Yeghishe Ishkhanian - Administration

Administration

The administration of Ishkhanian (1918–1919) was full of political vicissitudes. First the Transcaucasus was occupied by the Ottoman Turks, next the Britain military mission took command there. As the head of the People's Government of Karabakh, Yeghishe Ishkhanian had to enter to negotiations with the new commanders of the region, as well with the government of the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan. Moreover The People's Government of Karabakh faced an influx of about 3.000 Armenian refugees from the Armenian Genocide and about 5.000 from the village Berdadzor (in the Lachin corridor), which was attacked by Azeri forces in August 1918

However, they saw as the greatest threat for Nagorno-Karabakh was the government of Azerbaijan's attempst to annex Nagorno-Karabakh. Being a co-editor of the government's official newspaper "Artsakh", Ishkhanian wrote an article on March 7, 1919, entitled "Get your bloody hands off.".

In his speech in the 4th Karabakh Congress Ishkhanian expressed his concern thus:

The Provisional National Council has performed its explicit duty by not recognizing and not resigning itself to the rule of Azerbaijan and at the same time applied to Yerevan, that the Government should do the necessary. One thing must be clear to every one of us: if the Government of Armenia don't takes strong measures to remove Sultanov and the Azerbaijani military unit from Karabakh, and if the latter becomes an apple of discord between the two neighboring countries, one must not be a prophet to predict, that Azerbaijan and Armenia will clash with one another, and the result being that Karabakh will become the grave of both.