Provisional National Government of the Southwestern Caucasus

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Provisional National Government of the Southwestern Caucasus Cenûb-i Garbî Kafkas Hükûmet-i Muvakkate-i Millîyesi Güneybatı Kafkas Geçici Milli Hükûmeti
1918–1919
Flag
Capital	Kars
Common languages	Ottoman Turkish
Government	Republic
President
Historical era	World War I
• Partition	1 December 1918
• British occupation	19 April 1919
Currency	Kuruş Lira
Preceded by Succeeded by Caucasus Viceroyalty (1844–1881) Democratic Republic of Armenia Democratic Republic of Georgia Azerbaijan Democratic Republic Turkey

The Provisional National Government of the Southwestern Caucasus,^[1] Provisional National Government of South West Caucasia (Modern Turkish: Güneybatı Kafkas Geçici Milli Hükûmeti; Ottoman Turkish: Cenub-ı Garbi Kafkas Hükûmet-i Muvakkate-i Milliyesi^[2] Azerbaijani: Cənub-Qərbi Qafqaz Cümhuriyyəti^[3]) or Kars Republic was a short-lived nominally-independent provisional government based in Kars, northeastern Turkey. Born in the wake of the Armistice of Mudros that ended World War I in the Middle East, it existed from December 1, 1918 until April 19, 1919, when it was abolished by British High Commissioner Admiral Somerset Arthur Gough-Calthorpe. Some historians consider it to have been a puppet state of the Ottoman Empire.^{[citation needed]}

The government, headed by Fahrettin Pirioğlu, considered its territory to be the predominantly Muslim-inhabited regions of Kars and Batumi, parts of Yerevan province and the Akhaltsikhe and Akhalkalaki districts of Tiflis province. In practical terms, however, the government was confined to Kars province and existed alongside the British governorship created during the Entente's intervention in the South Caucasus.^[4]