July 5, 1921

Attended by:

Member of the CC RCP. Stalin; members of the Caucasian Bureau: comrades Orjonikidze, Makharadze, Kirov, Nazaretian, Orakhelashvili, Figatner, Narimanov, and Miasnikov; People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the Azerbaijan SSR, Huseynov.

Heard:

1. Comrades Orjonikidze and Nazaretian put forward a motion to reconsider the previous decision on Karabakh.

Decided:

1. For the sake of national peace between the Muslims and Armenians and economic ties between Upper and Lower Karabakh and its continued contacts with Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh shall remain within the Azerbaijan SSR with broad regional autonomy and its administrative center in the town of Shusha, which is part of the autonomous region.

For: 4 votes, 3 abstentions.

1. To instruct the CC of Azerbaijan to establish the borders of the autonomous region and present them to the Caucasian Bureau of the CC RCP for approval.
2. To instruct the Presidium of the Caucasian Bureau of the CC RCP to talk to the CC of Armenia and the CC of Azerbaijan about a candidate to the post of extraordinary commissar of Nagorno-Karabakh.
3. The CC of Azerbaijan shall outline the scope of autonomy of Nagorno-Karabakh and present it to the CC Caucasian Bureau for approval.

Secretary of the Caucasian Bureau of the CC RCP Figatner.