Ahmet Ağaoğlu
Born	December 1869 (1869-12) Shusha, Elisabethpol Governorate, Russian Empire
Died	19 May 1939(1939-05-19) (aged 69–70) Istanbul, Turkey
Resting place	Feriköy Cemetery, Istanbul, Turkey
Occupation	Journalist and politician
Nationality	Azerbaijani
Children	5, including Samet, Süreyya and Tezer
Relatives	Neriman Ağaoğlu (daughter-in-law)

Ahmet Ağaoğlu, also known as Ahmet Bey Ağaoğlu (Azerbaijani: Əhməd bəy Ağaoğlu; or Ahmad Akif Agaoglu ^[1] (Turkish: Ahmet Ağaoğlu; December 1869^[1][2], Shusha – May 19, 1939^[1][2], Istanbul) was a public and political figure of Azerbaijan and Turkey, thinker,^[2], publicist,^[3] educator, writer,^[4] Turkologist,^[5] and the founder of liberal Kemalism.^[6]

After studying in France, he returned and opened the first library and reading room in Shusha in 1896.^[7] In 1897, he moved to Baku at the invitation of H.Z. Taghiyev and wrote articles for the Kaspi newspaper. He also worked with A. Huseynzade as an editor for the Hayat newspaper and served as chief editor for Irshad, Taraqqi, Proqres, Tarjumani-haqiqat, Hakimiyyeti-milliye, and Akhın newspapers.^{[2][8][9][10]}

In 1905, he secretly founded the "Difai" organization to fight against the Tsarist government and Dashnaks.^[11] After being persecuted by the Tsarist government, Ahmad Bey lived secretly in his friends' homes for months. To avoid arrest, he relocated to Istanbul at the end of 1908.^[12][13] As a prominent figure in the Turkish Hearths national movement, Agaoglu was elected president of a congress held by the movement. Later, he joined the Young Turks' Committee of Union and Progress. Alongside serving as the director of a library in Suleymaniye and an active contributor to the Türk Yurdu journal, he taught Turkic-Mongol history and Russian language at Istanbul University.^[14]

In 1918, he served as the political advisor to the commander of the Islamic Army of the Caucasus, which came to assist the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic.^[15] On December 26, 1918, he was elected as a member of the Parliament of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic from the Zangezur district as a neutral representative.^[16] However, he later declined the membership. Agaoglu was also part of the delegation sent by the Republic to participate in the Paris Peace Conference.^[17][18] Upon reaching Istanbul, he was arrested along with other leaders of the Committee of Union and Progress by the British and exiled to the island of Malta.^[19]

After returning from exile, he led the Press Information Office in Ankara,^[20] served as the chief editor of the Hakimiyyeti-Milliye newspaper, and, after being elected to the second and third terms of the Turkish Grand National Assembly, became Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's political advisor on foreign affairs.^[21]

On May 7, 2019, by Decision No. 211 of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ahmad Bey Agaoglu was included in the list of authors whose works are declared state property in Azerbaijan.^[22]

Ahmad Bey Agaoglu was born in 1869 in the city of Shusha, Azerbaijan. His father, Mirza Hasan Bey, was from the Kurdlar clan of Karabakh. This tribe had migrated from Erzurum, which was predominantly inhabited by ethnic Azerbaijani Turks in the 18th century, to Ganja, and later settled in Karabakh. His father, Mirza Hasan Bey, was a wealthy cotton farmer. The title "Mirza" granted to his father indicates that the family belonged to the intellectual class. His grandfather, Mirza Ibrahim, was one of the most renowned scholars of Shusha. He was a calligrapher and wrote poetry in the Turkish language. Additionally, his uncles were proficient in Turkish, as well as Persian, Arabic, and Russian.^[23] His mother, Taza Khanum, was the daughter of Rafi Bey from the Sarijali clan of Shusha and the sister of Zeynalabdin Bey Rafibeyov.^[24]

