Political Activities of Ömer Faik Numanzade in Line with the Events in the South Caucasus After the 1917 October Revolution
Cafer MustafalıAfter the outbreak of World War I, one of the most important goals of the Ottoman Empire was to dominate the areas where Muslim Turkish population was high in the Caucasus, thus gaining the support of indigenous Turks and opening up the way to Turkestan. However, the Ottoman Empire failed in this policy and the Russians advanced into the interior of Anatolia. The events that took place in the region after the Russian Revolution of 1917 re-directed the Ottoman Empire to the Caucasus. After the Bolsheviks came to power in 1917, Russian troops withdrew from the Caucasus and left their weapons and ammunition to the Georgian militia and Armenian gangs. Therefore, the South Caucasus Turks organized themselves against the occupation, and massacres occurred which accelerated political activities. One of the prominent figures in the Ottoman Caucasus Islamic Army in 1918 was Omer Faik Numanzade, who represented the Turks of Georgia. Numanzade undertook political activities in order to ensure that the Turks of the Caucasus and Eastern Anatolia did not disappear in the face of the Russians, Armenians and Georgians after the events that took place in the region during the First World War. For this purpose, he went to Istanbul and met with Enver and Talat Pasha and made some national demands. He invited the Ottomans to the region in order to protect the presence of the Caucasian Turks and to help the Caucasus Islamic Army to go to the Caucasus. On October 29, 1918, the Akhishka government was established, albeit short-lived, and Omer Faik was the president of this government. Considerable research has been carried out on this subject to this day. However, the studies conducted in the period in question mainly deal with Azerbaijan and Kars, while the Turks of the Ahıska Region or Georgia were not given much mention. Thus, Omer Faik Numanzade, who carried out important exploits in the history of the Caucasus Turks' national struggle, has largely been ignored. In this study, the picture that emerged as a result of the developments in the Caucasus after the October Revolution of 1917 and the political activities carried out by Omer Faik Numanzade representing the Georgian Turks (Ahıska) will be discussed. In this study, the description of the events that took place in Georgia will illuminate the darkness of that period and shed light on the relations within Turkey's Caucasus regions.
1917 Ekim Devrimi Sonrası Güney Kafkasya’da Gelişmeler Işığında Ömer Faik Numanzade’nin Siyasi Faaliyetleri
Cafer MustafalıI. Cihan Harbi’nin başlamasından sonra Osmanlı Devleti’nin en önemli maksatlarından birisi Kafkasya’da Müslüman-Türklerin yoğunlukta oldukları bölgeleri sınırları içerisine katıp yerli Türklerin de desteğini kazanarak Türkistan’a açılmaktır. Ancak Osmanlı bu politikasında başarısız olmuş, hatta Ruslar Anadolu’nun içlerine kadar ilerlemişlerdir. 1917 Rus İhtilalinden sonra bölgede gelişen olaylar Osmanlı Devleti’ni yeniden Kafkasya’ya yönlendirmiştir. 1917 yılında Bolşeviklerin iktidara gelmesinden sonra Rus birlikleri Kafkasya’dan çekilirken bölgedeki silah ve mühimmatlarını Gürcü milislere ve Ermeni çetelerine bırakmışlardır. Bundan dolayı Güney Kafkasya Türkleri işgal ve katliamlara karşı örgütlenerek siyasi faaliyetlere hız kazandırmışlardır. Ayrıca ismi pek zikredilmese de 1918 yılında Osmanlı Kafkas İslam Ordusunun Güney Kafkasya’ya girmesini sağlayan önemli aydınlardan birisi Gürcistan Türklerini temsil eden Ahıskalı Ömer Faik Numanzade olmuştur. Numanzade, I. Cihan Harbi sırasında bölgede gelişen olaylar üzerine Kafkasya ve Doğu Anadolu Türklerinin Rus, Ermeni ve Gürcüler karşısında yok olmaması için siyasi faaliyetlere girişmiştir. Bunun için İstanbul’da bulunmuş, Enver ve Talat Paşa ile görüşerek milli talepleri dile getirmiştir. Kafkasya Türklerinin varlıklarını koruyabilmeleri için Osmanlı’yı bölgeye davet etmiş, Kafkas İslam Ordusunun Kafkasya’ya gitmesine vesile olmuştur. 29 Ekim 1918 tarihinde kısa ömürlü de olsa Ahıska Hükûmeti kurulmuş, Ömer Faik bu hükûmetin başkanlığını yapmıştır. Bu konuyla ilgili bu güne kadar kayda değer bir çalışma yapılmamıştır. Bu bağlamda Kafkasya Türklerinin milli mücadele tarihinde mühim işler yapmış olan Ömer Faik Numanzade görmezden gelinmiştir. Bu çalışmada 1917 Ekim Devrimi’nden sonra Kafkasya’daki gelişmeler sonucunda ortaya çıkan tablo ve Ahıska Türklerini temsil eden Ömer Faik Numanzade’nin yürüttüğü siyasi faaliyetler ele alınacaktır. Çalışacağımız konu Gürcistan Türklerini kapsadığı için Türkiye ve Azerbaycan’ı ilgilendiren önemli meselelerdendir. Bu çalışma Gürcistan Türkleri açısından o döneme dair karanlık meseleleri aydınlatacak ve Türkiye’nin Kafkasya ile olan ilişkilerine ışık tutacaktır.
