaty, the Fifth Caucasus Division (firqa) was sent to Azerbaijan under the command of Mursal Pasha. This division and the Azerbaijani military forces, whose foundation was laid in December 1917 under the command of Lieutenant General Aliagha Shikhlinski but could not be properly formed due to complex historical circumstances, were united into a single structure under the name of the Caucasian Islamic Army. The leadership of this structure was entrusted to Nuru Pasha.
Following this, on June 16, the Azerbaijani government moved from Tiflis to Ganja. In Ganja, volunteers gathered from the local population also joined the Turkish military unit led by Nuru Pasha. The personnel of the Caucasian Islamic Army was formed from joint forces.
On June 17, 1918, the Azerbaijani government, led by Fatali Khan Khoyski, took on the responsibility of extricating the people, who were experiencing the fate of genocide, from this difficult situation. After declaring martial law throughout Azerbaijan on June 19, the government immediately began the process of state building. The Azerbaijani government focused its main activities on army building with the aim of preventing foreign intervention and preserving state independence.
On June 26, a significant step was taken towards army building with the transformation of the Muslim military corps into the Azerbaijani corps, and effectively, the first national army was created. One day later, the Azerbaijani language was declared the state language. Following this, on July 15, a decision was made to establish an Extraordinary Investigation Commission with the aim of investigating the genocide crimes committed by Armenian Dashnaks against the Turkic-Muslim population in the South Caucasus during the First World War and bringing the perpetrators to justice.
From the day this structure was formed, the units and divisions of the Caucasian Islamic Army began heavy battles against the Bolshevik-Dashnak forces, who had launched large-scale military operations to destroy Azerbaijan's independence. The Caucasian Islamic Army, comprehensively supported by the Azerbaijani Government and the entire Azerbaijani people, showed unparalleled bravery in disarming the Armenians of Ganja, and in the battles of Garamaryam, Kurdamir, Shamakhi, Binagadi, etc., inflicting heavy blows on the Bolshevik-Dashnak forces and forcing them to retreat along the entire front.
The culmination of the Caucasian Islamic Army's victorious march was the liberation of Baku on September 15, 1918. To successfully complete the assault on Baku, the number of soldiers and officers of the Caucasian Islamic Army had been increased to 14,000. Of these, 8,000 were Ottoman and 6,000 were Azerbaijani Turks. The operation, planned with high military professionalism, resulted in the liberation of Baku, which had been declared the capital of the independent Azerbaijani state, in a short time. On September 15, 1918, the Caucasian Islamic Army led by Nuru Pasha and the Azerbaijani Corps entered Baku and liberated the city from Armenian-Bolshevik occupation.
During the liberation of Baku from Armenian-Bolshevik occupation, a large quantity of enemy weapons and ammunition was confiscated. In the battles for Baku, the 5th Caucasus Division suffered up to 1300 martyrs. In total, the number of martyrs in the Caucasian Islamic Army during battles from mid-June to September 15 was approximately 4000 people.
One of the successful outcomes of the joint military operations carried out to ensure Azerbaijan's territorial integrity was the Karabakh campaign of the Caucasian Islamic Army. A few days after the liberation of Baku, the Caucasian Islamic Army set out to assist the Karabakh region to prevent the massacres carried out by Armenian-Dashnak forces against the Azerbaijani people. A part of the Caucasian Islamic Army continued its liberation march towards Dagestan.
Throughout its entire period of activity, from the days the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was declared until November 1918, the Caucasian Islamic Army liberated the territories from Goychay to Baku from Bolshevik-Dashnak forces, Karabakh from Armenian-Dashnak bandits, and the north of the Republic from Russian intervention.
The Caucasian Islamic Army played a significant role in the history of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, particularly in stopping the genocides carried out by the Dashnak-Bolshevik regime led by S. Shaumyan against the Azerbaijani people, in the liberation of Baku from occupation, and in the creation and formation of the national army.
The joint operations carried out by the Caucasian Islamic Army and Azerbaijani military forces in 1918 not only ensured Azerbaijan's territorial integrity at that time but also played a very important historical role in laying the foundation for our country's present-day independence. The military and political support provided by the Ottoman state at that time also played a very significant role in the subsequent stages of our national statehood history. Looking at these historical events from today's reality, it is clear that Azerbaijan's current fraternal relations with Turkey are based on our historical past full of victories.
Javanshir Feyziyev, Member of the Milli Majlis
September 15, 2025
