the establishment of autonomy on religious principles within the borders of Georgia. To work towards this, on September 13, 1919 a prototype parliament, the Mejlis, was convened in Batum. Though Abashidze's faction strongly advocated union with Georgia, the drive towards autonomy was strong, even among the pro-Georgian Adjarians. Another, less numerous group known as Seday Mileth (in Turkish: "voice of people") propagated pro- and pan-Turkish ideas. On August 15, 1919, the withdrawal of British troops began from the Caucasus. The divisional headquarters at Batum left for Constantinople, handing over to the military governor of Batum—Br.-Gen. W. J. N. Cooke-Collis. On March 4, 1920, Cooke-Collis was appointed to command the Inter-Allied Force at Batum. This force was withdrawn from Batum by July 14, 1920. Adjara in Democratic Republic of Georgia The British administration ceded the region to the Democratic Republic of Georgia on 20 July 1920. Bolsheviks and Russian agents organized a series of sabotages and terrorist acts. The Georgian government granted Adjara an autonomous status within the republic's first constitution, which was first drafted in July 1920 and formally adopted on 21 February 1921 during the Red Army invasion of Georgia. During the Soviet invasion of Georgia, Turkish forces occupied Batumi on March 11, 1921 and held the city until they were expelled by the Georgian troops under General Giorgi Mazniashvili on March 18, 1921. Soviet rule in Batumi was declared the next day. Turkey recognized the region as a part of Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic in the Soviet-Turkish Treaty of Kars of 16 March 1921. Adjara under Soviet rule The Soviet government declared the Adjarian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic on 16 July 1921. Turkey ceded the region to Bolsheviks on the condition that it would be granted autonomy, for the sake of the Muslims among Adjara's mixed population. The second condition stipulated in the Treaty of Kars was the unhindered access for Turkey to the port of Batumi. The autonomous republic was the only Soviet autonomy based on religion rather than ethnicity, but that was of little value as Islam, like Christianity, was repressed under Stalin's rule. In April 1929, the Muslim villagers of mountainous Adjara rose in arms against compulsory collectivization and religious persecution. The Soviet troops were summoned and the revolt was quickly put down. Thousands of Adjarians were deported from the republic. Adjara under Aslan Abashidze Following Georgia's first democratic parliamentary and presidential elections, President Zviad