"تاريخ الحرب الكبرى استنادًا إلى وثائق رسمية. الحملة في بلاد الرافدين ١٩١٤-١٩١٨. المجلد IV". [ظ‎‎١‎٩‎٥] (٥٤٠/٣٩٥)

330 HISTORY OF THE WAR : MESOPOTAMIA
For some weeks past it had appeared as if the Turks, in their
attempts to restore Azerbaijan to the territorial unity it
possessed before Russia annexed the northern portion in 1828
and to attach it to Turkey, were placing Turkish officers in
command of the local forces with the object of posing as
subjects of the new State and of remaining in Azerbaijan when
the Turkish forces withdrew * Our suspicions in regard to
Turkish intentions were fully confirmed when, on the 1st
November, Nuri Pasha changed his title of General Officer
Commanding Caucasus Islam Army to that of Commander-in-
Chief Azerbaijan Army and at the same time announced that
all the ranks of the Turkish Army in Azerbaijan would be
regarded as in the service of that republic and no longer in the
service of Turkey. Under this pretext of a separate state,
the Turkish and local forces also continued hostilities against
Bicharakoff at Petrovsk.
Nuri Pasha, when informed of our intention to occupy Baku,
at first tried to confuse the issue by referring us to the Azerbaijan
Republic. But his evasions were useless and on the 16th
November arrangements were made by General Thomson at
Enzeli with representatives from Baku for the evacuation of
the Turks, the withdrawal of the local forces and the occupation
of the town on the 17th by a combined force of British and
Russians. Captain Washington with his five ships had reached
Petrovsk on the 6th November with a letter informing Bich
arakoff of our intention to occupy Baku and requesting his
co-operation, which was desirable to avoid any risk of mistrust
in regard to our intentions on the part of the local inhabitants.
Bicharakoff agreed and reached Enzeli with his troops and
three gunboats on the 12th November. On the 17th he and
his force accompanied General Thomson with part of the North
Persia Force and the British armed flotilla to Baku.
The British and Indian troops in North Persia had been set
a difficult and a thankless task. But they had carried it
out in a manner worthy of their best traditions, and their
discipline and behaviour had so favourably impressed the
Persians that it brought about among them a considerable
reaction of feeling in our favour. Their presence consequently
did much to restore British prestige in the country and thus
proved of considerable value to Sir Percy Cox and his
diplomatic and political assistants.
On the 16th October H.M. Government gave the Persian Government an
assurance that they would not entertain any proposal that the Turks might
make regarding the cession of any part of Persian Azerbaijan.