Azərbaycan Paris Sülh Konfransında (1918-1920)

participation of the heads of governments. In their speeches at the conference 
Topchubashev and Meherremov had emphasized that if the European countries will 
provide certain military and economic aid, the Republic of Azerbaijan would preserve 
its independence and prove its capability to evolve into a developed state. One has to 
agree with the historian professor Jamil Hesenli when he said, “Political recognition 
of the Republic of Azerbaijan at the Paris Peace Conference in January 1920 must be 
regarded as an outcome of successful diplomatic activity of Azerbaijani delegates 
headed by Topchubashev.” 
Azerbaijan had been de-facto recognized. An outstanding task was to 
achieve de-jure recognition of the newly-independent state. However, the matter had 
not depended solely on the Azerbaijani representatives at the Peace Conference. 
Much had depended on the approach of the Western world and the US to newly 
independent states. Collapse of the three empires - Ottoman, Russian and Austria-
Hungary in the aftermath of World War I demanded the rearrangement of the world 

---

70 
map. Would there have been a place for a small, yet strategically located wealthy 
Azerbaijan on this political map? Would leading countries permit the Bolshevik 
Russia to restore the empire within its former boundaries? Unfortunately, national 
aspirations for independence were not sufficient... 
THE DELEGATION'S FATE 
Regardless of all the efforts of the delegation, dreams of the Azerbaijani 
people of finally living independently after 100 year old Russian oppression, of 
establishing its statehood and of becoming owners of their lands and destiny had not 
been materialized. On April 28, 1920 The Bolsheviks, sharing the same view with the 
White Guards on the idea of “united and indivisible Russia” had once again occupied 
Azerbaijan. The Republic of Azerbaijan had demised on the 23rd month of its 
existence. For the delegation that had fought the battle for Azerbaijan in Paris for 
more than a year, regardless of difficulties and privation, the roads leading home had 
been eternally closed. However, no matter how bitter and painful were the news they 
had received in early May in Paris, it had neither reversed their aspirations for inde-
pendence nor yielded their determination. 
On September of that year Topchubashev in his memorandum submitted to 
the League of Nations in Geneva had riveted attention to the fact of occupation by the 
Bolsheviks of the Republic of Azerbaijan, a state that had declared its independence 
and had been de-facto recognized by a number of countries, and urged the League to 
express its position in respect of this flagrant act of incursion. On November of the 
same year he had delivered a speech at the League of Nations in Geneva and had once 
again brought the fact of Azerbaijan's occupation to the agenda. As an authorized 
representative of Azerbaijan, which had been subject to military aggression, 
Topchubashev's speeches oil
 
protest at the conferences in Genoa and Lozano in 1920 
and later in London in 1923 had not been fruitless. The Genoa conference had denied 
the Bolsheviks right to speak on behalf of Azerbaijan. 
In France in 1920-s, being a renowned leader of the political emigrants from 
the former Russian empire, Topchubashev in his numerous articles and speeches had 
tried to rivet world's attention to Azerbaijan's trampled rights on one hand and by all 
means to establish and strengthen mutual cooperation between political emigrants, 
especially representative of the former republics oil
 
the Caucasus on the other hand. 
Based upon his initiative and guidance authorized representatives of Azerbaijan, 
Georgia and Armenia in emigration had decided to act from the standpoint of a 
political and economic union. 
During these years Topchubashev had also accomplished a lot in terms of 
creating a single focal point and strengthening unity and solidarity among Azerbaijani 
political emigrants. He had tried to put an end to variance between the Azerbaijani 
political emigrants of Europe and National Center of Azerbaijan in Turkey and had 

