A SHORT HISTORY OF BATUMI
It is rumored that Batumi was founded as an ancient Greek colony under the name “Batis”. In ancient times, a port city called Bathys was established under the rule of the Persian Empire. Afterwards, it fell into the hands of the Kingdom of Pontus and then Romans (63 BC). The Romans used this place as a logistics base thanks to its convenient port. VI. Batumi, which was captured by Byzantium in the 16th century, was given to the administration of the Laz Kingdom. It was annexed to the United Kingdom of Georgia in the 10th century. In the 13th century, it constantly changed hands between Mongols, Arabs and Georgians.
It was conquered by the Ottomans in 1564 during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent. It became the center of the Lazistan Sanjak. Victor Fontainer, the temporary French Consul appointed to Trabzon in 1830, reported that Batumi port was the best port in the Black Sea due to its perfection for anchorage and its resistance to dangerous winds.
After 314 years of Ottoman rule, it was occupied by Russia in the 1877-1878 Ottoman-Russian War. (The number of Georgians who fought under the Russian flag in the Ottoman-Russian war was more than 30 thousand.) According to the Berlin Treaty signed on March 3, 1878; It was decided that the Ottoman Empire would pay 410 Million rubles as war compensation, but since the Ottoman Empire did not have the financial power to pay the compensation at that time, it had to cede some of its lands to Russia.
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Among these lands were Kola-Artaani (Göle-Ardahan), Şavşet-İmerkhevi (Şavşat-İmerkhevi), Artanuci (Ardanuç), Oltisi (Oltu/Erzurum), Maçakheli, part of Lazistan and Adjara.
Batumi, which was in Russian hands, started to develop with the construction of the Batumi-Tbilisi-Baku railway in 1883. With the laying of the Baku-Batumi oil pipeline in 1900, it became Russia’s most important oil port in the Black Sea.
According to the Russian administrative system, Batumis Olki, that is, Batumi Province, was established and divided into three sub-administrative units called okrug: Batumi, Artvin and Adjara.
At the Berlin Congress, the British asked for this city to be declared a Porto-Franco, that is, free port city, and they had it accepted as well. During this period, Batumi grew significantly and took on the appearance of European cities. However, the social economic situation of the local people has worsened. National production could not compete with European goods, and the negativities brought about by smuggling, bribery and other problems paved the way for people to migrate to the Ottoman country, that is, immigration. Batumi’s free port status was canceled in 1886
After World War I, a ceasefire was signed with the Bolsheviks and in accordance with the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk signed on March 3, 1918, Elviye-i Selase (Batumi, Kars, Ardahan) was returned to the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Empire cleared the region (Erzincan, Aşkale, Erzurum, Ardahan, Sarıkamış, Kağızman, Batumi and Kars) from the Armenian gangs armed by the Russian Caucasian Army while retreating.
Bonus: A plebiscite was applied for the people of Elviye-i Selase to determine their own destiny. In the voting held on July 14, 1918, the annexation decision to the Ottoman Empire was taken with 2,669 yes votes against 160 no votes. During this period, the Law on Associations stated that “The establishment of political societies on the basis of nationality, gender and titles is prohibited.” Batumi Russian National Association, which aims to protect the language, culture, personal and public rights of Russians based on its 4th article on the subject, has also been closed.
When it became clear that World War I would be lost, the lands east of the Brest-Litovsk borders were evacuated. In accordance with the Armistice of Mudros, the British did not consider the area where the Turkish army retreated to be sufficient and asked the Ottoman Empire to evacuate Elviye-i Selase with the note they gave.
The British, who held the region for 2 years, brought Armenian immigrants to the region to annex Elviye-i Selase to Armenia. Armenian gangs, backed by the British, plundered Turkish villages and massacred the people. He introduced taxes that were difficult to pay to force those who remained to emigrate.
Armenians wanted to remove not only the Turks but also the Greeks from the region. In December 1919, 623 Greeks went to Greece; 400 Turks immigrated to Azerbaijan.
It was built by Kazım Pasha on 28 September 1920. With the Eastern Operation and the Treaty of Gyumri as a result, Kars, Kağızman, Sarıkamış and Iğdır were annexed to the territory of Turkey.
Batumi was left to Georgia when the British left the region. Since it was considered within the borders of the National Pact, there were five deputies (Akif Sümer, Ahmet Fevzi Erdem, Ali Rıza Acara, İmamzade Edip Dinç and Hahutzade Ahmet Nuri Efendi) representing Batumi in the First Term Turkish Grand National Assembly.
Batum ise İngilizler bölgeyi terk ederken Gürcistan’a bırakılmış. Misak-ı Milli sınırları içerisinde sayıldığı için, I. Dönem Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi’nde Batum’u temsil eden 5 adet (Akif Sümer, Ahmet Fevzi Erdem, Ali Rıza Acara, İmamzade Edip Dinç ve Hahutzade Ahmet Nuri Efendi) vekili varmış.
Artvin, Ardahan and Batumi, which remained within the borders of the Democratic Republic of Georgia, were taken back on March 7, 1921. However, in accordance with the Treaty of Moscow signed on March 16, 1921, it was left to Georgia, which was captured by the Bolshevik armies. The city became the center of the Adjara Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, which was established on July 16, 1921.
With the Treaty of Kars, which confirmed the Treaty of Moscow, its cession to Soviet Georgia was approved. According to the agreement, the autonomy of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara is still under the guarantorship of the Republic of Turkey.
Bonus: While Batumi (Adjara) was given to Soviet Russia, it was left with the obligation to comply with some rules. One of the most important articles is that there will be absolutely no intervention in the ethnic identity and religious identity of the people within the borders of Batumi (Adjara). If these rules are not complied with, the Republic of Turkey has the right to intervene.
Today, Batumi, with a population of 180 thousand people of various faiths such as Catholic, Orthodox, Muslim, Jewish, Apostolic Armenians, also hosts a rich cultural mosaic consisting of Georgians, Azeris, Armenians, Russians, Adjarians and other ethnic groups 🙂
