World War I was a cunning camouflage to hide away the ancient revenge by the Crusaders’ offsprings and their allies who have been trying to fulfill it through centuries and an armed race to get access to the bounty raw material resources in Muslim countries, especially the middle East. However, the Muslims’ unity under the rule of the powerful Ottoman emperors was a nearly unchallengeable obstacle on their way. Therefore, their first goal was to make the Ottoman Empire to collapse from within, as if to show to the world that the various religious and ethnic minorities were dissatisfied with their life conditions in the empire and stood for their human rights and freedom. In order to reach their ominous goals, they have already been trying to persuade the ethnoreligious minorities in the region by giving them some incredibly hallucinatory glorious future, like the Big Armenian Kingdom and so on.

The western world’s program among other measures was to change the ethnic texture of the strategic regions by displacing the native Muslim Turks, moving them to far regions and replacing them by their favorite ethnicities to manipulate them and force the central governments to bow to the new forced situations whenever they needed. For example, displacing the Khakas and Azerbaijani Turks from the Caucasus and replacing them by Armenians in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was only one of their dirty plans to make them closer to their goals. It was exactly making another Israel in another strategic region of Muslim nations’ homelands. The newly replaced Armenians were supported by all western powers and promised to have their Armenian Kingdom. However, instead of such a big kingdom, the occupant Armenians are now living a miserable life in the occupied homeland of Muslim Turks.

The plan of Big Armenia was to occupy the border regions of eastern Turkey, Syria and Azerbaijan. By achieving that plan they could kill several birds with one stone: to weaken the Ottoman empire, to remove borderline connection with other Muslims and Turks, especially Azerbaijan, to obtain strategic access to all the regions by their puppets, rob the rich energy resources and guarantee their hegemony over people in the region. Their plan started at the same time in several places. They killed Muslim Turks in Van and nearby regions. The population of Van was about 270,000 then. In the Armenian newspaper, Gunsuk, published in the US they write: “We left only 15,000 Turks alive in Van!” They massacred Muslims in Baku and other cities of Azerbaijan by the direct help of their big brother, Russia. In Yerevan and nearby regions they massacred more than 3,000,000 Muslims and displaced the others living in more than 211 villages. The ultimate part of the plan was to massacre the Muslims in southern Azerbaijan and complete their plan of Big Armenia. Then they decided to boost all their forces to attack the cities of southern Azerbaijan.

After that Armenians in Van obviously demonstrated their plot with their western lords against Islam and the Ottoman empire, the Ottoman empire decided to punish their treachery. That is how the Armenians of Turkey, which are called Jilos, decided to flee to Azerbaijan. Before their entrance to Azerbaijan and western banks of the Lake Urmia, the western agents under the skin of monastery missioners, nurses, doctors and goodwill ambassadors were cultivating the seeds of hate and separatist ideals among native Armenians who have been living peacefully as intermingled minorities between Muslim Turks of Azerbaijan. When Jilos came to Urmia and Salmas, they were mercifully welcomed by Muslim Turks with warm hospitality, in spite of hunger and terrible conditions because of the Russian occupation of Azerbaijan then. Their religious leader was Marshimon. They were armed till their teeth by their western supporters, while the native Muslims of Azerbaijan were completely barehanded. The result was clear. Jilos joined the native Armenians and massacred more than 150,000 Muslim Turks in Urmia and Salmas. Their leader, Marshimon was killed by Ismail Simitgo, the western agent that was responsible to put more turn on the screw then by lighting a fire under the Armenian invaders. The few people who could save their lives were massacred by the infamous Kurdish gang patron, Ismail Simitgo and his bandits on their way to Khoy. The final phase of the Armenians’ project was to occupy Khoy to surrender Nakhchivan, massacre the Muslims there, and join Yerevan to other occupied cities to stablish the Big Armenia.

After the October revolution in Russia, the Russian troops were retreating from Azerbaijan. But they were ordered to leave their weapons for their Armenian brothers. While they were retreating they attacked the markets of Khoy, Urmia, Salmas and other cities and robbed the markets several times. They were trying to weaken the people in the region as much as they could to help their Armenian brothers to achieve their hateful plan. However, the people in Khoy were really wise enough. They didn’t let the Armenians to gain access to the Russian weapons. They disarmed the Armenians immediately. Because they had already experienced the massacres of Urmia and Salams.

