AZERBAIJAN IN THE CAUCASUS POLICY OF IRAN (1918-1920)

Abstract

Although the Qajar state did not join the World War I, it believed that Iran had suffered a lot of damage and losses as a result of this war. At the same time, Iran also wanted to take part in the new system of diplomatic relations formed in the world after the war. Therefore, the state of Qajars, which did not agree with the territorial losses and lost spheres of influence it faced in the 19th century, was determined to participate in the Conference of the victorious states in Versailles in January 1919 and put forward its demands there. A delegation headed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs was sent to Paris for this purpose, but the British government did not allow the Iranian delegation to participate in the Conference on the grounds that Iran remained neutral in the war and did not participate in military operations. In this case, the Iranian delegation had to convey its wishes and demands to the Conference participants in a written form. One of the demands was that the provinces that were forcibly taken from Iran in the 19th century should bereturned to it. These provinces were considered to be: Merv, Khiva, Turkestan and 17 cities of the Caucasus captured by Russia in the Iran-Russian wars. In short, in these demands, the provision of the borders of Iran at the beginning of the 19th century was put forward. So, Iran was not going to recognize the Republics that were formed in the Caucasus in May 1918. However, ignoring these unreasonable demands led to a change in Caucasus policy of Iran. In November 1919, the Iranian Qajar state sent an Extraordinary Delegation headed by Seyyed Ziyaeddin Tabatabai to the Republic of Azerbaijan in order to establish relations with the independent republics that emerged in the Caucasus and to secure its state interests in this region. After completing its work in Baku, the delegation had to visit other Caucasian countries. The delegation's long discussions with the government of Azerbaijan resulted in the signing of the Treaty of Friendship and additional documents between Iran and the government of the Republic of Azerbaijan on March 20, 1920. However, as a result of Soviet Russia's occupation of the Caucasian republics, these documents were not confirmed, and Iran had to withdraw from its claims in the Caucasus.