Participants in the Battle of Karakilisa

The photograph shows participants in the Battle of Karakilisa: four men. Two are seated on either side of a table with flowers, and two stand behind them. Three wear caps with a cross badge; the fourth wears a fur hat.

The Battle of Karakilisa (Vanadzor) was a bloody clash between Armenian and Turkish troops on 24–29 May 1918. After the Russian army withdrew, Armenian troops were retreating while escorting thousands of refugees. Part of the Turkish forces advanced from Alexandropol (Gyumri) towards Yerevan, another part towards Karakilisa. After heavy fighting the Turks took Karakilisa, but the strong resistance of the Armenian troops forced them to give up advancing deeper into Armenia.

The Turkish commander Vehib Pasha stressed the exceptional importance of this battle. In the battles of Bash-Aparan (Aparan) and Karakilisa, Armenian troops and militiamen blocked the Turks' way to Yerevan and the Ararat Plain, which made it possible to create the Republic of Armenia.