Ahmad Bey Agaoglu noted in his memoirs that his mother and uncle played a significant role in his education. His uncle, Mirza Mahammad, wanted Ahmad to become a mujtahid and hired teachers to teach him Persian and Arabic from the age of six. Initially, Agaoglu studied at a neighborhood school, but at his mother's initiative, he also secretly took Russian lessons. Despite being religious, his mother disliked clerics and mullahs. Agaoglu wrote that her views redirected his education from Najaf and Karbala to St. Petersburg and Paris.^[25]

In 1881, when a six-grade secondary school was opened in Shusha, the Karabakh governor gathered the local Muslim community at Khurshidbanu Natavan's house, urging them to enroll their children in the school. Ahmad's father promised the governor that he would send him to the Shusha Real School.^[26] Two of his teachers at this school—history teacher Shineyovski and mathematics teacher Palekarp—had a significant influence on him. Both were opponents of the Tsarist regime and promoted revolutionary ideas within the school. It was here that Agaoglu first encountered Western ideologies. In his memoirs, Ahmad Bey wrote that the school was located in the Armenian neighborhood of the city, and among the 45 students, only five were Muslim. The Armenian students were very hostile toward this minority, constantly harassing the Muslim pupils. Four of the Muslim students could not endure this environment and left the school, but Ahmad persevered and successfully completed his studies. He described these events in his memoirs as follows:^[27]

"During the years of our education, it is impossible to put into words the suffering we endured from the Armenian children. During recess, we, the five Turkish children, considered it a great skill to quickly back ourselves against the wall. Hundreds of Armenian children would suddenly attack us; one would grab our hats and throw them, others would kick the Bukhara fur, worth four or five gold, rolling it across the ground. Some would grab the hems of our valuable coats, often made of camel wool, pulling and tearing them, removing their decorations. If we tried to resist, we would be crushed under punches, slaps, and kicks. Sometimes, they would fabricate an accusation against us, join forces as witnesses, and have us unjustly punished. Most of my companions could not endure it and left the school. Until the final grade, I was the only Turk who managed to persevere."

After completing the sixth grade of secondary school, Ahmad Bey Agaoglu attended the seventh and final grades at Gymnasium No. 1 in Tiflis. According to his own writings, he was the only Turk at the Tiflis gymnasium. During his studies in Tiflis, he participated in secret meetings of the "Narodnik" society at the insistence of his friends. These meetings left a profound impression on his thinking. After successfully graduating from the gymnasium in Tiflis, Agaoglu returned to Shusha with a distinction diploma and a prize of three hundred rubles. He spent the entire summer in the highlands with his uncle and then traveled to St. Petersburg to continue his education.^[27]

In August 1887, Agaoglu went to St. Petersburg to pursue higher education and rented a room in the home of a Christian family. The family was very surprised to learn that Agaoglu was Turkish, as until then, only Armenians and members of other Christian ethnicities had come to St. Petersburg for higher education. The family knew of no Turks pursuing education there, and Agaoglu understood their astonishment, given that Armenians and other Christians had pursued education before Turks.^[28]

The Caucasian youth Agaoglu met in St. Petersburg took him to the dormitory of the Caucasian Students' Union, where he discovered that there were four other Turks. Among them was Alimardan Topchubashov, who would later represent Azerbaijan in Paris, and Ali Bey Huseynzade, the grandson of a former Caucasian Sheikh ul-Islam.^[29] The other two Turkish students were studying civil engineering. Agaoglu successfully passed all his exams at the Technological Institute. However, during his final exam in algebra, he solved the problem outside the standard program. The professor, assuming Agaoglu was Jewish, refused to accept his answer despite its correctness. This incident deeply disappointed Agaoglu and fostered a strong sense of hatred toward Russians. He described those days in his memoirs as follows:^[30]

"The injustice done to me burned me from within. The disappointment mixed with a blow to my pride was tormenting me. My anger was so intense that I was ready to drown all of Russia in a spoonful of water. From the Tsar to the nihilist, from professors at the university to the press and literature, from the language to the science—anyone or anything that carried the Russian name or the Russian scent, I harbored deep hatred, rage, and hostility toward.

No, no, I cannot stay here. I cannot live in St. Petersburg. I must leave. But where, and how?

