Avan Yuzbashi was an 18th century commander of Armenian armies in Nagorno Karabakh. He was instrumental in aiding David Bek

David Bek

David Bek was an Armenian military commander and one of the most prominent military figures of the Armenian liberation movement of the 18th century against the forces of Safavid Iran and the Ottoman Empire...

's forces and gaining victories over the forces of Safavid Iran and the Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

 in Zangezur

Zangezur

Zangezur may refer to:* Syunik, alternative name of an Armenian geographic-historic region, nowadays one of the provinces of Armenia* Kapan, former name of a city in Armenia...

 region. In a letter to the Russian monarch, Yuzbashi wrote, "We will fight until that time when we will enter the service of the tsar, and all will perish to the last one but we will not leave Christianity; we will fight for our faith." Kekhva Chelebi, an Armenian patriot who maintained correspondence between the meliks of Karabakh and the Russian authorities, reports: