Özet:

After the outbreak of World War I, one of the most important goals of the Ottoman Empire was to dominate the areas where Muslim Turkish population was high in the Caucasus, thus gaining the support of indigenous Turks and opening up the way to Turkestan. However, the Ottoman Empire failed in this policy and the Russians advanced into the interior of Anatolia. The events that took place in the region after the Russian Revolution of 1917 re-directed the Ottoman Empire to the Caucasus. After the Bolsheviks came to power in 1917, Russian troops withdrew from the Caucasus and left their weapons and ammunition to the Georgian militia and Armenian gangs. Therefore, the South Caucasus Turks organized themselves against the occupation, and massacres occurred which accelerated political activities. One of the prominent figures in the Ottoman Caucasus Islamic Army in 1918 was Omer Faik Numanzade, who represented the Turks of Georgia. Numanzade undertook political activities in order to ensure that the Turks of the Caucasus and Eastern Anatolia did not disappear in the face of the Russians, Armenians and Georgians after the events that took place in the region during the First World War. For this purpose, he went to Istanbul and met with Enver and Talat Pasha and made some national demands. He invited the Ottomans to the region in order to protect the presence of the Caucasian Turks and to help the Caucasian Islamic Army to go to the Caucasian. On October 29, 1918, the Akhishka government was established, though short-lived, and Omer Faik was the president of this government. Considerable research has been carried out on this subject to this day. However, the studies conducted in the period in question mainly deal with Azerbaijan and Kars, while the Turks of the Ahıska Region or Georgia were not given much mention. Thus, Omer Faik Numanzade, who carried out important exploits in the history of the Caucasus Turks' national struggle, has largely been ignored. In this study, the picture that emerged as a result of the developments in the Caucasus after the October Revolution of 1917 and the political activities carried out by Omer Faik Numanzade representing the Georgian Turks (Ahska) will be discussed. In this study, the description of the events that took place in Georgia will illuminate the darkness of that period and shed light on the relations within Turkey's Caucasus regions.

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