I was only 19 years old. Ah, the boldness, the heat, the carefreeness, and the initiative that come with that age! A voice inside me screamed, 'Paris, Paris!' Yes, I will go to Paris. I will study there, graduate from its university, and in this way, I will take a burning revenge on the Russians, and at the same time, I will elevate my own sense of dignity to the highest level."

On January 8, 1888, Ahmad Bey arrived in Paris.^[31] During his train journey, a woman he met suggested that he stay at Hotel de Peterbourg, a place frequented by visitors from Russia. With no acquaintances in Paris and not knowing French, Ahmad Bey headed to the hotel. However, it quickly became clear that the hotel expenses were high. An employee of the hotel introduced him to two Georgian students studying in Paris through mutual friends. The Georgian students helped Ahmad Bey find a room to rent.^[32] After settling in a room rented from an elderly woman, Ahmad Bey began learning French. However, after a while, he ran out of money and fell into debt. Later, with money sent from home, he paid off his debts and moved into a boarding house on Rue de Glacier. Here, he met two Iranians and three Egyptians. Following their advice, he started attending lectures at the College de France and the École des Hautes Études Pratiques. At the College de France, French philosopher and historian Ernest Renan delivered weekly lectures, while at the École des Hautes Études Pratiques, James Darmesteter gave lectures on "The History of Eastern Peoples." Both figures played a significant role in shaping Ahmad Bey's intellectual development. In the 1888–1889 academic year, Ahmad Bey began studying law at the Sorbonne. However, his interests were not limited to law alone. He developed a fascination with the history of Eastern civilizations and religions and enrolled in the School of Oriental Languages. There, he took lessons from experts in Eastern languages, such as Charles Schefer and Barber de Meynard. Later, upon the advice of James Darmesteter, he joined the intellectual club organized by Juliette Adam, founder and editor of La Nouvelle Revue. This exclusive club gathered intellectuals in France who engaged in discussions on politics, science, history, and philosophy. Between 1891 and 1893, Ahmad Bey published a series of articles titled "Iranian Society" in La Nouvelle Revue. In 1892, he gave a lecture at the International Congress of Orientalists in London on "Beliefs in Mazdakism in Shia Islam."^[33] The text of the lecture was later published in several Western languages at the expense of Cambridge University.^[34][35]

Ahmad Bey published his articles on social and political topics in French press outlets such as Journal de Débat, Revü Been, and Nouvye Revyü. The articles he wrote in France were sent to newspapers like Kavkaz and Sharki Rus.

After completing his education in France in 1894, Ahmad Bey returned to Tbilisi, where he taught French at a local gymnasium for two years. He continued his collaboration with Kavkaz newspaper during this time. In 1896, he returned to Shusha.^[36] There, he began teaching French at the Shusha Real School and opened the first library and reading room in the city. For this reason, the people of Shusha started calling him "Firəng Əhməd" (French Ahmad). However, after he left Shusha, the reading room and library ceased their activities.^[7]

Ahmad Bey understood the importance of newspaper publishing to spread his ideas. However, after the Kəşkül newspaper was closed in 1891, the Caucasus Censorship Committee imposed a ban on printing newspapers in Azerbaijani. At the same time, 19 newspapers in Armenian and Georgian were operating within the Russian Empire. Over two million Azerbaijani Turks were deprived of this right until 1903. In fact, at the end of the 19th century, when Mohammad Shahtakhtinski tried to get permission to publish a newspaper in Azerbaijani, the head of the Russian Empire’s Printing Department, Solovyov, told him:^[37]

"I definitely cannot allow a newspaper to be printed in Azerbaijani. What need does your people have for a newspaper? Your intellectuals should read in Russian, and the simple Azerbaijanis should just let their sheep graze."

