It was on this day in 1918 that the Islamic Army of the Caucasus, which included an Azerbaijani corps, entered Baku and liberated the city from Bolshevik-Dashnak occupation.
Despite its own dire circumstances, Ottoman Turkey sent the Islamic Caucasian Army led by Nuri Pasha to restore the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. In August-September 1918, notwithstanding the protests of European countries against the Turkish troops moving into Azerbaijan, Ottoman Turkey did not spare brotherly help and did not leave our country to face the misfortune alone.
It fulfilled its historical mission with dignity. With the successful completion of the liberation mission by the Ottoman Turks on September 15, with the liberation of Baku from the invaders, a fraternal contribution was made to the establishment of the statehood of Azerbaijan. After the monumental and historic victory, the capital of the government of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was moved from Ganja to Baku on September 17. The Ottoman army lost 1,130 soldiers in the operation to liberate Baku.
On September 10, 1918, Nuri Pasha took immediate charge of the liberation of Baku. By his order of September 10, 1918, the command of the Eastern Front and the Northern Group belonging to him were dissolved, the movement of all troops on the front was given directly to the command of the Islamic Army of the Caucasus.
The order of September 13, 1918, sent by the command of the Islamic Army of Caucasus to the fighting divisions, announced that the attack on Baku would begin at 2 a.m. on September 14.
About eight thousand Ottoman soldiers and up to seven thousand local Azerbaijani forces were gathered to take part in the decisive offensive on Baku.
At two o’clock in the morning, the Fifth Caucasus Division began to advance in the direction of the Geybat-Bilajari railroad.
At three o’clock in the morning the first line of defense of Baku was taken, at six o’clock, the second one.
The enemy who was preparing to fight was destroyed by artillery fire. The 56th Regiment, the main hero of the offensive, seized strategic heights and, pursuing the enemy, moved forward. The 15th Regiment took the Bilajai slopes, and the Mashtaga detachment, which was part of this regiment, took Sabunchu, and the people’s militia took the Keshla station. Avoiding direct confrontation, Armenians started to engage in fights in city neighborhoods and houses, as though trying to repeat the March massacre.
On September 14, General Dunsterville and the government of the Centrocaspian Dictatorship, the Baku Commissars left Baku.
On September 15, the first issue of Azerbaijan newspaper in Ganja published news about the liberation of Baku: “Telegram from the Commander of the Islamic Army of Caucasus Nuri Pasha to the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic: ‘Bismillahir rahmanir rahim! Just after 9 a.m. on September 15, 1918, the city of Baku was liberated by the units of our heroic army’.”
After the liberation of Baku by the Islamic Caucasian Army on September 17, the government of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic moved from Ganja to Baku. Thus, the main stage of state building began in Azerbaijan.
On September 18, the units of the Islamic Army of the Caucasus standing around the city entered Baku. The Azerbaijani Turks, the real masters of the city, warmly welcomed the victorious army as their savior.
Thus, the independence of Azerbaijan was secured, putting an end to the domination of Armenians and Bolsheviks in Baku and the surrounding areas.
1,132 soldiers of the Islamic Army of Caucasus were killed in the military operation to liberate Baku.
