Стр. 27 - Azərbaycan xalçaları

27
the border issue between Armenia and Georgia was solved by the Atlanta Supreme Council, a
decision was adopted to give the northern part of Borchali to Georgia, the southern part to Ar-
menia, and to create a “neutral zone” in the middle where the Allahverdi copper mines were
located. The management of the neutral zone was entrusted to the English governor-general.
The representatives of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic were not invited to the conference
where the destiny of Borchali, to which Azerbaijan had legal claim, was being decided. There-
fore, the representative of Azerbaijan in Tbilisi stated that his country would not acknowledge
this decision. Later, by decision of the Russian Communist (Bolshevik) Party Central Com-
mittee Caucasus Bureau on July 7, 1921, the “neutral zone” was joined to Armenia. Thus, the
rights of the Azerbaijani population of Borchali to decide their own fate were rudely violated;
Borchali, historically Azerbaijan’s territory and an area where Azerbaijanis lived, was divided
between Georgia and Armenia.
Armenia attempted to realize its territorial claims against Azerbaijan through an aggressive
ethnic cleansing policy (Map 13). In the fall of 1919, the territorial claims of Armenia against
Azerbaijan became more strained. The plans of Azerbaijan’s administration to protect the ter-
ritorial integrity of the country destroyed the diplomatic work of the Armenians. The repre-
sentatives of the United States and England in the Caucasus expressed their concerns before
the heads of the governments of Azerbaijan and Armenia that the intensification of the mili-
tary situation in the region would impede the work of the Paris Peace Conference. U.S. repre-
sentative J. Ray offered to hold a conference in Tbilisi to solve the disputes between the par-
ties peacefully. November 20-22, representative board meetings were held in Tbilisi that were
led by the heads of the Azerbaijani and Armenian governments, Nasib bey Yusifbeyli and A.
Khatisyan, respectively. On November 23, an agreement was signed between the parties with
the participation of J. Ray, the deputy of the Supreme Commissar of Mediation and the Secu-
rity Council in the Caucasus, and Y. Gegechkor, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia. The
agreement was comprised of five articles: first, the governments of Azerbaijan and Armenia
made commitments to halt the confrontations and not to resort to violence again. In the second
article, they came to an agreement to repair and open the roads to Zangazur and to prepare
Map 13
Republic Of Azerbaijan