In 1896, Haji Zeynalabdin Taghiyev purchased the "Kaspi" newspaper and handed it over to the Azerbaijani intellectuals. The newspaper became a platform for the national intelligentsia, with articles written by prominent figures like Ali Mardan bey Topchubashov,^[38] Ali bey Huseynzadeh, Hasan bey Zardabi, and Firidun bey Kocherli. In 1897, at the invitation of Haji Zeynalabdin Taghiyev, Ahmad bey moved to Baku to work for "Kaspi." After settling in Baku, his articles mostly addressed the issues of the Muslim society, focusing on women's problems. Ahmad bey believed that the path to national liberation lay through the cultural and educational advancement of society. He was one of the first intellectuals to call for equal rights for women in Azerbaijan, promoting the idea that women's freedom was a key factor in the struggle for liberation. His contributions to "Kaspi" led to the newspaper becoming more popular, with its circulation reaching up to 10,000 copies at certain times, a significant achievement for a daily newspaper.^[39] In his series of articles, "Women in the Islamic World" and "Islam, the Imam, and the False Prophet," Ahmad bey criticized the religious establishment, particularly the imams and clerics, arguing that they had caused harm to Islam. The articles were not well-received by religious leaders, and as a result, a fatwa was issued for his death. According to his son, Samad Agaoglu, Ahmad bey was confined to his home for six months, with police protection provided for his safety. It was only through Taghiyev's intervention that he was saved from this dangerous situation.^[40]

Ahmad bey considered the backwardness of women and the script used as the two main enemies and incurable wounds of the Muslim world. In his work "According to Islam and in Islam: Women," he stated that:^[41]

Only when a mother and woman possess free, independent thinking, can a Muslim woman purposefully fulfill her social functions; only under these conditions can she educate her children in character and will, and be capable of applying the feelings and thoughts necessary for public life.

In 1905, Ahmad bey Aghaoghlu was elected as a member of the Baku City Duma and served there until 1909. During this period, he contributed to the resolution of many of the city's problems. He was a member of the education commission and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Baku Commercial School.^[42]

After the Russian Tsar's decree on February 18, 1905, to improve the living conditions of the population and strengthen state-building, Azerbaijani intellectuals gathered on March 15, 1905, at Haji Zeynalabdin Tağıyev's house to discuss their proposals. They formed a delegation to convey the demands and proposals of Azerbaijani Turks to St. Petersburg. The delegation included Ahmad bey Ağaoğlu, Alimardan bey Topchubashov, and Ali bey Huseynzade. Upon arriving in St. Petersburg, Ağaoğlu published an article titled "The Truths about the Baku Events" in the "Sankt Peterburqskie Vedomosti" newspaper.^[43] This article was very important, as the Russian press portrayed the Armenians as the oppressed side in the 1905 events, while Ağaoğlu's article presented the facts to the readers.

On April 16, 1905, Ahmad bey Ağaoğlu, Ali bey Hüseynzade, and Alimardan bey Topchubashov sent a letter to the Governor-General of the Caucasus requesting the publication of the Azerbaijani-language newspaper "Hayat." On April 22, they received a positive response to their request. On June 7, 1905, with the support of Haji Zeynalabdin Tağıyev, the first issue of the "Hayat" newspaper was published.^[8] After leaving "Hayat," Ahmad bey Ağaoğlu founded the daily newspaper "Irşad" with the financial support of Isa bey Aşurbeyov.^[44] He led the newspaper from 1905 to 1908, and its circulation soon reached 3,000 copies. According to Tadeusz Svetokhovski, the newspaper addressed societal issues in a more radical manner compared to other newspapers published at the time. This is why the newspaper was banned by Sultan Abdulhamid II in the Ottoman Empire.^[45]

In 1905, after Illarion Vorontsov-Dashkov was appointed as the Governor-General of the Caucasus, he began supporting the Armenians. With the backing of the governor, the Armenians proposed the relocation of the villages around Baku, which were located in the industrial region, under the pretext of ensuring the safety of the oil fields after a large fire broke out in the Baku oil fields in August 1905. The matter was even discussed by the Council of Ministers of the Russian Empire. To protect the interests of the local population, Ahmad bey Aghaoghlu and Alimardan bey Topchubashov traveled to St. Petersburg. As a result of their efforts, after 35 days of discussions, the relocation of the villages' populations was prevented.^[46]

During the 1905 disturbances, the Armenians actively spread disinformation in the Russian and foreign press. However, the losses suffered by the Muslims were much greater. There were even articles in the press about the destruction of non-existent Armenian towns by Muslims. To convey the true facts and prove what had happened with evidence, Ahmad bey Ağaoğlu published an article titled "The Truths about the Baku Events" in the "Sankt Peterburqskie Vedomosti" newspaper. After this article, some Armenian authors admitted that false information had been spread in the press about the events.

