The bukharan emirate and turkestan under russian rule in the revolutionary era: 1917-1924

APPENDIX A 
Interview with Prof. Dr. Timur Kocaoglu 
“Professor Timur Kocaoglu is the son of Osman Khodzhaev, who was Young 
Bukharan Jadid, the minister of finance in the first Bukharan Republic’s cabinet, and 
later the president of Bukharan People’s Republic. Prof. Kocaoglu served and gave 
courses at Marmara University, and at Koç University and now serves in Central 
Asian Studies at Michigan State University. He studies over Turkish Language and 
Literature, Central Asian studies and Turkic languages.” 
 
Interviewer: 
What was the reason that caused your father, Osman Khodzhaev to 
shift to Enver’s side in spite of taking side near the Bolsheviks and conducting a 
presidency in the Republic at first?

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Timur Kocaoğlu:
Neither Young Bukharans were a Marxist based political 
movement nor Bukharan Republic was a Soviet model state. Osman Khodzhaev 
(1878-1968) and Fayzallah Khodzhaev (1896-1937) were cousins and Osman K. was 
elder than Fayzallah K. Also, there were two groups in the Young Bukharan 
movement. The largest one compromised the nationalist intellectuals and its leader 
was my father, Osman K. while the second one, lesser than other, composed of 
sincere Marxists and their leader was Fayzallah K. 
Fayzallah K. got education in the Jadid School founded by Osman K. in 1911. The 
aim of Young Bukharan movement was to replace the emirate with an independent 
state. When we review the flag of Bukharan Republic, there were moon and star on 
the green floor and the sign of Bolshevism, hammer and sickle did not take place in 
the flag until the end of 1922. However, the name of the republic was changed into 
Bukharan Soviet People’s Republic in 1923 and the flag included hammer and 
sickle.
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The Young Bukharans did not have armed strength. They asked for aid from the 
Bolsheviks to destroy the Emir’s administration. After Emir fled in 1922, Fayzallah 
K. became prime minister and Osman K. became minister of finance in the new 
government. In 1921, Osman K. rose to the presidency and later he passed to Eastern 
Bukhara (present Tajikistan) in order to coordinate and combine the scattered 
Basmachi groups. At that time, Turkish officials, captured in Transcaucasia and 
exiled to Siberia by Tsarist armies, escaped from prisoner camps and arrived in 
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For the flag photos, See Timur Kocaoglu, 
Turkistan’da Yenilik Hareketleri ve Ihtilaller: 1900-
1924
.SOTA, 2001. 

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Tashkent. Then, these Turkish officials were invited to Bukharan Republic and these 
officials were assigned to form the Bukharan army.
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Osman K. attacked the Russian headquarters
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in Dushanbe and surrounded the 
Bolshevik units and captured the Russian generals and Russian envoy there. Osman 
K. condemned the Soviets to withdraw from Bukharan Republic. But, The Soviet 
forces in Tashkent took action and defeated the Bukharan units. Therefore, Osman K. 
had to withdraw to the Afghan border. There, Osman K. stated a declaration calling 
the whole Bukharan people for resistance.
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In sum, my father, Osman K.’s stand on the way of national independence since 
early years of his life did never shift, however Fayzallah K. and leftist group of 
Young Bukharans pursued the cooperation way with the Bolsheviks.