General Andranik Ozanyan remembered on his 145th birth anniversary

PanARMENIAN.Net -
“I ran out of time to complete my work,” wrote the legendary General Andranik, admired to this day for his brave deeds in national liberation movement.



Andranik Ozanyan was born on February 25, 1865 in the town of Shapin-Garahisar, West Armenia.



In the mid 1890s, when the government of Turkish tyrant Abdul Hamid was carrying out a public policy to forcefully assimilate Armenians into the Turkish mainstream, Andranik Ozanyan, as a member of an Armenian volunteer force, lead by the famous Armenian guerilla leader Agbyur Serob, took active part in the battles of Taron and Sassoon. Later on, in November of 1901, Andranik Ozanyan, leading a numerically small military detachment, scored a large victory against the Turkish troops and Kurdish mob, by breaking through the siege of Msho Arakelots monastery and escaping potential capture. His bravery, shown at the battle, earned him the reputation of an “elusive fighter”.



In 1904, after leading a series of battles in Vaspurakan (Akhtamar and Van), Andranik Ozanyan, along with his military detachment, moved to Iran, and from there, onto Southern Caucasus. In the first Balkan war (1912-1913), the Armenian military detachment of Andranik Ozanyan, along with another Armenian military detachment, lead by General Garegin Njdeh, fought courageously against the Turkish troops, as part of the Bulgarian army. In 1914, during World War I, Andranik Ozanyan was appointed as the commander of the First Voluntary Armenian Regiment that fought against the Turks in the Caucasus as part of the Russian army. During the war, General Andranik scored 20 victorious battles, and played an important role in the battles of Dilman (1915), Zevan, and Bitlis. During those battles, Andranik’s talents as a great general were manifested.

In 1918, Andranik was appointed as the commander of Erzrum’s Armenian defense forces. During an overwhelming Turkish counter-offensive, Andranik Ozanyan retreated toward the Sarikamish-Kars-Alexandropol direction, with his forces and thousands of Armenian refugees. They reached Nakhichevan in June. In the face of prevailing disagreements with the first Armenian National Government about the way they conducted their affairs, Andranik disassembled his military unit in April 1919, giving up all his military stock to the Catholicos of All Armenians, and going overseas to America.



On August 31 of 1927, legendary General Andranik Ozanyan passed away in Fresno, California. His body was transported to France, and buried in the French Pere Lachaise cemetery, until the year 2000. The government of the second independent Armenian Republic decided to relocate General Andranik’s remains to Armenia, where he received an honorable military reburial at the Yerablur Armenian National Cemetery.