In February 1906, a peace conference was held in Tbilisi, initiated by the Governor-General of the Caucasus, Vorontsov-Dashkov, in order to put an end to the Armenian-Muslim massacres. During the conference, Muslim representatives, including Ahmad bey Ağaoğlu, Əlimərdan bey Topçubaşov, Adil xan Ziyadxanov, and others, exposed the intentions of the "Dashnaktsutyun" party. They demonstrated that the party was the organizer and executor of the massacres and terrorism committed in South Caucasus, and they proved that the official government circles had turned a blind eye to the actions of this organization.^[47]

In his final speech, Ahmad bey said the following...^[48][49]

"We say that if you really want peace, you must eliminate terror along with other initiatives. In response, we are told that we are talking about the Dashnaktsutyun. We never mentioned Dashnaktsutyun in our opinion. What we are saying is that terror should be stopped. However, in the minds of the Armenians, Dashnaktsutyun comes to mind. It seems that there is a connection between Dashnaktsutyun and this terror. But again, I repeat, we have nothing to do with Dashnaktsutyun. Nothing! Because the other day, Mr. Khatysov, in his eloquent and fluent speech, openly stated that Dashnaktsutyun serves the ideas and beliefs of Russia's high-ranking officials, generals, and even the Governor-General of the Caucasus, and that it has been organized for fifteen years, with its own army, treasury, and soldiers. When we, the Muslim representatives, heard this, we were astonished and amazed, and we thought to ourselves: now that this is the case, now that an armed party has been organized for fifteen years, and government officials are aware of it and not only tolerate it but also share its views, it is useless for us to expect this party to be removed by either the government or the Armenians. We should just take matters into our own hands. We also need to have perfect and armed parties. We too need to have our own Dashnaktsutyuns. A government that tolerates such activities on one side must also tolerate it on the other side, or else there will be chaos."

In August 1906, Ahmad Beg came to Shusha and gathered Azerbaijani intellectuals to discuss the situation in the region. With his suggestion, the Difai Party was founded.^[11] Officially, the party was called the 'Caucasian General Muslim Defense Committee.'^[50] The party’s branches or commissions were established in almost all cities and districts of Azerbaijan and South Caucasus, even in Vladikavkaz. Ahmad Beg personally participated in the creation of the party’s district branches. For this purpose, he toured all of Karabakh and urged 'all Muslims to unite tightly around the party.' The organizers of the party also carried out propaganda among the Azerbaijani population in Dagestan.^[51] Due to his activities, Ahmad Beg was persecuted and had to go into hiding for a while. He describes those days in his memoirs as follows:^[52]

"I was among those severely persecuted. The situation reached a point where not only my own peace and security, but also that of my family, began to be jeopardized. In 1908, a revolution took place in Turkey. Some individuals I knew had come to power. At the same time, the Governor-General of the Caucasus, Count Vorontsov-Dashkov, seemed to be determined to arrest and exile me. As soon as I learned this, I immediately decided to flee, and by the end of 1908, I escaped to Istanbul."

After months of living secretly in the homes of his friends, due to persecution and the threat of arrest, in the middle of 1909, Ahmad bey had to move to Istanbul.^[12][13] In Istanbul, he worked as an inspector in the field of education and later became the director of the Süleymaniye Library. During his time as an inspector, he visited all of Istanbul's private, public primary, and secondary schools, and based on his observations, he prepared a report on the current situation and proposed reforms. He believed that solving the problems in education played a crucial role in the country's future.^[53] In October 1909, he began teaching Turkish-Mongolian history and Russian at the Istanbul University.^[14] During this period, Ahmad bey's Turkism ideology became the central focus of his activities. His university role wasn't limited to teaching; he was also actively involved in organizing and improving education. In 1911, he was elected the head of the reform commission for the Faculty of Philology and later became the dean of the faculty.^[54] After getting his affairs in order, he wrote a letter to his family, stating that he was considering staying in Turkey. His wife, Sitarə Khanım, agreed to come to Turkey as well. In 1910, Ahmad bey moved his family to Istanbul.

