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STALIN'S LAST VICTIMS, MESKHETIAN TURKS, TRICKLE HOME TO GEORGIA
By Kenan Guluzade, Maia Tsiklauri
Institute for War and Peace Reporting IWPR
March 28, 2011
Government prepares to admit Meskhetian Turks, though locals may not
welcome their return.
Nearly 60 years after Stalin deported them from Soviet Georgia, members
of the Meskhetian Turkish community are on the brink of returning home.
Georgia agreed to facilitate the minority's return when it joined
the Council of Europe in 1999, but the necessary legislation was not
enacted until 2007. (See (See Tbilisi Criticised Over Repatriation
Requests on delays to the process.)
The Meskhetians now have until the end of this year to receive
"repatriate" status, which will put them on the fast track to acquiring
citizenship and the other rights.
Members of this Muslim group from what is now part of Samtse-Javakheti
region of south-western Georgia generally call themselves Ahiska Turks,
while Georgian officials describe them as Meskhetian Muslims.
The Meskhetians were one of several ethnic groups, also including
the Chechens, the Kalmyks, the Crimean Tatars and others, who were
exiled en masse from the Caucasus region to Siberia or Central Asia
during the Second World War, out of a paranoid concern that they
might be less than loyal in case of invasion. In November 1944,
all the Meskhetians were rounded up and despatched to Central Asia,
with thousands dying en route in disease-ridden cattle trucks.
Unlike most of the other groups, the Meskhetians were not allowed to
go home after Stalin's death, but remained in Central Asia.
In 1989, tens of thousands of them fled ethnic violence in Uzbekistan
that targeted their community. Most ended up in Azerbaijan or southern
Russia - much nearer home, but still not quite there. Around 10,000
who lived in Russia's Krasnodar region were resettled in the United
States following clashes with the local population, but the majority
of exiles remained in limbo.
Kamal Qahramanov's life story is one of repeated exile and relocation.
Born near Georgia's border with Turkey in 1927, he was part of
the deportations to Central Asia in 1944, where he lived until the
1989 bloodshed in Uzbekistan. Fleeing the violence, he ended up in
Azerbaijan, where he now lives in the village of Fatalikend in the
Saatli region.
Although he spent his childhood years there, Qahramanov cannot remember
much about Georgia.
"If possible I will return. But I know nothing about Georgia. They
say there are mountains and forests there," he said. "If I go back,
I will be a farmer like my forebears," Qahramanov said.
Georgia's ministry for refugees stopped accepting applications from
would-be repatriates at the start of January 2010, by which time
there were about 8,800 people on the list, the vast majority of them
currently resident in Azerbaijan.
The ministry now has a special commission going through the
applications, most of which contain errors or lack crucial supporting
documents. Applicants will be given four months to correct these
problems. Irakli Kokaia, who heads the ministerial department dealing
with the repatriation process, said failure to do so would result in
the application being shelved.
Repatriate status will give the Meskhetians the right to take out
Georgian citizenship, thus clearing the way to buying property and
land, and to obtaining an education.
This will free them of the bureaucratic obstacles that faced the small
number of Meskhetians who moved to Georgia under their own steam in
past years. Shamsaddin Sarvarov, chairman of Vatan, the Meskhetians'
organisation in Azerbaijan, said he was in touch with around 40
families who had done so.
"They can't get registered [for residence], they aren't assigned
housing, and they have problems getting their children educated,"
he said, adding optimistically that "all these problems will be
resolved soon".
When it comes to those going through the formal repatriation process,
Nugzar Tsiklauri, who chairs a parliamentary committee dealing with
diaspora issues, said Georgia was hoping foreign donors would step
in to help.
Tsiklauri said he did not know where in Georgia the Meskhetians would
be housed.
This is a sensitive issue - much of the current population of
Samtskhe-Javakheti consists of ethnic Armenians. Given the legacy of
hostilities with both Turkey and Azerbaijan, the Armenians may not
welcome the arrival of a Turkish-speaking group in their midst.
Melsa Torosyan, chairman of Nor Akunk, an activist group in the town of
Akhalkalaki, couched these concerns using careful language, suggesting
that the region was simply too impoverished to accept incomers.
"I agree that the mistakes of the past have to be corrected. But
we mustn't make other mistakes," he said. "Our region doesn't have
factories and the people don't have work, yet they want to bring in
new arrivals."
Torosyan argues that the authorities should ensure there is funding,
work and an integration programme for the Meskhetians before settling
them anywhere, and also prepare local residents so that they will
accept them.
"The repatriates will definitely have problems with the local
population, of that I'm certain. It isn't just the ethnic factor
- in fact that the least of the concerns," he said. "What's more
important is how land is distributed. Alkhalkalaki residents don't
have so much land that they can share it. Various problems may arise,
and the locals will always seek to pin the causes of conflict on the
newcomers. One can only guess where that will lead."
Ethnic Georgians in the south of the country also expressed concerns
about the plan.
"Let them give work to locals first, and only then bring in others,
whoever they might be," Temur Zazadze, a resident of Tmogvi in the
Aspindze district, said. "There's so much unemployment that this is
just going to increase the competition. There isn't enough land - I've
got three sons and the land isn't sufficient to divide among them."
Tsiklauri pointed out that the total number of settlers were really
quite small, and they were people who were keen to be part of Georgia.
"I think it's premature to say these people are going to have problems
when they arrive. We're talking about 6,000 people in a country of
five million," he said. "On top of that, these are people who -
despite the decades that have passed since they were deported -
have always pushed to return and regarded Georgia as their homeland."
Maia Tsiklauri works for Liberali magazine in Georgia; Kenan Guluzade
is editor of the analitika.az website in Azerbaijan.
