View source for Battle of Dilman

{{Short description|Battle in World War I}}
{{pp-extended|small=yes}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = Battle of Dilman
| partof            = the [[Persian campaign (World War I)|Persian Campaign]] of World War I
| image             = 
| caption           = 
| date              = April 15, 1915
| place             = Dilman (modern [[Salmas]], [[Iran]])
| territory         = 
| result            = Russian victory<ref name="Gaunt">''The Ottoman Treatment of the Assyrians'', David Gaunt, ''A Question of Genocide'', ed. Ronald Grigor Suny, Fatma Muge Gocek, Norman M. Naimark, (Oxford University Press, 2011), 255;"''In size, Halil's was definitely the superior force, but his army was badly mauled in a decisive battle near Dilman that left thousands of casualties on the battlefield.''"</ref><ref>''World War I and the End of the Ottomans'', ed. Hans-Lukas Kieser, Kerem Oktem and Maurus Reinkowski, (I.B. Tauris, 2015),42;"''The Ottoman forces were decisively defeated in the battle of Dilman in mid April.''"</ref>
| combatants_header = 
| combatant1        = {{flag|Russian Empire}}
* [[Armenian volunteer units]]
* [[Armenian fedayi]]
* [[Assyrian volunteers]]
| combatant2        = {{flag|Ottoman Empire}}
| commander1        = [[Tovmas Nazarbekian]]
| commander2        = [[Halil Kut|Halil Pasha]]<br>

| strength1         = 10 battalions of [[Russian Caucasus Army (World War I)|Russian Caucasus Army]] <br> 1 battalion of [[Armenians|Armenian]] volunteers
| strength2         = 248 Officers<br>10,920 troops<br>12,000 irregular [[Kurds|Kurdish]] cavalry<ref name="Gaunt" />
| casualties1       = Unknown
| casualties2       = 3,500 killed<ref name="Gaunt" />
| notes             = 
| campaignbox       = {{Persian Campaign}}
}}

The '''Battle of Dilman''' (April 15, 1915) took place during [[World War I]] fought at [[Salmas|Dilman]] between the [[Russian Empire]] and the [[Ottoman Empire]].

Despite having the larger forces, the Ottomans suffered 468 dead, 1,228 wounded, and 370 missing in the first day. Many injured Ottoman soldiers were abandoned on the field of battle.<ref name="Gaunt" /> More than half of the Ottoman troops were [[Kurds|Kurdish]], almost all of whom deserted.<ref>Trapped between the map and reality. Geography and perceptions of Kurdistan. Maria T. O'Shea. Routledge 2004. {{ISBN|0-415-94766-9}} p. 95</ref> By the end of the battle, the Ottomans had 3,500 of its soldiers killed.<ref name="Gaunt" />

The result was a Russian victory under [[Tovmas Nazarbekian]].<ref>America and the Armenian Genocide of 1915, p. 95 by Jay Murray Winter</ref> Armenian and Assyrian volunteers had an important role in the victory.<ref name="Gaunt" />

One month later, [[Halil Kut]] abandoned [[Persia]] with his army reduced to half of its original size. Halil blamed his defeat on the [[Christians]] and ordered the execution of all [[Armenians]] and [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]] among his own soldiers. [[German Empire|German]] military advisors reported the murder of several hundred unarmed Armenian and Assyrian soldiers and officers. The [[Armenians|Armenian]] and [[Assyrian people|Assyrian]] civilians of [[Azarbaijan|northwestern Persia]] were also massacred by Ottoman troops.<ref name="Gaunt" />
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Kevorkian, 226

The last major Ottoman offensive was waged in April 1915 by Halil Bey (Kut), Enver’s uncle, who had ceded his post as both military governor of Istanbul and as a member of the executive bureau of the Teskilât-ı Mahsusa to Colonel Cevad in order to take command of the Fifth Ottoman Expeditionary Corps, called into existence for the purpose of attacking Iranian Azerbaijan.17 The outcome of the Turkish offensive was decided at Dilman, where hostilities commenced on 18 April/1 May, at a moment when resistance in the Armenian city of Van had already begun. Halil and his 12,000 men, backed up by 4,000 Kurdish irregulars, confronted General Nazarbekov’s Sixth Russian Division, reinforced by Antranig’s First Armenian Volunteer Battalion 18. The Turkish forces were defeated and retreated toward the vilayet of Van, where the situation was on the point of boiling over.
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== See also ==
* [[Sarkis Jebejian]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Ottoman battles in the 20th century}}
{{Coord missing|West Azerbaijan province}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Battle of Dilman}}
[[Category:Conflicts in 1915|Dilman]]
[[Category:1915 in Iran]]
[[Category:1915 in the Russian Empire]]
[[Category:1915 in the Ottoman Empire]]
[[Category:20th century in Armenia]]
[[Category:Battles involving Armenia|Dilman]]
[[Category:Battles involving the Ottoman Empire|Dilman]]
[[Category:Battles involving the Russian Empire|Dilman]]
[[Category:History of Van Province]]
[[Category:History of West Azerbaijan province]]
[[Category:April 1915 events]]
[[Category:Middle Eastern theatre of World War I]]
[[Category:Battles of the Caucasus Campaign]]


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