After moving to Istanbul, Ahmad bey continued his journalistic activities and from 1909 onwards, he published a series of articles on topics such as "Letters from Turkey" and "The National Question in Turkey" in the "Kaspi" newspaper. In addition, he wrote articles for newspapers and journals in Istanbul such as "Sirati-mustaqim", "Sebilurrashad", and "Hikmet". He also collaborated with newspapers such as "Suruş",^[55] published in Persian for the Iranian population, and "Le Jeune Turc", published in French.^[56] In 1912, after the death of Ahmad Midhət, the founder of the "Tarjumani-haqiqat" newspaper, Ahmad bey briefly took over the leadership of this weekly publication. In the same year, Ahmad bey was arrested twice for his articles but was soon released.

Ahmad bey Ağaoğlu initially became a member of the Turkish Society, founded by Yusuf Akçura. Later, in 1911, he became one of the six founders of the Türk Yurdu society. The aim of the society was to open a boarding school for Turkish children and to increase the intellectual level among Turks by publishing a newspaper.^[57] In September 1911, the society began publishing a journal called "Türk Yurdu". Ahmad bey started writing articles for the journal. As a result of the journal's propaganda, Turkism ideas began to spread within the society. In 1911, 190 students from the Military Medical School addressed a letter to Akçura requesting the creation of a new organization. Later, with the participation of student representatives from the school and intellectuals like Akçura and Ağaoğlu, the Turk Ojağı organization was founded. Ahmad bey was among the founding members of the organization. The Turk Yurdu and Turk Ojağı organizations began to gain recognition throughout Turkey. While the Türk Ocağı organization had 3,000 members in 1914, by 1920, their number had exceeded 30,000.^[58] Both organizations played a significant role in the Turkish War of Independence.

Due to his political activities, Ahmad bey Ağaoğlu became a member of the Central Committee of the 'Union and Progress' party, consisting of 12 people, in 1912. In 1914, he was elected as a deputy to the Ottoman Parliament from the Afyonkarahisar region.^[14]

Although Ahmad bey held high positions in the Ottoman state, he never forgot his homeland.^[59] In 1915, he actively participated in the establishment and activities of the Committee for the Protection of the Rights of Turkish-Tatar Muslims in Russia, based in Istanbul. In the same year, he represented Azerbaijan at the conference held in Lausanne, where the national minorities of Russia were discussed. During World War I, Ahmad bey was one of the signatories of the petition addressed to U.S. President Woodrow Wilson for the protection of the rights of Muslims in Russia.

After his liberation he moved to Ankara and continued his journalistic and political activities there, as editor-in-chief of the official newspaper Hâkimiyet-i Milliye ("National Sovereignty") and as a close adviser of Atatürk. He was so successful in his work that on the 29 October 1921, he got appointed General Director of Press and Information by Atatürk. From December on he was back in Ankara taking up his work which included the management of the Anadolu Ajansı.^[60] Speaking in support of Westernization and secularization of Turkish society, he wrote in 1928:

If the West is superior in the material then it is due to its totality - its virtues and its vices. The Eastern system is permeated by religion at all levels and this brought decline, while secularization of the West brought superiority. If we want to survive we have to secularize our view of religion, morality, social relations, and law. This is possible only by accepting openly and unconditionally the mind as well as the behavior of the civilization which we are bound to imitate.^[61]

In 1923 he was elected MP and later was involved in the Constitutional Committee.^[62] In 1930 he founded the Free Republican Party, but as it became successful it was closed down in the same year, bringing an end to his political career.^[63] In 1933 he published the newspaper Akın. Due to the critical views towards Inönüs Government published in Akin, it was closed in fall 1933.^[64]

Ağaoğlu died in Istanbul in 1939.^[2] He was laid to rest at the Feriköy Cemetery in Istanbul. He was married to Sitare Hanım, and had five children.^[65] His son, Samet Ağaoğlu became an important figure in Democrat Party's administration. Samet's wife Neriman also became a politician and elected to the parliament from Justice Party. His other children include, Süreyya Ağaoğlu who became the first female lawyer in Turkey and Tezer Taşkıran, a Turkish writer and politician.

