Four maps proving Karabakh, Nakhchivan and Zengezur historical parts of Azerbaijan

Politics 18:30 16.04.2021
There are four maps from the early 20th Century of the South Caucasus region contained within the British archives. The first from 3rd April 1907; a second undated but presumably from 1919 or 1920; a third from 17th July 1922; and a final one from 25th May 1923. They show the national boundaries in the Southern Caucasus as understood by the British and the Allied Powers over the space of three decades. They show both Karabakh and Zengezur as part of Azerbaijan.
 
The first map of Caucasia is from 1907 when the region was occupied by Tsarist Russia. It was produced by the Topographical Section Caucasia Military Staff. Eastern Turkey in Asia is recorded as mapped by the notable ethnographic cartographer, Major F. R. Maunsell R.A. It is the original map on which the subsequent maps were based. On it are marked the Tsarist administrative regions of Baku, Zakatali, Elisavetopol, Erivan, as well as others.
 
The second map, which has national boundaries transposed upon the earlier map was originally labelled Secret, but later stamped as Unclassified. It is undated, but it is from 1919 or 1920. It has Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan existing as states, so it is made after 28th May 1918. Since the Ottoman provinces of Kars and Ardahan are included in Armenia, it must be from after December 1918, when the Batum Treaty was abrogated by the Armenians, and before December 1920, when the Turks recovered them in the Treaty of Gumru. So it is from the period of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, either during the British occupation or the period of independence from August 1919. It clearly shows what the British took to be the boundaries of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia when they existed as national states. Azerbaijan’s national territory includes the regions of Karabakh, Zengezur and Nakhchivan. The lake that Armenians refer to as Sevan is called Goycha Lake on the British map, the old Azerbaijani name.
 
The British had occupied Azerbaijan from late 1918 to August 1919, before they handed over full authority to the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. During this time there was a de facto delineation of territory, although it was stated that territorial boundaries would be finally settled at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. There was never any final decision made by the victors of the Great War at Paris and it was left to the Bolsheviks after they had conquered the Southern Caucasus, between 1920-1, to delineate the state borders.
 
The maps suggest that if the Paris Peace Conference had awarded any territory of Azerbaijan to Armenia this would have been on the basis of services rendered during the Great War and not because Britain believed it to be a part of Armenia.
 
These maps are the closest thing we have to a delineation of territory that Britain and its Allies made and could have been implemented had the Southern Caucasus been effectively defended against Soviet conquest and remained in the democratic sphere. They are not the work of individual cartographers but are the result of official Allied (British, French, Italian) oversight as well as formal international treaty provision between Turkey and Russia etc.
The 1922 British map of Caucasia has the following note: “The frontiers shown on this map have been checked by Allied Headquarters, with the information in their possession and are in agreement with their information.”
 
The 1923 map was produced by the Geographical Section of the General Staff, British War Office. It records its sources for boundaries between Turkey, Persia, Iraq and Syria as the March 1921 Treaty of Moscow, the October 1921 Treaty of Kars, with regard to the boundaries of autonomous Nakhchivan. The British cartographers used Russian maps included with the Treaty of Kars for this purpose. It should be noted the Treaty of Sevres mentioned would soon be superseded by the Treaty of Lausanne, which was, at that moment, in the process of final negotiations between Britain and the Turkish Republic.
There is a note, numbered 7 which states: “Frontiers other than those mentioned above are compiled from reports the accuracy of which is still in doubt.” Presumably this was because the other areas and boundaries in the Southern Caucasus were, at that time, subject to complete Soviet control and decision making.
 
So, whilst the British expected, on the basis of their evidence, information, and experience that Karabakh, Zengezur and Zakatali remained a part of Azerbaijan, they could not be sure of what the Bolsheviks might do, if Soviet Russia remained in permanent occupation of the Southern Caucasus.
 
These maps show definitively that Stalin never “gave Karabakh to Azerbaijan” as Armenians pretend. In fact, they back up the Soviet documents that describe Karabakh as having “remained” part of Azerbaijan. What the maps also show is that the Bolsheviks did give Zengezur, which the British and Allies saw as an integral part of Azerbaijan, to the Armenians, largely for geopolitical reasons.
 
