Note- This chapter is from Tatul Hakobyan’s book- ARMENIANS and TURKS
From June to November 1918, the Armenian delegation in Constantinople [Istanbul] was trying to amend the humiliating Treaty of Batum. However, the months that followed were no less humiliating, when the Armenian delegation (Avetis Aharonyan, Michael Papajanyan, and Alexander Khatisyan) spent time in Constantinople and had to conduct negotiations with the murderers of Armenians. Until the end of World War I, the Ottoman Empire was in the hands of the Pashas Enver, Talât, and Cemal.
At the end of June, a conference was to have begun in Constantinople with the participation of Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria. The Transcaucasian republics had also been invited.
The Ottoman government had promised to the Caucasian states to assist in reconciliation with her other allies – Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Bulgaria. Both to discuss the details of this subject and to solve problems among the Georgians, the Azerbaijanis, and the Armenians, convening a conference in Istanbul was accepted.
The Armenians side was under the impression that Germany wanted to review the Batum treaty according to the Brest-Litovsk provisions. The delegation, which had left for Constantinople, was instructed not to spare any efforts in order to expand Armenia’s borders. They stayed in Constantinople for more than four months, until November, and, according to Khatisyan, “tried to prove our incontestable rights to Akhalkalak, Lori, Zangezur, Karabakh and Nakhijevan, over which our Caucasian neighbours were laying claim.”
The Armenian delegation, together with a Georgian mission led by Gegechkori, arrived in Constantinople on June 18. They were soon joined by North Caucasus and Azerbaijani representatives who had also come to the conference to revise the Batum treaties.
“The Turks were well aware of our plans and aims, but they did not want the existence of a viable Armenia. They were against uniting Karabakh and Zangezur with Armenia, because they wanted to keep their road towards Baku open,” wrote Khatisyan. “They were against Akhalkalak and Lori being handed to us, because they wanted to keep the road towards Kazakh and Gandzak [Gence] open. When we presented our map with the borders drawn to the Turks, we saw that the Azerbaijanis and Georgians had also included a string of Armenian lands within their borders. A dangerous internal conflict was arising which later resulted in Armenian-Georgian and Armenian-Azerbaijani clashes, and which has been temporarily suppressed today and will probably surface tomorrow in some form or another.”
After waiting for more than four months, the conference did not take place. The main reason was the failures of the Germans and Turks on the frontlines. The diplomatic activities of the Armenian delegation in Constantinople were limited to meetings within Ottoman officials and foreign ambassadors. “Hakob Kocharyan, the delegation’s first secretary, has recorded the details of the humiliating interviews in pursuance of the first goal. In the presence of numerous Turkish officials, the suppliants proclaimed thanks to the Ottoman Empire for allowing the formation of the Armenian Republic,” wrote historian Richard Hovannisian. “When the delegation called at the Sublime Porte, Talât lamented the misfortune that had befallen the Armenians. He blamed the Kurds, the military, and irresponsible local administrators for the calamity, but the Ottoman Vizier also pointed an accusing finger at the Armenians.”
Khatisyan and Aharonyan met with Talât concerning the September 1918 Armenian massacres in Baku. According to Khatisyan, “When we protested to Talât that the Turkish armies were preparing to attack Karabakh, Talât grabbed the phone and began talking with Enver, saying that, ‘The Armenians are asking not to order the attack on Karabakh.’ After this conversation, Talât informed us that he guaranteed that there will be no attack on Karabakh. After seeing Talât, we felt the need for a new visit to Enver Pasha. Enver once again assured us that he had given orders not to occupy Karabakh.”
In October, the Armenian delegation was also received by the Sultan. According to Khatisyan, “After a religious liturgy, Enver Pasha presented us to the Sultan in the Mosque. Aharonyan made a speech in the name of Armenia and expressed the hope that, from now on, independent Armenia and Turkey would be good neighbours. The Sultan answered that he was delighted that the ‘centuries-old friendly’ relations between the Armenians and the Turks would transform into political friendly relations between Turkey and Armenia. The Sultan expressed the hope that, after returning to Armenia, we would convey the greetings of the Sultan and Turkey to the entire Armenian nation.”
A few days later, Enver Pasha invited Armenia’s delegates to his house for dinner. “The entire magnificence of the Orient opened up in front of us,” wrote Khatisyan. “Enver’s residence was full of gold, silk, carpets, and all sorts of expensive items. The German general von Seeckt, Talât and Izzet Pasha, and the three Caucasian delegations were also invited to dinner. The subject of discussion around the table was the future of the newly-formed Caucasian republics.”
The border disputes of the three Transcaucasian republics should also have been discussed in Constantinople. Armenia suggested that Azerbaijan receive 38 percent of the Transcaucasus, Georgia, 33, and Armenia, 29. The Georgian and Azerbaijani delegations rejected it.
The Armenian delegation had an interview with Izzet Pasha, the Grand Vizier of the new cabinet. In the meeting, the withdrawal of the Ottoman army to the borders which had been determined at Brest-Litovsk was accepted. Moreover, Izzet Pasha promised to make necessary arrangements for the return of the refugees and to solve all problems relating to Armenia within one month. For its part, the Armenian delegation expressed the insistence on establishing good relations with the Ottoman government and to prevent the emergence of negative intentions.
After the conclusion of the Soviet-German Supplementary Treaty, Enver confidentially informed Khatisyan and Aharonyan that Turkey would champion Armenian rights to Lori-Pambak and that he was confident a satisfactory arrangement could be worked out with Azerbaijan. It was even possible that the boundaries of Armenia might be extended to the shore of the Akhurian River. After Talât returned from Berlin, more sweeping promises were made. Khatisyan wrote Hamazasp Ohanjanyan that the change in Turkish heart was undoubtedly prompted by the unfavourable course of the war. Then, at the end of September, Talât Pasha announced that his government would grant Armenia concessions even greater than those sought by Aharonyan’s delegation in the preceding weeks.
These, however, were his last official words on the subject, for a few days later, in the prelude to Ottoman capitulation to the Allies, Talât’s cabinet fell.
The Armenian delegates returned to Armenia. As Khatisyan put it, “On October 20, Rauf Bey’s adjutant came to us and asked us to visit the Naval Minister. He told us, ‘Tonight I have to go visit the British Admiral to sign a ceasefire. I would like to suggest that you join me. Let the British see that we have reconciled’. Recalling Rauf Bey’s implacable stance during the Trebizond conference, I asked what our borders would be. He answered, ‘The 1914 borders, amended at the cost of the Alashkert valley’. We, of course, could not approve of this. The Allies had won and our hopes relied on their victory. So we did not go.”
