The Karabakh issue dates back to the period of the collapse of the Russian Empire and the formation of nation-states in the South Caucasus (Transcaucasia). The aspiration for self-determination and re-unification within a united Armenian state to eliminate the permanent threat of physical annihilation lay at the core of the issue.

In the autumn of 1917, after the rise of the Bolsheviks to power and the outbreak of civil war in Russia, Transcaucasia became practically cut off from the rest of the territories of the Russian state. Under these conditions, the Transcaucasian Commissariat took control of Transcaucasia. It convened the Transcaucasian Sejm (parliament) on February 10 (23) 1918 and set out to determine the organization of the government and form the authorities of the region.

Under pressure from Turkey2, the Sejm announced the secession of Transcaucasia from Russia and declared the independence of the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic on April 9, 1918. However, the united federation was short-lived because of the severe contradictions – pertaining mostly to the Turkish invasion of Transcaucasia3 – that arose between the main parties from the very first days of independence. The stance of Muslim parties made it impossible to repel the Turkish troops in an organized manner, thus precipitating the collapse of the federation.

On May 26, 1918, “taking into consideration the diverging differences on the issues of peace and war between the peoples-architects of the Transcaucasian independent state”, the Sejm proclaimed the breakup of the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic and resigned. On the same day Georgia declared its independence; the Republic of Armenia and the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan did so on May 28.

However, before the breakup of the Transcaucasian Sejm, a secret delegation had been sent to Istanbul by the representatives of Azerbaijani political parties to negotiate the assistance of the Young Turks in the process of declaring the independence of “the second Turkish state”. During the meeting with the Turkish leadership, the sides agreed on further programmes of cooperation, particularly on the assistance of Turkish servicemen in creating and financing the armed forces of a future Azerbaijan and the support of the local Turkic population for the Turkish troops.

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