However, the sequence of four maps produced over a generation and obtained in the British archives clearly show that both Zengezur and Karabakh were regarded as part of Azerbaijan by the Western democratic world.
 
by Patrick Walsh 

 

IEPF issued a statement regarding Azerbaijani children at the UN Human Rights Council

News line

Russia accuses Ukrainian military chief of ordering downing of war prisoner plane
22:10 05.07.2025
Türkiye supports firefighting operations in Syria’s Latakia
22:00 05.07.2025
UNRWA calls for immediate fuel delivery to Israel-blockaded Gaza before shutdown of basic services
21:45 05.07.2025
Pashinyan: Armenia needs new constitution
21:20 05.07.2025
UN chief condemns Russia's recent 'series of large-scale' attacks on Ukraine
21:00 05.07.2025
Kazakh servicemen arrive in Azerbaijan to participate in Tarlan - 2025 exercise
20:45 05.07.2025
Erdogan: US has crucial role in achieving ceasefire in Gaza
20:20 05.07.2025
Building collapse in Pakistan kills 15
19:45 05.07.2025
Turkish FM Fidan to attend 17th BRICS Leaders Summit in Rio de Janeiro
19:30 05.07.2025
Australia pledges $283M for green energy project by explosives maker
19:10 05.07.2025
OPEC+ speeds up oil output hikes, adds 548,000 bpd in August
18:45 05.07.2025
Inter completes signing of Ange-Yoan Bonny from Parma
18:20 05.07.2025
Turkish president sees Zangazur corridor 'as part of the geoeconomic revolution'
18:00 05.07.2025
Turkish president urges Azerbaijan, Russia to show restrain amid tension
17:45 05.07.2025
China says war 'not a solution' to Iranian nuclear issue
17:15 05.07.2025
At least 18 people injured after fire alert on Ryanair plane in Majorca as passengers abandon jet & leap from wing
17:00 05.07.2025
Azerbaijani PM meets with UNESCAP executive secretary
16:45 05.07.2025
Lebanese president affirms coordination with Syria, warns against sectarian tensions
16:15 05.07.2025
21 killed in Israeli strikes on tents, school-turned-shelters in Gaza Strip
16:00 05.07.2025
Turkish construction sector takes on international projects worth $6.2B in first half of 2025
15:45 05.07.2025
Azerbaijani woman wrestler becomes European champion
15:30 05.07.2025
Mayor: Death toll in Russian attacks on Kyiv reached two
15:15 05.07.2025
Texas floods kill 24 people and leave many missing from girls' summer camp
14:45 05.07.2025
Conor McGregor has interest in White House fight after Trump's UFC idea
14:30 05.07.2025
Netanyahu era sees 40% surge in Israeli settlements in occupied West Bank
14:15 05.07.2025
Equatorial Guinea sues France in UN court to block sale of Paris mansion
14:00 05.07.2025
US president 'disappointed' over phone call with Putin
13:45 05.07.2025
Academy of Azerbaijan`s State Security Service hosts graduation ceremony
13:30 05.07.2025
Azerbaijan and Pakistan ink memo in Khankendi
13:15 05.07.2025
Trump says there could be Gaza deal next week
13:00 05.07.2025
First flight from Türkiye to Syria launched
12:45 05.07.2025
US marks its 249th anniversary of independence
12:30 05.07.2025
Azerbaijan's role in regional integration discussed at London conference
12:00 05.07.2025
Uzbek Minister: Mirziyoyev's visit to Azerbaijan crucial for dev’t of transport links
11:45 05.07.2025
Trump says US will start talks with China on TikTok deal this week
11:30 05.07.2025
Prime Minister of Pakistan Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif concludes visit to Azerbaijan
11:15 05.07.2025
Pakistani premier proposes low-emissions corridor at Economic Cooperation Organization summit
11:00 05.07.2025
Rwanda pledges to deliver on its part of US-brokered peace deal with DR Congo
10:45 05.07.2025
Hezbollah rejects calls to disarm before end of Israeli ‘aggression’ against Lebanon
10:30 05.07.2025
Trump says Gaza ceasefire deal may come next week after ‘positive’ Hamas response
10:15 05.07.2025
Hamısı