EXTRAORDINARY COMMISSIONS IN TURKESTAN: FACTORS BEHIND THEIR ESTABLISHMENT AND MAIN FUNCTIONS

Abstract

This article examines the establishment, legal powers, and activities of the Extraordinary Commission in the Turkestan ASSR between 1918 and 1922. It analyzes the commission’s role in combating alleged counter-revolutionary activities, profiteering, looting, and political opposition. Particular attention is paid to its extensive authority to conduct arrests, searches, property confiscations, and punitive operations without proper judicial procedures. The study also discusses the persecution of supporters of the Turkestan Autonomy, national intellectuals, members of the clergy, merchants, and other groups classified as hostile to Soviet rule. The commission became one of the main instruments used by the Bolsheviks to consolidate Soviet authority through violence, intimidation, and political repression in Turkestan.