assist and support the Azerbaijani government to incorporate Armenian Karabakh into Azerbaijan. The British troops' commander in Baku, Colonel Schatelwort (Digby Shuttleworth ?) stated to the Karabakhian people: Shusha, April 1919 Unable to force Nagorno-Karabakh to its knees by threats or force, Schatelwort personally arrived in Shusha late in April 1919 to compel the National Council of Karabakh to recognize the power of Azerbaijan. On April 23 in Shusha, the Fifth Congress convened, and rejected Schatelwort's demands. The congress declared that It accused Azerbaijan of robbery, murder and hunting down Armenians on the roads, and said that it "aspire(d) to destroy Armenians as a unique cultural element, gravitating not to the East, but to Europe". Therefore, the resolution declared, any program having any attachment to Azerbaijan was unacceptable to Armenians. Rejected by the Fifth Congress, Sultanov decided to subordinate Nagorno-Karabakh by force. Almost the entire army of Azerbaijan gathered at the Nagorno-Karabakh borders. At the beginning of June Sultanov tried to blockade the Armenian quarters of Shusha, attacked Armenian positions, and organized pogroms in order Armenian villages. Nomads under the leadership of Sultanov's brother completely massacred the villagers of Gayballu, 580 Armenians total. English troops withdrew from Nagorno-Karabakh to give the Azerbaijani troops a free hand. The Sixth Congress of Karbaghi Armenians, which representatives of the English Mission and Azerbaijani government attended, was to discuss relations between Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan prior to the Peace Conference in Paris. However the English mission and the government of Azerbaijan arrived at the Congress after it had finished its work and negotiations did not take place. To find out whether Nagorno-Karabgh would be able to defend its independence in case of war, the Congress established a commission which came to the conclusion that the Karabakhians could not. Therefore the Congress, under the threat of armed assault from Azerbaijan, felt compelled to start negotiations. Peace conference, August 1919 Eager to gain time to gather its forces, the Congress convened on August 13, 1919 and concluded an agreement on August 22, under which Nagorno-Karabgh considered itself within the borders of the Azerbaijani Republic pending the solution of the problem at the Peace Conference in Paris. However the Azerbaijani armies were in peacetime status. Azerbaijan cannot enter into area of an army without the permission of National Council. Disarmament of the population stopped until the peace conference. In February, Azerbaijan started to focus around Karabakh military and