Omer Faik Numanzade, who was involved in many media activities in the cities of Tbilisi and Baku in the Caucasus between 1903 and 1911, returned to his hometown Ahıska after 1911. Numanzade carried out much needed work in the field of education and culture in Ahıska between 1911 and 1917. In this way, he prepared a kind of infrastructure for social and political developments in that town. He invited teachers from Azerbaijan to Ahıska and established courses for teachers within his capacity as member of the Ahıska National Committee (Ahıska Muslim Society). Sadly, these activities were very short-lived due to the start of the First World War in 1914 when the Russian Army began to carry out acts of destruction in Eastern Anatolia and in the Ahıska region. Therefore, the people of the region experienced great difficulties. In addition, during this period, Armenian gangs carried out persecution and massacres against Muslim Turks. All these developments became a significant milestone in Omer Faik’s life.
After the Brest-Litovsk Treaty was signed on March 3, 1918 and the Erzincan Armistice on December 18, 1917, Russian military units began to withdraw from the Eastern Anatolia Region and the Caucasus. However, the Russians armed the Armenian gangs and Georgian units in their place. With the withdrawal of the Russians from the region, the Armenians created their own gangs and the Georgians increased their pressure against the Muslim Turks by forming their own militia. With the withdrawal of the Russian Army from the Caucasus, a complete political and administrative vacuum occurred in the region. Muslim Turks in the region, which had been subjected to Armenian and Russian persecution before, now took action in order not to be exposed to Georgian pressure and occupation and to gain their freedom.
After the events that took place in the region with the 1917 Russian Revolution, Omer Faik argued that the Caucasian Turks needed the Ottomans to protect their very existence, and he maintained that the Turkish army should annex the Caucasus. For this, he went to Istanbul to meet with Enver and Talat Pasha and express his requests. The contacts of Omer Faik in Istanbul worked well and he was instrumental in the Caucasian Islamic Army’s gaining entry into the Caucasus. In addition, Numanzade asked Talat and Enver Pasha to combine Iranian Turks with Caucasian Turks. However, with the resignation of the Committee of Union and Progress on October 8, 1918 and the signing of the Mondros Armistice on October 30, 1918, the Turkish Army had to withdraw from the Caucasian territories except Elviye-i Selase. With the Armistice of Mondros, the Turks in the Caucasus were left alone, and the people of the region faced many difficulties.
Omer Faik Numanzade was involved in many important activities in order to gain the freedom and rights of Turks in Georgia as early as 1917 and he started to campaign for this cause. On October 29, 1918, the Ahıska Hükûmet-i Muvakkatası (Contemporary Ahıska Government) was established and Omer Faik Numanzade was elected as the president. The Ahıska Government, chaired by Omer Faik, joined the Kars Islamic Council, which was established in Kars on 5 November 1918. The Kars Islamic Council declared itself to be in power on 30 November. However, with the withdrawal of the Ottoman army from the region on December 4, 1918, the Georgians occupied Ahıska. The Kars Government declared the establishment of the Cenub-i Garbi (South West) Caucasian Government on 17 January 1919 to prevent Armenian and Georgian invasions. In this government, the Ahıskan Turks were also given the right to be represented. Moreover, the Muslim-Turkish troops belonging to this new formation took back the Ahıska region from the Georgians on 2 February 1919. Within a short space of time, the Ahıska region changed hands several times between the Turkish government in Kars and the Georgians. On April 22, 1919, with the intervention of the British in the region, the existence of the Southern Caucasus Government ended. With this, the Turkish domination in Ahıska also ended.
