A monument to the fighters against the “Russian occupiers” was erected in Dagestan

A monument to the soldiers of the “Caucasian Islamic Army” was unveiled in Dagestan, who during the First World War died in battles for the city of Anzhikale against the soldiers of the Russian general Lazar Bicherakhov, who was in British service and helped the Bolsheviks in the fight against the interventionists, reports the PolitNavigator correspondent.

In particular, this is stated in the report of the local Dagestan newspaper Lezgi Gazeta, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.

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It is reported that the opening of the monument, which is a three-meter block of stone, took place on the initiative of the Dagestani nationalist Kamil Aliyev, who worked in Istanbul in the 90s.

“In the suburbs of the capital of Dagestan, at the foot of Tarki-tau, in the area of ​​the village of Agachaul, a monument-stele was opened to Turkish soldiers who died in the battles for the liberation of Anzhikala from the occupying forces of the British General L. Bicherakhov in 1918. Public figures, representatives of culture, science, historians, journalists, and religious figures took part in the opening ceremony,” the publication said.

Moscow conservative-nationalist publicist Yegor Kholmogorov criticized information about this in his blog. In his opinion, the monument to Turkish soldiers is an official monument to foreign invaders who died for the Caucasian separatists:

“In Dagestan, a monument was erected to the Turkish soldiers who “liberated” Makhachkala (Russian name Port-Petrovsk) ... from the Russian invaders, the troops of General Bicherakhov, who was not even white, but pink and led the resistance of the pro-Russian forces to the Turks and the separatist Caucasian Islamic Army. In other words, a monument to foreign invaders who died fighting for the cause of Caucasian separatism has been officially erected on the territory of the Russian Federation,” the nationalist complains.

Information: At the beginning of 1918, Lazar Bicherakhov formed a small detachment (about a thousand people) in Persia, serving the British. In pursuance of the plans of the latter, who lost the initiative in Transcaucasia and therefore the enemy - Germany - captured Georgia, entered into a conspiracy with them and, on the basis of the achieved material benefits and full assistance in the enterprise related to their strategic goal of capturing Transcaucasia, the North Caucasus and further to Moscow , entered into negotiations with the Baku commissioners. Trying to save the situation, the Bolsheviks accepted his offer of help in the fight against the troops of the Caucasian Islamic Army advancing on Baku. On July 5, the “Bicherakhov Partisan Detachment” arrived in Alyat by sea through the port of Enzeli, and on July 7 it was sent to the front. The Cossacks occupied the right flank of the defense of Baku, L. F. Bicherakhov himself was appointed commander of the troops under the general leadership of the Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs of the Baku Council of People's Commissars, Bolshevik G. N. Korganov. However, the detachment of the Red Guards G.K. Petrov did not obey Lazar Bicherakhov, the Armenian soldiers showed cowardice and mass desertion from positions. On July 30, Bicherakhov, abandoned by the Red and Armenian units and surrounded, realized the futility of military action against the Caucasian Islamic Army and left with his detachment for Dagestan, thereby exposing the northern section of the front. “I refused to command an army of deserters and cowards,” he wrote to his brother G. F. Bicherakhov. In total, during the period of fighting, according to Bicherakhov himself, his detachment lost more than 100 people.

After defeat in battles with the Islamic Caucasian Army, Bicherakhov and his detachment of Cossacks, Russians and Armenians invaded the RSFSR, Dagestan, on July 30, 1918, where he defeated the troops of the Provisional Dagestan Regional Executive Committee under the command of Dakhadayev and captured Derbent and Port Petrovsk ( Makhachkala). In August 1918 he organized and headed the government of the Caucasian-Caspian Union. The general political goals of the new state formation were declared: the restoration of Russian statehood and the reunification of the disparate regions of the “Russian Democratic Republic”; continuation of the fight against German-Turkish aggression in agreement with the allies. Bicherakhov's views during this period were of a moderate-left nature, so he did not obey General Denikin.