Liberal Kemalism is the combination of Kemalism, the founding ideology of the Republic of Turkey, and liberalism, which is based on freedom.

Liberal Kemalism emerged as a result of the liberal interpretation of Kemalist thought by Ahmet Ağaoğlu in the early years of the republic in Turkey. Ağaoğlu, on the one hand, defined himself as a "Reformist and Kemalist", on the other hand he tried to develop an idea of "Liberal Kemalism".

Ağaoğlu considered cultural and educational progress to be the major part for national liberation and viewed the emancipation of women as part of the struggle. Ağaoğlu was the first member of the Azeri national intelligentsia to raise his voice for the equal rights for women.

In his book Woman in the Islamic World, published in 1901, he claimed that "without women liberated, there can be no national progress".^[66]

• Женщина по исламу и в исламе (Woman in the Islamic World; 1901, Tiflis)
• İslam, axund və hatifülqeyb (Islam, Akhund and Hatif al-Ghayb; 1902, Baku)
• Türk Teşkilat-ı Esasiyesi Şerhi (Commentary on the Turkish Constitution of 1924; 1925, Ankara)
• Hukuk-ı Esasiye Ders Notları (Lecture Notes of the Principles of Law; 1926-1927, Ankara)
• Üç Medeniyet (Three Civilizations; 1927, İstanbul)
• İngiltere ve Hindistan (England and India; 1929, İstanbul)
• Serbest İnsanlar Ülkesinde (In the Land of Free People; 1930, İstanbul)
• Hukuk Tarihi (History of Law; 1931-1932, İstanbul)
• Etrüsk medeniyeti ve bunların Roma medeniyeti üzerine tesiri (Etruscan Civilization and Their Influence on Roman Civilization; 1932, Ankara)
• Devlet ve Fert (State and Person; 1933, İstanbul)
• 1550 ile 1900 arasında İran (Iran between 1550 and 1900; 1934, Ankara)
• Ben Neyim (What's Me; 1939, İstanbul)
• İran ve İnkılabı (Iran and Its Revolution; 1941, Ankara)
• Gönülsüz Olmaz (Can't Be Unwillingly; 1941, Ankara)
• İhtilal mi, İnkılap mı (Is It a Revolution or a Reformation; 1942, Ankara)
• Serbest Fırka Hatıraları (Memories of the Free [Republican] Party; 1949, İstanbul)

• Tadeusz Swietotochwksi: Russian Azerbaijan, 1905-1920. The Shaping of National Identity in a Muslim Community, New York 1985.
• François Georgeon: "Les débuts d'un intellectuel azerbaidjanais: Ahmed Ağaoğlu en France (1888-1894)", in Passé turco-tatar, présent soviétique: études offertes à Alexandre Bennigsen, Paris 1986.
• Audrey L. Altstadt: The Azerbaijani Turks. Power and Identity under Russian Rule, Stanford 1992.
• Adeeb Khalid: The Politics of Muslim Cultural Reform: Jadidism in Central Asia, Berkeley 1998.
• Charles Kurzman: Modernist Islam, 1840-1940. A Sourcebook, New York 2002.
• A. Holly Shissler: Between Two Empires: Ahmet Ağaoğlu and the New Turkey, London 2002.
• Ufuk Özcan. Ahmet Ağaoğlu ve Rol Değişikliği: Yüzyıl Dönümünde Batıcı Bir Aydın, İstanbul, 2010
• Ali Kalirad: Az jāmʻe-ye Īrānī tā mīhan-e Turkī: zendegīnāme-ye fekrī va siyāsī-ye Aḥmad Āqāyef (1869-1939) [in Persian], Tehran 2013.
• Ali Kalirad: "From Iranism to Pan-Turkism: A Less-known Page of Ahmet Ağaoğlu’s Biography", Iran and the Caucasus, Volume 22, Issue 1 (2018), pp. 80–95.