---

71 
managed to cease parallel leadership after talks with M.A.Rasulzade in Paris in 1928. 
Moreover he had put forth consistent efforts aimed at realization of the idea of 
directing emigration from the single center. 
Although Topchubashev had been unable to witness Azerbaijan's 
independence personally, he had seen an implementation of one of the ideas he had 
persistently fought for - in June 1934, in his presence, Azerbaijanis, Georgians, 
Armenians and some other nations of the Caucasus had signed a document regarding 
the establishment of Caucasus Confederation Pact. His death that had come on 
November 5, 1934 in Paris, where he had lead an extremely modest life, had 
saddened members of emigrant community regardless of their nationality and had 
been accepted as a common loss. The “Prometey” magazine - joint publication of the 
Caucasus's emigration, had dedicated a special issue to the memory of Topchubashev. 
After arrival in Baku on a two-month business trip in August 1919, Hajinski 
had not returned to Paris. In his letter to the Council of Ministers of the Republic of 
Azerbaijan Topchubashev had insisted on Hajinski not to be assigned any duties in 
the capital and persistently requested his return to Paris in two month's time. 
Obviously, certain motives had stood behind Topchubashev's decision, as he was 
familiar enough with his employee. Hajinski had played negative role upon his return 
to Baku, standing in the center of political rivalry and power struggle that several 
months later had entailed the loss of Azerbaijan's independence. Certainly, driven by 
the idea of Azerbaijani oil and having a clear picture of impossibility of existence of 
the Bolshevik regime without Baku, Lenin and his aides on the ground would have 
achieved their goals without the assistance of such hesitant politician as Hajinski. 
However, the involvement of such politicians in the government of Azerbaijani had 
accelerated the process. 
Holding a post of a minister of interior in the cabinet of Nesibbey Yusifbeyli 
(24 December 1919 - 30 March 1920) Hajinski had been generally Bolshevik 
oriented. Therefore, some members of the government, especially Khoyski that had 
been a staunch supporter of harsh political course concerning Russia, had not 
accepted him. As a result, on February 18, 1920 he had been dismissed from the post 
of minister of interior, however, he had retained a post of minister of trade, food and 
industry, thus maintaining a position within the government and continuing his 
destructive role. 
Upon the pretext of failing to demonstrate adequate determination in respect 
of appeasing 
OF 
Armenian revolt in Nagorno Karabakh on March 30, supporters of
 
Hajinski had achieved the resignation of Yusifbeyli's cabinet. Hajinski had been 
commissioned with formation of the new cabinet. Before April 20, simultaneous to 
open talks with representatives of different parties, he had held secret negotiations 
with the Bolsheviks and five days prior to the incursion of the XI army to Azerbaijan 
had announced the relinquishment of authority vested in him by parliament for the 
formation of the cabinet. Thus, during the country's vital period Hajinski's hesitation 

---

72 
resulted in deliberate crisis of power that had hastened the demise of the national 
government. 
Having announced his resignation from the ranks of the Musavat Party and 
joining Azerbaijan's Communist Party (Bolsheviks) several days before the Bolshevik 
occupation Hajinski had later worked in various soviet and administrative positions. 
However, all his “merits” were unable to spare him of the jaws of the Soviet 
punishment machine. He had been arrested in 1930, based on a directive of the first 
secretary of Transcaucasian regional committee L.Beriya and had been murdered in 
prison in Tbilisi, Georgia on March 8, 1931, before the completion of the 
investigation. 
A. Seykhulislamov had continued his political activity in France, and later in 
Germany, after World War II. During late 1920-s his relations with Topchubashev 
had become aggravated. He had considered the delegation to the Paris Peace 
Conference to be the sole authorized representative of the Republic of Azerbaijan and 
had strongly opposed the activity of the Azerbaijan National Center in Istanbul 
headed by Rasulzade. Seykhulislamov accused Topchubashev of uniting Azerbaijan's 
political emigration and directing it from the single center and for his readiness to 
concede to a certain compromise for that matter. In 1943 Seykhulislamov had been 
elected to the leadership of Assembly of Azerbaijan's National Unity (AANU) - 
political organization established by former Soviet army officer and prisoner of war 
A.Fatalibeyli-Dudenginski and in 1951 together with Hajibeyli and Ismail Akbar he 
had co-signed Wiesbaden Declaration on behalf of Azerbaijan establishing Salvation 
Council of Nations of Russia. Azerbaijan's freedom and independence had been 
Seykhulislamov's ideals till the end (he died in poverty in Paris on March 2, 1961). 
Hajibeyli had shared political views with Seykhulislamov. He also had been 
elected to the leadership of AANU, and then in 1952 he had become chief-editor of 
“Azerbaijan” - magazine published by AANU in Munich. His activity as a political 
publicist, researcher and scientist had been versatile and fruitful. Back in 1919 the 
famous oriental magazine of Paris “Revue du mond Musulman “had published his 
article entitled “The First Muslim Republic” dedicated to the Republic of Azerbaijan. 
He had been the author of numerous articles about Azerbaijan's history, language, 
literature and ethnography published in Paris in famous “Journal Asiatique”. In 1926 
he had published a book entitled 
“Karabakh (Caucasian Azerbaijan) dialect and folklore” compiled of 
extensive linguistic and ethnographic materials. 
He had translated the comedy “Arshin mal alan” composed by his brother 
Uzeyir Hajibeyli into English and French and had published it in Paris, and had put it 
on stage there with the participation of French actors. For his multifaceted activity he 
had been elected a full member of the French Academy of Oriental Studies - “Societe 
Asiatique”. He had spent the rest of his life working for the Insititute of Soviet Union 
Studies in Munich and had also contributed to the publications of this institute on the 

