Treaty of Turkmenchay 1828
Turkmenchay Peace Agreement - February 10, 1828
At the end of the 18th century, the Gajars, an Azerbaijani-Turkish dynasty (1796-1925), came to power in Iran and began a policy of re-subordinating all territories under Safavid rule, including the Azerbaijani khanates and sultanates, to the central government. Thus began a period of war between the Gajars and the Russian Empire, which was trying to occupy the South Caucasus, including Azerbaijan. As a result, an agreement was signed near the village of Turkmenchay. According to the Agreement of Turkmenchay (1828), the existence of independent Azerbaijani states – khanates and sultanates was terminated. The country was divided between two empires: northern Azerbaijan (Northern Azerbaijan) joined Russia, and southern (Southern Azerbaijan) joined the Iranian kingdom ruled by the Azerbaijani-Turkish origin Gajar dynasty. Wanting to move further east, Russia relied on the Christian population in the South Caucasus, pursuing a policy of forcible Christianization of the Muslim population and the mass relocation of the Christian population from Russia to the Caucasus. Armenians were relocated en masse from neighboring countries to the mountainous regions of occupied Karabakh in the name of the Christian population, as well as to the territory of the former Iravan and Nakhchivan khanates. Theere was established “Armenian province” in Western Azerbaijan – in the territory of the former Yerevan and Nakhchivan khanates. Thus, the foundation of the future Armenian state was laid in the territory of Azerbaijan. Thus, conditions were created for new territorial claims of Armenians against Azerbaijanis. The royal regime of Iran pursued a similar policy in the southern lands of Azerbaijan. Thus, with the Turkmenchay Agreement, the unified state of Azerbaijan was divided between the two empires and the foundation for future disasters was laid.
