Armenian ombudsman warns Georgia against resettling Meskhetian Turks

Noyan Tapan news agency
8 Jun 04

Tbilisi, 8 June: Armenian rights activist Larisa Alaverdyan has said
she understands the concern of the Armenian population of Georgia’s
Samtskhe-Javakheti Region over the possible mass return of Meskhetian
Turks to the region.

Larisa Alaverdyan said in an interview with [Georgian news agency]
Kavkasia-Press that if the Georgian government decides to take in
the Meskhetian Turks who wish to return to Samtskhe-Javakheti, a real
conflict might break out in the region.

Meskhetian Turks were evicted to Central Asia during Stalin’s
repression in the middle of the last century. Their return was a
condition when Georgia was admitted to the Council of Europe.

According to the Armenian ombudsman, the Georgian government should
be maximally careful and wise while taking any specific decisions on
this issue. About 300,000 representatives of this people are living
in CIS countries today. The largest diaspora of Meskhetian Turks –
about 80,000 – lives in Azerbaijan.