British military correspondent Scotland Liddell, who worked in Baku and Tbilisi during the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, writes in his article "Armenians against Muslims":
In the graphic of february an article is published under the heading, “The Armenians of Karabagh.” The information, you state, was furnished by Mr. Tigron Nazarian, an Armenian, of course, so that one is not surprised to find it Armenian propaganda. And, alas! one is not surprised to find this propaganda false.
As regards the history, geography and natural riches of Karabagh I have nothing to say. But, as Nazarian’s visit to London is in order that he can urge on the Peace Conference the Armenian request that Karabagh be included politically in the Armenian and not in the Azerbaijan Republic, and as the figures he gives regarding the population of Karabagh are of vital importance in this respect, I must point out that they are grossly untrue..
Nazarian says that there are 198,000 Armenians and 80,000 Tartars in Karabagh. Professor Schepotieff, an authority, with no political axe to grind, has proved in a recent article that the present population of Karabagh is 415,000 Mussulmans as com- pared with only 170,000 Armenians. But …so many innocent Mussulman peasants have recently been massacred by the Armenian troops that even Schepotieff’s figures may be truthfully disputed.
To-day the Armenian regular troops are carrying on a war against Mussulman partisans in Karabagh. For the bloodshed that is taking place, even as I write, the Armenians, and the Armenians alone, are to blame. Although the province of Karabagh was placed under Azerbaijan administration by the British authorities until such a time as the future status of the province would be decided by the Peace Conference, the Armenian leaders and agitators for a long time refused to acknow- ledge Mussulman rule and strove in every way to incite the peaceful Armenian popu- lation against the Azerbaijan Government.
HIS constant agitation and this provoca-tion led on several occasions to fighting.
In November of last year an agreement was signed in Tiflis between the Azerbaijan and Armenian Governments. By this it was arranged that all fighting would cease and that both sides would await in peace the Conference’s decree The Azerbaijan Republic faithfully kept to this agreement. The Azerbaijan troops were withdrawn from Zangezour, but no sooner had this been done than the Armenians very treacherously attacked the Mussulman villages, massacred hundreds of innocent peasants, and within a few weeks had succeeded in destroying over forty Mussulman villages. Azerbaijan has been very patient and long-suffering. But there is a limit to a Government’s patience. War has for long seemed inevitable. Now, on March 22, the Armenians, taking advantage of the Mussul- man festival of Novruz Bairam, and the fact that there were only insignificant Azerbaijan troops, for the purpose of keeping order in Karabagh, have again launched attacks on many Mussulman villages in the province. So far, only partisan troops have opposed them, but I hear on good authority that the Azerbaijan Government is despatching regular troops to the assistance of the unfortunate Mussulman population of the country, who are faced with the threat of complete extirpation at the hands of their “Christian” neighbours.
Armenian propaganda is excellent. Doubtless the many propagandists in England, France and America will take advantage of their losses in the present clash to further their pleas and greedy territorial claims. But we in Trans- Caucasia know what the truth actually is. Surely it is time that the British public knew it too
