SOME HISTORICAL ASPECTS OF INVASION OF TURKIST TRIBES IN TRANSCAUCASUS

          The Turkist tribes first appeared in Transcaucasus and Asia Minor in the 7th-10th centuries. It was the period when the process of weakening of the Arabic Khalifate began and the Turkist hired soldiers from Middle Asia and Khorasa were attracted in the armies of the Arabic khalifes. Against their service in the army land plots were allotted to these soldiers (in Taron, Adan and other towns). However, the massive flow of the Turks to the east started in the 11th century who moved there for the purpose of getting possession of new pastures for their cattle. Thus, the 11th century was actually marked as the period when the Turks-Seljuks settled in Transcaucasus. It should be noted that initially the main purpose of the Seljuk invasions was robbery and investigation of the unknown territories. In 1054 Byzantine attempted to stop the advancement of the Turk-Seljuks. A big battle took place near Manaskert where the Byzantine troops were heavily defeated. Armenian and Georgian regiments also fought among the Byzantine troops. The immediate consequence of this defeat was that the whole Asia Minor passed under the reign of the Seljuk state.
          In the 20s’ of the 12th century Georgia gradually gained strength. In 1121 the Georgian King David the Builder liberated Tiflis, the capital of Georgia, and in 1184 Ani, the capital of Armenia, was freed. Later, before the middle of the 13th century, the joint Armenian and Georgian armies led by the Georgian Kings of the Armenian descent Zakareh and Ivaneh Zakarian liberated both Armenia and Georgia.
Soon a new Ottoman state was established on the ruins of the Seljuk state which exterminated the most powerful state of those times and later played a significant role in the political arena.
          As a result of the weakening of the Seljuk state in 1298 a new Ottoman state was formed in its remote regions. The year 1326 can be acknowledged as the turning point for the state when Orkhan Bey conquered Asia Minor westwards of the town Bors and based its capital there.
          Thus, by the middle of the 14th century the Ottomen were able to build a base that served as a bridge-head for them for penetrating into the Balkans and conquering it. Their victorious advancement reached its peak when in 1453 they took Constantinopol which marked the end of Byzantine, the most powerful state of those times.
          After the fall of Constantinopol the whole Asia Minor was joined to the Ottoman Empire.
          The surmounting of the Ottoman Empire was accompanied with the assimilation of the conquered people. However, the ambitions of the Turkish invaders were even more far-going.
          In the course of the following centuries the Ottoman state succeeded in expanding significantly its territories. The Ottoman Empire reached the peak of its power in the 16th century. Its territory encompassed three continents with an area of 6,000,000 m2 and a population of 25,000,000 (the Balkans in Europe, Asia Minor, the Sinai Peninsula, the Upland of Anatoly, the southern part of Transcaucasus in Asia and the whole of North Africa).
          Nevertheless, since the end of the 16th century the process of weakening of the Ottoman Empire began which later grew into a decline. The year 1582 is considered as the beginning of the decline of the Ottoman Empire.
          Despite the peerless power and the fact that the European countries recognized the Turkish state after the conquest of Constantinopol and the whole Balkan Peninsula, rebellions often took place in the Ottoman state which were mainly led by dethroned royal heirs.
          Later, one of the reasons why the Ottoman Empire broke up was the fact that the Turks who were permanently involved in wars were not able to create an ethnic base for themselves in the territory of their state capable of ruling more competently within the country.
          Another reason for the collapse of the Ottoman Empire was the repressed state of the Christian population who were regarded as a second-rate citizens (as confirmed in the Code of Rules of the Ottoman Empire where it was stated: “A Christian shall not have the right to hold a position in the civil service. A Christian shall not be allowed to build houses which are higher than those of the Moslems. A Christian shall be dressed in clothes of the gray color and shall not be allowed to paint his house in bright colors. Whenever a Christian riding a horse meets a walking Muslim on his way, the Christian shall dismount the horse and offer the horse to the Moslem, and if the latter refuses to accept the offer (which was never the case), the Christian shall walk past the Moslem on foot”. It was allowed to confess a religion but certain limitations were imposed with respect of other religions. In particular, it was prohibited to renovate the churches and strictly disallowed to build new churches. The tolling of the church bells was also prohibited. Meanwhile, each Moslem was allowed to kill a Christian if the latter happened to be armed. These and several other severe prohibitions were applied in the Ottoman state and continued to be effective as late as the beginning of the 20th century. At the end of the 19th century when the principle of the equality of nations was proclaimed in Turkey, the Turks announced themselves to be “the best nation among the equals”.
          Under these circumstances revolts arose, and for the purpose of suppressing the domestic disturbances and maintaining the order in the country the sultan was obliged to keep a large number of troops. As a result, the power of the empire weakened in the periphery. This contributed to the liberation of some of the conquered countries. In particular, as a result of a powerful uprising in 1572-74 Moldavia, Bulgaria and Hertsogovina were freed from the Ottoman yoke, and in 1594-95 Serbia was liberated.
This tendency continued throughout the following centuries. Revolts took place not only in the conquered territories. Turks themselves also rebelled against the authorities in power.
          In the 18th century Russia began its expansion towards Transcaucasus.
          The first half of the 19th century can be acknowledged was a period of Russian-Turkish wars.
          In order to stop the advancement of Russia, Turkey announced a war to Russia in 1807. During this war the Russian troops led by Kutuzov defeated the Turkish army in 1811, and after the defeat of Napoleon in 1812 a peace agreement was concluded between Russia and Turkey. Under the said agreement Russia was granted an access to the Black Sea. Nevertheless, Turkey could not submit to these conditions and again announced a war against Russia in 1828. In 1829 Turkey was again defeated by Russia at a sea battle. As a result, Turkey surrendered Adrianopol which opened Russia’s access to Istanbul. In the same year Russia and Turkey concluded a peace agreement. According to the Adrianapol Agreement, East Armenia, Georgia and other Black Sea regions were adjoined to Russia. West Armenia remained under the yoke of Turkey where the Armenian genocide was perpetrated in 1915.

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