In March 1918 more than 8,000 Armenian murderers under the order of Andronik attacked Azerbaijan to join the other murderers in Urmia and Salams. They were trying to surround Khoy castle – Khoy had a very strong wall with five gates and a ditch around the wall. So, it was like an impassable castle for invaders. After people heard the massacres in Urmia and Salmas, they panicked first. They came together to argue the problem and find a logical solution in Qari Masjidi (the old woman’s mosque). A young businessman, probably one of the Aghasi family, suggested the attending people to accept Armenians’ suggestions and let them come into city. But late Mr. Haj Ali Arefi, another important businessman, rejected his opinions and argued not to accept the Armenians’ entrance into city. He said: “Didn’t you see what happened to the poor people of Urmia and Salmas after they let the Armenian come into their cities? They massacred people, raped their women and chopped their wealth. We can’t let them come to our city.” After him Sheikh Fazlollah read the sermon of Jihad and repeated Mr. Arefi’s words and said: “If you are afraid and want to retreat, I will fight with them on my own till my death to protect my family and my homeland.” Then people got courage and decided to protect their city. At the same time the Turkish Troops were waiting on the border to help people of Azerbaijan, but they had to gain official permission and request from the people not to give excuses to the western countries based on violating international laws. Finally, the people of Khoy sent them some food and support and convinced them to send about 700 hundred troops to help Khoy. Another army of Ottoman troops under the comman of Ali Ehssan Pasha came to Khan Takhti, a plain between Salmas and Urmia. Then Armenians and Assyrians moved back to Qushchi.

The Armenians’ plot was to start fight with the Ottoman soldiers in Khoy and pretend to retreat to Urmia to take Ali Ehssan Pasha out of Khoy and at the same time to attract the army in Tabriz to Shrafkhana to let Andronik to attack and occupy Khoy. But their plot failed because the army of Tabriz defeated them in Shrafkhana. On the other side, after Andronik attacked Khoy, the people of Khoy were already there to welcome the invaders.

The Armenians under the command of Androik were completely well-armed. But the people of Khoy were determined to defend their home, even if they didn’t have enough weapons. The Armenian invaders started their attack to Khoy by killing the Ottoman soldiers who have ambushed in Ersi and Navayi, the two villages in southeastern Khoy. Unfortunately, nearly all of them got surrounded by the Armenian troops and got martyred, peace be upon them all. Then Armenians attacked Khoy from two different directions, north and west. They were not expecting such a resistance from Khoy. After their front troops were shot by the soldiers of Khoy, they changed their tactics and fired Khoy by their artilleries. At the same time, Salar Humayun Avajiqli entered Khoy with his troop from Avajiq, a small town in far north western part of Iran. His entrance gave people more courage to defend their homeland.

The artillery that Armenian had put in Sedavar, the village in eastern part of Khoy was causing a lo t of damage. Mashadi Taqi, an old artillery man from Khoy put chain in the artillery and not only silenced their artillery but also killed a lot of invaders, too. The Armenians then decided to attack the city from the southern direction. The number of soldiers was few, so when they saw the army of Armenians they decided to flee. Then, a heroine, originally from Urmia who was married in Khoy and lived here saw the escaping cowards, removed her scarf and suggested it to them and them to give her their weapons to defend the city. At the same time, she mentioned them what the invaders had already done in Urmia and Salams. Then the soldiers returned and defended their home bravely.

Finally, the Ottoman troops under the command of Ali Ehssan Pasha arrived from Urmia and Salmas and defeated the invaders’ troops. The other day, Zohdi bey, the representative of the Ottoman Empire came to Khoy and gave a speech about what the people of Khoy had done by resisting the Armenian invaders and rescuing Muslims and the Islamic world. After that the Armenians’ Big Armenia turned to melancholy. But they took their revenge by the destruction of the historical city wall of Khoy and isolating Avajiq. And the occupation of Nagorno Qarabagh was another part of their revenge. Nevertheless, this short history of Khoy the heroic resistance of the Muslim Turks of Azerbaijan is one the most honorable and proudest pages of our people. We need to keep it alive to remind our people that what brave people they are and in any case of hopelessness they are capable of changing the situation according to their interests.

طالبی ر. 1915 (با نگرشی بر 8 قرن تاریخ پرتنش مسلمانان و ارامنه، و نسل کشی مسلمانان)، تهران: 1390، ص. 378 آزادی م. تاریخ قتل عام مسلمانان آذربایجان توسط جیلوها، اورمیه: انتشارات حسام الدین چلبی، 1389، ص. 7 آزادی م. تاریخ قتل عام مسلمانان آذربایجان توسط جیلوها، اورمیه: انتشارات حسام الدین چلبی، 1389، ص. 15-18 آغاسی م. تاریخ خوی، تبریز: انتشارات موسسه تاریخ و فرهنگ ایران – شماره 16، 1350، 620 ص

By: Abbassali Ahmadoghlu PhD of English literature