Movses Silikyan or Silikov was an Armenian general who served in the Imperial Russian Army during World War I and later in the army of the First Republic of Armenia.
27 Facts About Movses Silikyan
2.
Movses Silikyan is regarded as a national hero in Armenia for his role in the Armenian victory at the Battle of Sardarabad.
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Movses Silikyan received the rank of lieutenant general of the Armenian army and held various top military positions.
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Movses Silikyan was born on 14 September 1862 in the mixed Armenian-Udi village of Vartashen in the Nukha Uyezd of the Elisabethpol Governorate of the Russian Empire.
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Movses Silikyan graduated from the Moscow Military Gymnasium No 1 and the Alexandrov Military School No 3.
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Movses Silikyan began his service in the Imperial Russian Army in 1884.
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Movses Silikyan served in the expeditionary force sent to Persia during the Russian occupation of Tabriz.
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Movses Silikyan rose through the ranks of the army, eventually receiving the rank of colonel in 1914.
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In late March 1916, Movses Silikyan's forces were stationed in Bitlis.
10.
In Mush, Movses Silikyan assisted Garo Sassouni in forming militia detachments consisting of Armenians from Mush and Sasun.
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Also under Movses Silikyan's command was the 2nd Armenian Volunteer Battalion commanded by Drastamat Kanayan.
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Movses Silikyan received various honors during the war, including the Saint George Sword.
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Movses Silikyan was in Van until January 1918, when he was called to Tiflis by the Armenian National Council and appointed commander of the 2nd Armenian Infantry Division by General Nazarbekyan.
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At the battles of Sardarabad and Bash Abaran, Movses Silikyan's forces put a halt to the Ottoman advance.
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On 26 June 1918, Movses Silikyan was appointed commander of the sole Armenian division allowed to be maintained according to the conditions of the Treaty of Batum.
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Movses Silikyan participated in the Armeno-Georgian War of December 1918.
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On 25 March 1919, the Military Council of the Armenian Army was created with General Nazarbekyan as its chairman; Movses Silikyan was appointed a member of the council on April 24.
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On 4 November 1920, Movses Silikyan was ordered by General Nazarbekyan to request a ceasefire from the Turkish forces.
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Movses Silikyan was allowed to return to Armenia in September 1921.
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Movses Silikyan first found work as an accountant at a Swedish company's branch in Alexandropol, then began working for the American Committee for Relief in the Near East, which provided humanitarian relief for survivors of the Armenian genocide.
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Movses Silikyan maintained correspondence with his old commander Tovmas Nazarbekyan in Tiflis and helped the latter compile his memoirs.
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Movses Silikyan was arrested by the Soviet authorities in 1927 and sent into internal exile in Rostov-on-Don by administrative decision, but was allowed to return to Armenia the same year.
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Movses Silikyan was arrested again in November 1935 and accused of holding monarchist views, persecuting communists during his time as Governor-General of Nor Bayazet, and maintaining contacts with members of the outlawed Armenian Revolutionary Federation.
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Movses Silikyan was released in February 1936 after signing an affidavit not to leave Yerevan.
25.
The criminal case against Movses Silikyan was dropped in April 1936.
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However, in 1937, during Joseph Stalin's Great Purge, Movses Silikyan was arrested and sentenced to death by decision of an NKVD troika on 16 November 1937.
27.
Movses Silikyan was rehabilitated on 10 November 1987 by decision of the Supreme Court of the Armenian SSR.