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Monday was the 107th anniversary of the Caucasus Islamic Army taking back Baku from Bolshevik and Armenian gangs. A campaign assisted mainly by the Ottoman Empire, the episode cemented the future complete independence of Azerbaijan.
Turkish diplomats and citizens joined a commemoration ceremony at the Baku Turkish Cemetery of Martyrs in memory of people who died during the liberation, as anthems of Azerbaijan and Türkiye were recited.
Turkish Chief of General Staff Gen. Selçuk Bayraktaroğlu visited Azerbaijan for the occasion and laid red carnations on the graves of the martyrs.
He also met with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ketim Veliyev, and Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov, noting that cooperation between the two countries has strengthened due to the friendly ties between their leaders.
Hasanov highlighted that Türkiye-Azerbaijan relations are built on deep-rooted history, shared values and mutual trust, according to an Azerbaijani Defense Ministry statement.
Hasanov also expressed appreciation for Türkiye’s continued support for Azerbaijan and remarked that Sept. 15 holds historical significance for his country, marking the liberation of Baku.
Bayraktaroglu, for his part, emphasized that such visits play a vital role in strengthening relations based on trust and friendship.
His discussions with Azerbaijan’s chief of general staff covered recent reforms in the Azerbaijani armed forces and ways to enhance military cooperation between the two countries further.
The campaign to liberate Baku came only a few months after the Ottoman Empire, the predecessor of the Republic of Türkiye, signed the Treaty of Batumi with the fledgling Turkic republic that stipulated Turkish military assistance against security risks and paved the way for recognition of Azerbaijan’s independence. The treaty was signed in Batumi, Georgia, as Azerbaijan’s leadership was not in Baku, which was occupied by Armenian militants and the Bolsheviks.
Ottoman War Minister Enver Pasha assigned his brother Nuri, a young officer, to create an army to help Azerbaijan. Nuri Pasha formed the Caucasian Islamic Army, which consisted of several military units, including those that served in World War I’s Palestine Front and marched to Azerbaijan. The 11,000-strong army was joined by some 1,000 Azerbaijani troops, who cleared several smaller towns from the occupiers before reaching Baku.
On Sept. 15, 1918, after 30 hours of intense clashes, Baku was liberated. Ottoman troops received a fervent welcome from Azerbaijanis in Baku and stayed for a while. But in less than two months, they had to withdraw when the Ottoman Empire, defeated in World War I, was forced to withdraw troops under a treaty it signed with the victors.
Today, Azerbaijan remembers 1,130 martyrs of the army whose graves are located in Baku and the towns they helped to liberate.
Enver Pasha, an adherent of pan-Turkic ideals, remained so throughout his life and traveled to the budding Soviet Union after the war, where he fought the Bolshevik occupation and was killed by an Armenian soldier near Dushanbe, of present-day Tajikistan.
Nuri Pasha, who took the last name Killigil after the foundation of the republic, also worked for the independence of Azerbaijan long after the war, though his efforts were unsuccessful. In his later years, he focused on weapons production, sowing the seeds for the local defense industry. He was killed in a 1949 explosion in his weapons factory in Istanbul.
