The Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (; ; Lernayin Garabagi Inknavar Marz, LGIM) was an autonomous oblast within the borders of the Azerbaijan SSR, mostly inhabited by ethnic Armenians. According to Robert Service, in 1921 Joseph Stalin, then acting Commissar of Nationalities for the Soviet Union, included Nakhchivan ASSR and Karabakh under Azerbaijani control to try to placate Turkey to join the Soviet Union. Had Turkey not been an issue, Stalin would probably have left Karabakh under Armenian control. As a result, the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast was established with the Azerbaijan SSR on July 7, 1923. According to Karl R. DeRouen it was created as an enclave so that a narrow strip of land would separate it from Armenia proper. According to Audrey L. Altstadt, the borders of the oblast were drawn to include Armenian villages and to exclude as much as possible Azerbaijani villages, so that the resulting area was sure to have an Armenian majority.