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Index

Armenia

The Urartu Civilisation

Victory for Independence

Artashisian Dynasty on the Armenian Throne

Armenia caught between Rome and the Arsacids

The Acceptance of Christianity

Defending Christianity

Armenia Under the Bagratouni Dynasty

Cilicia - the New Armenia

Armenia Under Turanian Rule

The Renaissance or the Resurrection of Armenia

The Eastern Question

Russia in the Caucasus

The Armenian Question

Battle on Two Fronts

Tsarist Russia Against the Armenians

The Revolution of the Young Turks and the Armenian People on the Eve of World War I

The First World War

The Resurrection of Armenia

Armenia on the Road to Independence, 1918

- Armenia on the Road to Independence, 1918

Eastern Armenia

Western Armenia

"The Fateful Years" (1914-1917)

"Hopes and Emotions" (March-October, 1917)

The Bolshevik Revolution and Armenia

Transcaucasia Adrift (November, 1917

Dilemmas (March-April, 1918)

War and Independence (April-May, 1918)

The Republics of Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia

The Suppliants (June-October, 1918)

In conclusion

Soviet Armenia

The Second Independent Republic of Armenia

Epilogue

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Concessions and Ultimatums in Trabizond

These, then, were the cleavages afflicting Transcaucasia when Kachaznouni, Laskhishvili, and Haidarov arrived in Trabizond on March 29 and informed Chkhenkeli pf the extended powers granted him by the Seim. 86 As Transcaucasia was torn asunder, the Trabizond negotiations for peace resumed. Upon notification by Chkhenkeli that the parleys could continue, Rauf suggested that Transcaucasia now rise as an independent state, but he warned that the Ottoman government was compelled to withhold recognition until the Brest boundaries were acknowledged and the question of self-determination for Armenians of the Empire dropped. The sixth plenary session of the conference was postponed for several days to give the Transcaucasians time to determine what concessions could be made to the more experienced militarists and diplomats. 87

During the interim, the intra-delegation discord was again accentuated. The Moslem members were prepared to surrender nearly all the disputed territory. Khas-Mamedov stressed that only the port of Batum, the terminal of the oil pipeline from Baku, was indispensable or Transcaucasia. The Hummetist Sheikh-ul-Islamov reminded the delegation that in the event of war the Moslems of Transcaucasia would not take arms against their Ottoman brothers. After four days of bickering, Chkhenkeli recommended offering the Turks entire county of Olti, half of Ardahan, all Kaghizman offering except the northern sector, and much of the Kars okrug. The proposal elicited immediate retorts from Kachaznouni and Khatisian who labelled it a violation of self-determination, since Christians constituted two-thirds of the population of the Kars and Kaghizman okrugs. Bitterly, the Armenian delegates noted that not an inch of Batum oblast, generally regarded as Georgian soil, had been included. Kachaznouni urged that the first sacrifices be made in less strategic regions, such as Artvin of the Batum oblast, Olti, and Ardahan, and that only when further concessions became inevitable should Kars and Kaghizman be mentioned. Chkhenkeli defended his suggestions by arguing that the Batum oblast (of which he was a native) was essential to the welfare of all Transcaucasia. He also maintained that the time had come for the Tiflis government to declare its unconditional independence. 88

Utilising the broad latitude granted him by the Seim, Chkhenkeli, on April 5, without the approval of his full delegation, presented his list of concessions to Husein Rauf Bey during the sixth and final plenary session of the Trabizond Conference. At the same time he delivered a sermon that must have sounded intolerably repetitious and barren. Reiterating the reasons that the Ottoman government should not insist on Brest-Litovsk, Chkhenkeli feebly intimated that, without at least some of the disputed territory, the economic unity of Transcaucasia would be shattered and independence could not be defended from encroachments by powerful neighbours other than Turkey. However, the attempt to frighten the Ottomans with ghost of Imperial Russia was without effect. Turning to the problem of Turkish Armenia, Chkhenkeli advanced only an economic argument, making no mention of self-determination: the presence of thousands of refugees in Transcaucasia was paralysing the state. This situation could not be alleviated until the Ottoman Armenians returned to their native provinces. Before repatriation could be ventured, however, certain guarantees concerning their safety and their future should be granted by the Sublime Porte. 89 After patiently listening to the Transcaucasian spokesman, Rauf Bey promised to inform his government of the proposals and then recessed the conference. Communications between Trabizond and Constantinople must have been excellent on this occasion, for within twenty-four hours Chkhenkeli received a Turkish ultimatum to honour the Brest-Litovsk treaty. A final reply was demanded within forty-right hours. 90