Ahiskan's meet In Istanbul to Discuss the Problem return to Homeland.
Ahiskan's meet In Istanbul to Discuss the Problem return to Homeland.
Ahiska Turks convene İstanbul conference to Discuss the Problem return of Ahiskan's to their ethnic homeland. The Ahiska Meskhetian Turks, who were forced to emigrate from their ethnic homeland Ahiska (Georgia) between 1944, came together at a conference organized by the Ahiska Students Alumni Association (AHİMED) on Saturday to discuss challenges they face.
In the opening speech of the conference, AHİMED General Coordinator Rüstem Alioğlu said they organized the conference to provide an academic forum to discuss the problems that Ahiska Meskhetian Turks face. Numerous academics and intellectuals participated in the conference along with hundreds of Ahiska MeskhetianTurks. Also giving a speech during the conference, Habibullah Mürsel, president of the All Ahiska Turks Social Economic Cooperation and Solidarity Association (TASİYAD), said the problems of the Ahiska can only be solved with the contributions of Ahiska scholars, adding that he believes the Ahiska Turks will be able to accomplish their goal of returning to their homeland in the near future with the help of qualified Ahiska intellectuals.
Minera Aliyeva, a professor at Uludağ University, pointed to the fact that over the years, the Ahiska Meskhetian Turks have not been able to preserve their own culture. An international relations specialist attending the conference, Elşan İzzetgül, said Georgia is at fault, adding that most of the problems can be resolved if Georgia takes the required legal steps to enable Ahiska Turks to return to their homeland. She stated that the rights of Ahiska Turks should be restored, noting that Turkey should use its relationship with Georgia to add some pressure.
The Ahiska Meskhetian Turks, also known as Meskhetian Turks, found themselves in Georgia when the border between Turkey and the Soviet Union was drawn under the Moscow Agreement of March 16, 1921. Concerned by the possible strategic threat posed by the rapprochement between Turkey and the Ahiska Turks, the Russian government deported between 120,000 and 140,000 people to Central Asia on the night of Nov. 15, 1944, leading to the current Ahiska Turk question. Currently, 500,000 Ahiska Meskhetian Turks who live in the former Soviet republics, including Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and the Russian Federation, are unable to return to their land of origin in Georgia; they are also denied citizenship in their current countries of residence. Ahiska Meskhetian Turks are the only people denied a return to their homeland in the former Soviet Union.
