Naghi Sheykhzamanli

Naghi Sheykhzamanli Nağı Saleh oğlu Şeyxzamanlı Naki Keykurun
Counterintelligence service of ADR
In office August, 1919 – March 6, 1920
President	Fatali Khan Khoyski (Chairman of Azerbaijani Parliament)
Preceded by	Mammad Baghir Sheykhzamanli
Succeeded by	office abolished
Personal details
Born	1883 (1883) Elisabethpol, Russian Empire
Died	1967 (1968) (aged 84) Istanbul, Turkey
Nationality	Azerbaijani
Political party	Musavat
Religion	Islam

Naghi Saleh oglu Sheykhzamanli (Azerbaijani: Nağı Saleh oğlu Şeyxzamanlı; 1883, Ganja - 1967, Istanbul, Turkey), also known as Naki Keykurun was an Azerbaijani political figure^[1] and the head of the counterintelligence service of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic^[2].

Early years

Naghi Sheykhzamanli was born in 1883 in the Elisabethpol, the present-day Ganja, Azerbaijan.

Career

In 1905, Sheykhzamanli joined "Difai" (Defender) National Committee established by the Ahmed bey Aghayev in Ganja, which in 1917 merged with the National Party of Turkic Federalists established by Nasib Yusifbeyli into Musavat.

Upon the establishment of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, Sheykhzamanli became an instrumental figure behind the invitation of the Ottoman forces to support the ADR government in its struggle against the Bolshevik Baku Commune. During the negotiations with the Ottoman triumvir, Enver Pasha, Sheykhzamanli successfully pushed for Enver's brother, Nuru Pasha, to take the lead over the Ottoman offensive in the Caucasus^[3].

Exile

Upon the Bolshevik occupation of Azerbaijan in April 1920, Sheykhzamanli fled to Turkey. Later in life, he moved and settled with family to New Jersey, United States, where they established Azerbaijan Society of America in 1957. Under the pen-name of Naki Keykurun, he also published a few essays in Turkish about the first Azerbaijani independence movement in Istanbul, including "The Great Philanthropist Haji Zeynalabdin Taghiyev" (1957), "The Confession" (1963), and "The Memoirs of the National Liberation Movement in Azerbaijan" (1964). The latter two books were republished by the Ministry of National Security of Azerbaijan in 2004.

Naghi Sheykhzamanli died in Istanbul in 1967.

References

1. ^ Cornell, Svante (2010). Azerbaijan Since Independence. M. E. Sharpe. p. 15. ISBN 9780765630032. http://books.google.com/books?id=whVDskeHl2YC&pg=PA15. 
2. ^ Ministry of National Security of Azerbaijan (2011). "History of the Azerbaijani security services". http://www.mns.gov.az/az/pages/48-32.html.  (Azerbaijani)
3. ^ Reynolds, Michael (2011). Shattering Empires: The Clash and Collapse of the Ottoman and Russian Empires 1908-1918. Cambridge University Press. pp. 221―222. ISBN 9780521149167. http://books.google.com/books?id=rY4BOtsLDWAC&pg=PA221. 

Persondata
Name	Sheykhzamanli, Naghi
Alternative names	Keykurun, Naki
Short description
Date of birth	1883
Place of birth	Ganja, Azerbaijan
Date of death	1967
Place of death	New Jersey, USA