Abstract
The Last Ottoman Administration in Akhaltsikhe (1918)
Towards the end of the First World War as a result of revolutions occurred in Russia, Russian troops abondened Eastern Anatolia and the Caucasus invaded by them. The Armenians and Georgians, trying to turn the situation to an advantage with the withdrawal of Russian troops, began to increase their activities in the region with the weapons and materials they had gained from the Russian troops. Akhaltsikhe, the lands inhabited by the majority of Muslims, was one of the lands Armenians and Georgians had been looking forward to invading firstly. Akhaltsikhen Muslims who are concerned about their future sent a delegation to Istanbul to ensure the annexation of the Ottoman state in the region. As a result of the activities of this delegation Akhaltsikhe was also added to the lands that would be operated by the Ottoman troops having started to go ahead in February of 1918 in the Eastern Anatolia. The Ottoman Empire seized Akhaltsikhen region in June 1918 and began to establish its ruling organization. In this article, the adventure of the Ottoman Empire’s administration in Ahıska in the last year of the World War I will be described by assessing particularly the Prime Ministry Ottoman Archive, Turkish History Institution Archive, Azeri and English Archives, the Turkish press, published Russian archival materials and second hand sources.<
Keywords
Akhaltsikhe, Ottoman State, Ottoman administration , Trans-Caucasia, First World War.