---

73 
issue of in human ideology of Communism and national oppression. His son 
T.Hajibeyli, an air force pilot had heroically perished during World War II defending 
the French skies from Nazi forces. 
Miryagub Mirmehdiyev (well-known as Mir Yagub in emigrant circles) 
could be considered Topchubashev's sole friend sharing the same convictions and the 
only member of the delegation who had retained his esteem and loyalty to 
Topchubashev till the end. Along with his primary activity within the delegation he 
had also been engaged in “France-Caucasus Committee” established in Paris. 
Chairman of the committee that had been created for the development of economic 
ties with the countries of Trans-Caucasus, especially Azerbaijan and Georgia, was a 
French diplomat and orientalist E.Uplo, with Mirmehdiyev and Sumbatov 
representing Azerbaijan and Georgia respectively in the capacity of deputy chairmen. 
Mirmehdiyev had not distanced himself from politics during his years in 
emigration and had been an active employee of “Qafqaz” (Caucasus) magazine 
published in Russian in Paris. Both of his books “Soviet regime: sources and nature” 
of 1926 and “Problems of the Caucasus” of 1933 had been published in French in 
Paris. In the first book the author had tried to unveil the oppressive and inhuman 
essence of Soviet regime. The second book is the chronology of events and processes 
evolving in the region beginning with the occupation of the Caucasus by the Russian 
empire until the year 1920, the author's analysis and research of the nature and the 
essence of the new fact of aggression - Sovietization. 
Although the book refers to the problems of the Caucasus in general, the 
main attention had been attached to homeland of the author - Azerbaijan, a state that 
had been forcefully Sovietizied. Mir Yagub could also be regarded as the first 
political scientist who had objectively enlightened the activity of the delegation to the 
Paris Peace Conference. It had been impossible to gather any information about 
Mirmehdiyev's life after he had moved from Paris to Iran. 
It was in early 1920 that the member of the delegation Mahammad 
Maharramov had given up the politics and had tried to establish his small business. 
He had later been known as a specialist of bibliophilic and antique items. In 1960's 
Maharramov had donated to the former Lenin library in Moscow such publications by 
renowned Russian writer A.Gertsen as a set of “Kolokol” magazines published in 
London and a rare collection of his works published in Switzerland. In exchange he 
had been honoured with a special prize of the Soviet Union's Society of Cultural 
Relations with Foreign Countries. 
Having established ties with homeland by means of
 
the correspondent 
member of the Azerbaijan Academy of Sciences A.Zamanov, Maharramov had 
donated some rare publications to the libraries and funds of Azerbaijan. Until the 
1980's Maharramov had been the only remaining member of the delegation of 
Azerbaijan. He had died in 1982 in Paris at the age of 97. 

---

74 
We also know very little about the fate of Abbasbey Atamalibeyov. However 
his activity during the years of World War II testifies to the fact that he had remained 
involved in politics during emigration. Atamalibeyov had closely participated in the 
process of formation of national legions comprised of Soviet prisoners of war in 1942. 
Together with A. Fatalibeyli-Dudenginski and Fuad Amirjan Atamalibeyov had been 
included into “Liaison staff” (coordinating body of national legions) of the Oriental 
Ministry and there he had been dealing with the problems of the legionaries of the SD 
troops. During the political rivalry between the emigrants of 1920-1930-s 
Atamalibeyov had opposed Rasulzade and strongly adhered to the idea of Paris being 
the national center for directing Azerbaijani political emigrants. Sensing fears for his 
life in Europe due to his collaboration with German troops he had later fled to South 
America. It has been known that his son Galib Agamali had resided in the US and that 
Atamalibeyov had tried to establish contacts with his relatives in Azerbaijan. 
As a conclusion, one can say that the delegation of Azerbaijan that had 
embarked upon the journey to Paris in 1919 had fought the “battle for Azerbaijan” to 
the last member.