🇬🇧 The Battles of Bash-Aparan and Karakilisa. The First Republic of Armenia
The First Republic of Armenia
By May 1918, Turkish forces numbering up to 13,000 troops began an offensive toward Yerevan from three directions. The Armenian leadership, through the National Council, formed three divisions totaling about 10,000 soldiers and mobilized volunteers and former officers of the Russian army to counter the impending threat.
On May 21, 1918, units of the 3rd Regiment of the 11th Caucasian Division of the Ottoman Army began advancing from the Hamamlu region toward Yerevan. The front commander, Esad Pasha, aimed to break through the Armenian defense and capture the capital of the new republic.
Armenian forces, entrenched in the Bash-Aparan gorge—about a three-hour march from Yerevan—under the command of General Movses Silikyan, faced superior enemy numbers. Around 1,000 Armenian riflemen fought fiercely for three days. On May 25, the Armenians launched a counterattack, and by May 29, the Turkish troops were pushed back to Hamamlu, securing temporary stabilization on the Artsakh front.
The victory at Bash-Aparan, along with successes at Sardarapat and Karakilisa, halted the advance of the 3rd Army of the Ottoman Empire into Eastern Armenia. These victories created the conditions for the declaration of independence of the First Republic of Armenia on May 28, 1918.
A few days after the success at Bash-Aparan, Ottoman troops of the 5th and 36th Divisions, numbering up to 10,000 men, attacked Armenian positions near Karakilisa (now Vanadzor). The defense was organized by General Tovmas Nazarbekyan and Colonel Garegin Nzhdeh, who commanded around 6,000 fighters, 70 artillery pieces, and 20 machine guns.
From May 25 to 28, 1918, Armenian troops repelled several enemy attacks, suffering heavy losses but managing to hold the city and its surroundings. Although the Turks eventually captured Karakilisa and committed a massacre of civilians (about 4,000 people), they lost combat effectiveness and were unable to continue their offensive southward.
Although Karakilisa formally fell, the resilience of Armenian soldiers and volunteers inflicted serious damage on the Ottoman forces. The battle, like those of Sardarapat and Bash-Aparan, was a strategic victory that ensured the defense of the newborn Armenian republic.
- Drastamat Kanayan (Dro) — Military Commissar of the Armenian National Council, led operations at Bash-Aparan.
- Movses Silikyan — Commander of Armenian forces and organizer of the defense of the Bash-Aparan gorge.
- Tovmas Nazarbekyan — Commander-in-chief of Armenian forces in the Battle of Karakilisa.
- Garegin Nzhdeh — Coordinator of volunteer units and civilian mobilization in Karakilisa.