“GEGHARD”
SCIENTIFIC ANALYTICAL
FOUNDATION
2025
2025
2024-11-26
The issue of the status of the Soviet Union's union republics and other national-territorial formations envisaged by the USSR Constitution remains relevant for researchers of Soviet history. The relevance of this issue is also conditioned with the fact that the right to self-determination of the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) has not been fully recognized by the international community.
At the time of the establishment of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region (NKAR), the territory was almost entirely (over 90%) populated by Armenians. Throughout the Soviet era, the Armenians of Artsakh benefited from the region's autonomous status, which was officially enshrined not only in the decisions of the party and Soviet executive authorities but also in the 1924 Constitution (Statute) of the NKAR, approved by Soviet Azerbaijan.
In 1917, following the collapse of the Russian Empire, Nagorno-Karabakh (without clearly defined borders) "de facto emerged as a sovereign state formation" and was governed by national administrative bodies.[1] In 1920, after the Sovietization of the region, the Caucasian Bureau (Kavburo) of the Central Committee of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) decided on July 5, 1921, to give Nagorno-Karabakh to Soviet Azerbaijan, granting it "broad regional autonomy." [2]
The Soviet Azerbaijani authorities, however, were reluctant to implement the decision, intending instead to dissolve the region into other administrative units of the Azerbaijani SSR. At a meeting of the Organizational Bureau and Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Azerbaijani Communist Party on September 26, 1921, chaired by Central Committee Secretary Sergey Kirov, it was decided to: “Request the Kavburo to reconsider its decision on separating Nagorno-Karabakh, and refrain from establishing autonomy.” [3]
However, due to the steadfast and persistent efforts of Alexander Myasnikyan, the de facto leader of Soviet Armenia and the Transcaucasian Federation and Secretary of the Transcaucasian Regional Committee, the Soviet Azerbaijani authorities were forced to relent after two years of resistance and grant autonomy to Nagorno-Karabakh. On July 1, 1923, the Presidium of the Azerbaijani Communist Party Central Committee proposed to the Central Executive Committee of Soviet Azerbaijan to declare the autonomy of Nagorno-Karabakh and establish the "Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region." [4]
On July 4, the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of Azerbaijan adopted the corresponding decision, which led to the issuance of a decree on July 7, 1923, establishing the "Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region" (NKAR, in Russian: "Автономная область Нагорного Карабаха" or АОНК). [5] The decree stated: “To form an autonomous region from the Armenian part of Nagorno-Karabakh as an inseparable part of the Azerbaijani SSR.” A special commission was to be established to draft the statute of the region, transfer administrative units to its jurisdiction, and define the borders of the autonomous region.
Parallel to the process of separating Nagorno-Karabakh as an autonomous region and determining its territorial and administrative boundaries, the NKAR Constitution (Statute) was in the process of elaboration. The Constitution, prepared by a special commission, was approved at a meeting of the Presidium of the Azerbaijani Communist Party Central Committee on July 3, 1924. The Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of Azerbaijan was advised to “implement the draft urgently according to Soviet procedure and publish the Constitution in Turkish, Armenian, and Russian.” [6] Thus, the “Constitution of the Autonomous Region of Nagorno-Karabakh” was declared.
The NKAR Constitution consisted of four sections, with a total of 17 articles. According to the Constitution, administrative procedures, judicial processes, and education in schools in the Autonomous Nagorno-Karabakh were conducted in the native language. The Autonomous Nagorno-Karabakh participated in all republican bodies of the Azerbaijan SSR on the basis of proportional representation. The Constitution defined the regions, cities, and villages included in the area, thereby establishing its territorial-administrative boundaries. The governing bodies of the region were the Congress of Soviets, the Central Executive Committee, and local councils. A Council of People's Commissars was also elected, which concentrated the administrative functions of the region. The structure of the People's Commissariats of the Autonomous Region and local governing bodies was also established.
The autonomous regional status enshrined in the NKAR Constitution, which was maintained throughout the Soviet era, enabled the Armenians of Artsakh to withstand Azerbaijani provocations and policies of ethnic discrimination during the Soviet years, as well as to remain in their ancestral homeland. This status also allowed the region's Armenians to exercise their right to self-determination on September 2, 1991, "in full accordance with all norms of international law and the existing laws of the USSR." [7]
Thus, within the USSR, the NKAR had a Constitution approved by Soviet Azerbaijan, recognized autonomy, established administrative-territorial boundaries, and legislative and executive bodies of both higher and local authority. The NKAR Constitution officially remained in force until 1929, when it was unlawfully annulled by the Soviet Azerbaijani authorities.
[1] Manasyan A., The Karabakh Conflict: Key Concepts and Chronology, Yerevan, 2005, p. 161.
[2] Nagorno-Karabakh in 1918–1923: A Collection of Documents and Materials, edited by V.A. Mikaelyan, Yerevan, 1992, p. 650.
[3] On the History of the Formation of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region of the Azerbaijani SSR, 1918-1925: Documents and Materials, Baku, 1989, pp. 96-97.
[4]Ibid, pp. 149-150.
[5] The new USSR Constitution adopted in 1936 renamed the region from "АОНК" (Autonomous Oblast of Nagorno-Karabakh) to "НКАО" (Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast).
[6] On the History of the Formation of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region of the Azerbaijani SSR, 1918-1925: Documents and Materials, Baku, 1989, pp. 248-249.
[7] Melkonyan A.A., Khacharyan K.G., Kryuchkov I.V. Problems of Soviet National-State Construction (Historical-Critical Analysis on the Example of Armenia) // Oriental Studies, 2023, Vol. 16, No. 2, p. 348.