Southwestern Caucasian Republic

Origins

Under the Armistice of Mudros in October 1918, the Ottoman Empire had to withdraw from Kars, Ardahan and Batum, lands it had gained by the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Local Muslim leaders, encouraged by departing Ottoman officers, formed a provisional national government in Kars in December 1918 to keep the region out of Armenian control.

Rule and society

Led by Cihangiroglu Ibrahim Bey and a council of local notables, the government claimed Kars, Ardahan, Batum, Nakhchivan and adjoining districts, organised militias and held elections. It had little real administration and lacked international recognition, while Armenian and Georgian forces pressed their claims.

Decline and legacy

In April 1919 British troops occupied Kars, arrested its leaders and deported them to Malta, and the district was handed to the First Republic of Armenia. Kars returned to Turkey in 1920 after the Turkish-Armenian War.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.