From: A. Papazian
By Kenan Guluzade, Maia Tsiklauri
Institute for War and Peace Reporting IWPR
March 28, 2011
Government prepares to admit Meskhetian Turks, though locals may not
welcome their return.
Nearly 60 years after Stalin deported them from Soviet Georgia, members
of the Meskhetian Turkish community are on the brink of returning home.
Georgia agreed to facilitate the minority's return when it joined
the Council of Europe in 1999, but the necessary legislation was not
enacted until 2007. (See (See Tbilisi Criticised Over Repatriation
Requests on delays to the process.)
The Meskhetians now have until the end of this year to receive
"repatriate" status, which will put them on the fast track to acquiring
citizenship and the other rights.
Members of this Muslim group from what is now part of Samtse-Javakheti
region of south-western Georgia generally call themselves Ahiska Turks,
while Georgian officials describe them as Meskhetian Muslims.
The Meskhetians were one of several ethnic groups, also including
the Chechens, the Kalmyks, the Crimean Tatars and others, who were
exiled en masse from the Caucasus region to Siberia or Central Asia
during the Second World War, out of a paranoid concern that they
might be less than loyal in case of invasion. In November 1944,
all the Meskhetians were rounded up and despatched to Central Asia,
with thousands dying en route in disease-ridden cattle trucks.
Unlike most of the other groups, the Meskhetians were not allowed to
go home after Stalin's death, but remained in Central Asia.
In 1989, tens of thousands of them fled ethnic violence in Uzbekistan
that targeted their community. Most ended up in Azerbaijan or southern
Russia - much nearer home, but still not quite there. Around 10,000
who lived in Russia's Krasnodar region were resettled in the United
States following clashes with the local population, but the majority
of exiles remained in limbo.
Kamal Qahramanov's life story is one of repeated exile and relocation.
Born near Georgia's border with Turkey in 1927, he was part of
the deportations to Central Asia in 1944, where he lived until the
1989 bloodshed in Uzbekistan. Fleeing the violence, he ended up in
Azerbaijan, where he now lives in the village of Fatalikend in the
Saatli region.
Although he spent his childhood years there, Qahramanov cannot remember
much about Georgia.
"If possible I will return. But I know nothing about Georgia. They
say there are mountains and forests there," he said. "If I go back,
I will be a farmer like my forebears," Qahramanov said.
Georgia's ministry for refugees stopped accepting applications from
would-be repatriates at the start of January 2010, by which time
there were about 8,800 people on the list, the vast majority of them
currently resident in Azerbaijan.
The ministry now has a special commission going through the
applications, most of which contain errors or lack crucial supporting
documents. Applicants will be given four months to correct these
problems. Irakli Kokaia, who heads the ministerial department dealing
with the repatriation process, said failure to do so would result in
the application being shelved.
Repatriate status will give the Meskhetians the right to take out
Georgian citizenship, thus clearing the way to buying property and
land, and to obtaining an education.
This will free them of the bureaucratic obstacles that faced the small
number of Meskhetians who moved to Georgia under their own steam in
past years. Shamsaddin Sarvarov, chairman of Vatan, the Meskhetians'
organisation in Azerbaijan, said he was in touch with around 40
families who had done so.
"They can't get registered [for residence], they aren't assigned
housing, and they have problems getting their children educated,"
he said, adding optimistically that "all these problems will be
resolved soon".
When it comes to those going through the formal repatriation process,
Nugzar Tsiklauri, who chairs a parliamentary committee dealing with
diaspora issues, said Georgia was hoping foreign donors would step
in to help.
Tsiklauri said he did not know where in Georgia the Meskhetians would
be housed.
This is a sensitive issue - much of the current population of
Samtskhe-Javakheti consists of ethnic Armenians. Given the legacy of
hostilities with both Turkey and Azerbaijan, the Armenians may not
welcome the arrival of a Turkish-speaking group in their midst.
Melsa Torosyan, chairman of Nor Akunk, an activist group in the town of
Akhalkalaki, couched these concerns using careful language, suggesting
that the region was simply too impoverished to accept incomers.
"I agree that the mistakes of the past have to be corrected. But
we mustn't make other mistakes," he said. "Our region doesn't have
factories and the people don't have work, yet they want to bring in
new arrivals."
Torosyan argues that the authorities should ensure there is funding,
work and an integration programme for the Meskhetians before settling
them anywhere, and also prepare local residents so that they will
accept them.
"The repatriates will definitely have problems with the local
population, of that I'm certain. It isn't just the ethnic factor
- in fact that the least of the concerns," he said. "What's more
important is how land is distributed. Alkhalkalaki residents don't
have so much land that they can share it. Various problems may arise,
and the locals will always seek to pin the causes of conflict on the
newcomers. One can only guess where that will lead."
Ethnic Georgians in the south of the country also expressed concerns
about the plan.
"Let them give work to locals first, and only then bring in others,
whoever they might be," Temur Zazadze, a resident of Tmogvi in the
Aspindze district, said. "There's so much unemployment that this is
just going to increase the competition. There isn't enough land - I've
got three sons and the land isn't sufficient to divide among them."
Tsiklauri pointed out that the total number of settlers were really
quite small, and they were people who were keen to be part of Georgia.
"I think it's premature to say these people are going to have problems
when they arrive. We're talking about 6,000 people in a country of
five million," he said. "On top of that, these are people who -
despite the decades that have passed since they were deported -
have always pushed to return and regarded Georgia as their homeland."
Maia Tsiklauri works for Liberali magazine in Georgia; Kenan Guluzade
is editor of the analitika.az website in Azerbaijan.
From: A. Papazian