Telegram to the Congress of Soviet of the Turkestan Region

J. V. Stalin

April 22, 1918

Works, Vol. 4, November, 1917 - 1920

You may rest assured, comrades, that the Council of People's Commissars will support the establishment of autonomy in your region on a Soviet basis. We welcome your initiative and are firmly convinced that you will cover the whole region with a network of Soviets, and will work in full contact with the already existing Soviets. We request you to send the commission for convening a constituent congress of Soviets, which you have undertaken to appoint, to us in Moscow for the purpose of jointly determining the relations between the organ of authority of your region and the Council of People's Commissars.

We hail your Congress and hope that it will accomplish with credit the tasks entrusted to it by history.

Lenin, Stalin

Notes

1.The Fifth Congress of Soviets of the Turkestan region sat from April 20 to May 1, 1918. It proclaimed the autonomy of the Turkestan Soviet Federative Republic and elected a Central Executive Committee and a Council of People's Commissars.