So-called “Turkish Armenia” is the only country, I believe, that Russia occupied “by right of war.” This is that “bit of paradise” which for many years has been (and still is) the object of the voracious diplomatic appetites of the West and of the bloody administrative exercises of the East. Pogroms and massacres of Armenians, on the one hand, and the hypocritical “intercession” of the diplomats of all countries as a screen for fresh massacres, on the other, and a blood-soaked, deceived and enslaved Armenia as a result—who is not familiar with these “commonplace” pictures of the diplomatic “handiwork” of the “civilized” Powers?

The sons of Armenia—heroic defenders of their country, but by no means far-sighted politicians, who have allowed themselves time and again to be deceived by the sharks of imperialist diplomacy—cannot fail to see now that the old path of diplomatic scheming is not the path to the liberation of Armenia. It is becoming clear that the path of liberation for the oppressed peoples lies through the workers’ revolution that was started in Russia in October. It is now clear to all that the fate of the peoples of Russia, and particularly of the Armenian people, is closely bound up with the fate of the
October Revolution. The October Revolution has broken the chains of national oppression. It has torn up the tsarist secret treaties, which tied the peoples hand and foot. It, and it alone, can complete the emancipation of the peoples of Russia.

Acting on these considerations, the Council of People’s Commissars has decided to issue a special decree on the free self-determination of “Turkish Armenia.” This is particularly necessary today, when the German and Turkish authorities, true to their imperialist nature, make no secret of their desire forcibly to retain the occupied regions under their sway. Let the peoples of Russia know that the striving for conquest is alien to the Russian revolution and its government. Let everyone know that the Council of People’s Commissars counters the imperialist policy of national oppression by the policy of complete liberation of the oppressed peoples.

People’s Commissar

J. Stalin

Pravda, No. 227,

December 31, 1917