GEORGIA’S ATTEMPT AT REPATRIATION DISAPPOINTS MESKHETIANS

Turkish Daily News, Turkey
July 3 2007

A new parliamentary bill by Tbilisi is very unlikely to satisfy
Meskhetian Turks, a group of Muslims deported in 1944, as it denies
their national identity among other unpopular measures

FULYA OZERKAN ANKARA – Turkish Daily News

New legislation introduced by the Georgian government authorizing the
repatriation of a long-prosecuted Muslim minority but under strict
rules caused discord among Meskethians in Turkey.

Rustem Murseloðlu, a Meskhetian Turk whose father was among those
deported en masse to Central Asia in the 1940s, told the Turkish
Daily News that the new bill denies the identity of Meskhetian Turks;
describing them as Georgian Muslims even though Stalin’s original
deportation decree describes them as Turks.

Under the legislation, those returning must integrate with Georgian
society and renounce any other citizenship they have.

"I hold citizenship in both Turkey and Azerbaijan. Why shall I give up
my Turkish nationality? It is as if Georgian authorities are bestowing
us with U.S. citizenship," said Murseloðlu, head of an association
for education, culture and social solidarity with Meskhetian Turks.

Critical of Tbilisi’s policies toward resettlement of Meskhetian
Turks, he said: "These policies are aimed at assimilating us. There
are around 50,000 Meskhetian Turks in Turkey and a return is out of
the question under these circumstances," he stressed.

During World War II, the USSR deported Meskhetian Turks from regions
along Georgia’s border with Turkey to Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and
Kyrgyzstan for supposed treason.

Until recently, Georgian authorities have delayed allowing Meskhetian
Turks to return for various reasons. In order to join the Council
of Europe in 1999, Georgia agreed to guarantee the return of the
Meskhetian Turks by 2011, an estimated 300,000 of which are scattered
in former Soviet republics.

Last month, Georgian lawmakers gave preliminary backing to the bill
introduced by President Mikhail Saakashvili’s ruling party intended
to benefit Meskhetian Turks, also giving legal authorization for the
repatriation of others "forcibly deported by authorities of the Soviet
Union from Georgia."

The bill, which was drafted in the course of eight years and which
must go through two more readings before adoption, is unlikely to
satisfy the expectations of Meskhetian Turks.

Yunus Zeyrek, a scholar at Ankara’s Gazi University who brought to
light the issue of Meskhetian Turks through his writings, prepared a
file in five languages (German, French, English, Russian, and Turkish)
defending Meskhetian Turks on the issue of repatriation and presented
it to officials of the Strasbourg-based Council of Europe.

"This bill is a complete disaster and will never be accepted by
Meskhetian Turks," said Zeyrek, also head of the International
Federation of the Meskhetian Turk Associations. "The bill imposes a
quota on returning families, forces them to go through re-education
camps focusing on Georgian culture and language, and resettles them
outside their ancestral lands."

Armenian factor:

The presence of Armenians that moved into the lands vacated by
Meskhetians is one of the reasons for the Georgian government’s refusal
to resettle returning Meskhetians in their old lands fearing violence
with ethnic Armenians.

"This is false propaganda. The Armenians there are not economically
wealthy and believe the returning Meskhetians will contribute to the
revival of economic life," Zeyrek said. "I believe the Armenian factor
is being exaggerated."

Uncertainty:

Meskhetian Turks in Kyrgyzstan are complaining of uncertainty over
the contentious bill that received the tentative backing of the
Georgian parliament.

Murafeddin Sakimov, head of the Meskhetian Turks’ Association in
Kyrgyzstan, told the Anatolia news agency that the bill did not
provide any details on the returning process of Meskhetians to their
ancestral lands.

"As Meskhetians who were deported in 1944, we want to return to the
Meskhetian region," he said, dismissing the conditions laid down by
the Georgian government.

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