 The town was the site of the Battle of Abaran against the Turkish army on May 21, 1918, during the Caucasus Campaign of World War I, when the Turkish invasion of the newly-independent Republic of Armenia was turned around.During the brief period of independence, Bash-Aparan became a "gavar" (administrative district) of Armenia.Under the Soviet rule, the "Bash-Aparan raion" was founded in 1930.