Meskhetian Turks: Still struggling to return to their homeland

Dan Brennan: 3/25/03

Even by the turbulent standards of the former Soviet Union, the Meskhetian Turks' story is a tragic one. Twice deported in the past 60 years, they are now scattered across the length and breadth of the CIS. A repatriation plan is currently facing opposition in Georgia. Divisions within the Meskhetian community itself also are impeding efforts to promote their return.

On a recent visit to Sochi, Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze heard frank criticism from the governor of Krasnodar, a Russian region where many Meskhetians currently live under strained conditions. The governor, Aleksandr Tkachev, accused Shevardnadze on March 8 of "demonstrating no will to assume responsibility for the fate of these people."

Meskhetian Turks hail from the region now known as Samtskhe-Javakheti in southern Georgia. To this day debate rages as to whether they are ethnic Georgians who adopted Islam, or Turks who were part of the Ottoman Empire's expansion. Few, however, can dispute the nature of their forced eviction from Georgia.

In November 1944, under orders from Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, about 120,000 people – mainly Meskhetians, but also ethnic Kurds and Muslim Armenians known as Khemshils – were round up and deported to Central Asia. Roughly 15,000 people died of starvation or cold en route. It has been suggested that Stalin saw Meskhetians as a potential Fifth Column, despite the fact that Meskhetians had not demonstrated signs of disloyalty. On the contrary, 27,000 of 40,000 Meskhetian Turks in the Red Army died fighting Nazi forces.

In June 1989 tragedy struck the Meskhetian community a second time. The outbreak of ethnic violence in the Ferghana Valley area of Uzbekistan prompted another uprooting. Meskhetians once again were scattered across Central Asia, Russia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Turkey.

In the nearly 60 years since their deportation, fewer than 1,000 – one third of 1 percent of the overall Meskhetian population – have managed to return to their homeland. Georgia adopted a 12-year framework to repatriate the Meskhetian Turks in 1999 as a condition of entry into the Council of Europe. Under that framework, a law on repatriation was supposed to be in place by 2001. But Tbilisi has yet to adopt the law.

The issue of Meskhetian repatriation is bogged down in debates about ethnicity and bloodlines, which often serve to cloud the fundamental issues of repatriation and human rights. Azeri historian and NGO activist Arif Yunusov has written extensively on the Meskhetian question: "Georgia's draft law on repatriation contains fundamental stumbling blocks. It has a clause requiring repatriates to ‘reinstate' their Georgian surnames and to confirm themselves as ethnic Georgians."

Georgia often cites the fact that, with the Abkhazia and South Ossetia questions unresolved, it does not have the resources to handle the Meskhetian return. Officials add that a Meskhetian return could further destabilize Georgia's territorial integrity. Yunusov is wary of such arguments: "I don't deny that Georgia is facing many problems ... but many of the reasons it gives for delaying the Meskhetian repatriation are not genuine ones."

"It [Tbilisi] asserts that the Meskhetian Turks' villages have been inhabited by Georgians since the 1940s and that there is nowhere to put them," Yunusov said. "But there are at least 80 villages in Meskhetia that remain empty to this day."

While many Meskhetians cling to the hope that the repatriation issue will be resolved soon, some believe that Tbilisi, along with international agencies, are simply ignoring the plight of a politically weak group. "Certain people are propagating the view that if we return there will be bloodshed, that there will be an invasion of Turks wielding scimitars," says Bekir Mamoyev, who heads an expatriate organization called Vatan (Homeland) in Russia and Azerbaijan.

At present, Meskhetians endure variable living conditions. In Krasnodar, most lack permanent residency rights nearly a decade after their arrival, and thus endure persecution. Many complain that they must pay monthly "re-registration taxes" to corrupt local authorities. In Azerbaijan, on the other hand, conditions are better. Most Meskhetians live in "compact" settlements with good economic opportunities, mainly in the agricultural sector. Linguistic and cultural similarities with the Azeris have made for relatively easy integration.

Yunusov suggests latent Turkophobia is helping to shape Georgia's repatriation stance. "There is an idea in Georgia that once they open the doors, the country will be overrun with Turks. The reality is that many, especially the younger generation, will not want to uproot and start all over again in Georgia," he said.

According to Mamoyev, the Georgian government is using scare tactics to create opposition to the return of the Akhiska Turks (he claims this is the correct Turkish name for his people). Vatan insists that any repatriation must be to Samtskhe-Javakheti itself. However, Tbilisi, wanting to minimize tensions between Meskhetian Turks and the predominant ethnic Armenian population in Javakheti, says that the returnees should resettle across the country.

At this point, Meskhetians must battle for attention and understanding. "We are not the enemies of Georgia," says Mamoyev. All we want to do is return to Georgia and live peacefully with our neighbors – we will defend Georgia like loyal citizens. We have no desire to break away and join Turkey, as certain Georgian 'nationalists' suggest."

In an attempt to garner international backing for repatriation, Meskhetian organizations are trying to heal internal divisions. Observers note that a total breakdown of communication has occurred between Meskhetian organizations in Azerbaijan and Georgia, brought on by an ethnographic dispute.

Eldar Zeynalov, the head of Baku's Center for Human Rights, suggests Meskhetian unity is needed before Georgia and the international community will get serious about repatriation. "The question of historical ethnic identity and terminology has become a divisive issue and is exploited by those who wish to block their return to Georgia," Zeynalov said.

"The fact that some [Meskhetians] believe themselves to be Turks and others 'Islamicized' Georgians has distracted from the main practical issues," he continued. "The Meskhetian Turks need to be more organized and more cohesive in their approach, rather than fighting among themselves about bloodlines."

Editor's Note: Dan Brennan is a freelance journalist specializing in CIS affairs.

Posted March 25, 2003 © Eurasianet