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Who Are The So Called "Meskhetian Turks"?
At The Source Of Problem
At night on November 15, 1944 the Soviet authorities in a whole range of regions in southern Georgia implemented a strictly confidential and large-scale operation: several hundred villages of Meskheti were emptied of their populations in one night. Tens of thousands of persons were loaded into freight trains bound for Central Asia, without any explanation given them.
The aforementioned deportation was implemented on the basis of Resolution No.6279 from July 31, 1944 of the Defense State Committee of the USSR and Order No. 00117 of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR, which determined the means and methods of the resettlement of persons of Turkish, Georgian, Khemshid, Yezidi, Tatar and Azerbaijan origin from the regions close to the borders of the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, namely – Akhaltsikhe, Adigeni, Akhalkalaki, Aspindza and Bogdanovka, as well as from the regions of the unrecognized Republic of Adjara – Batumi, Kobuleti, Kedi and Khulo.
Note: In the official documents of that time Muslim Meskhetians were referred as persons of Turkish origin and nationality. The terms: "Caucasian Turks," "Soviet Turks," "Meskhetian Turks," and "Turk-Meskhetians" were established by the mass media of the Soviet Union in the 1970s. The last two terms were used most frequently.
Those persons living in the regions who were now labeled ethnic ‘Turks’ were subject to resettlement, except women who were lawfully married to persons of other nationalities.
Before the resettlement operation began, police operatives in the district had to examine the possibility of resistance in the relevant populated regions. A meeting of the region’s elders was convened, where the statement of the Soviet authorities was announced concerning the population’s resettlement to Central Asia as a necessary measure to secure the borders of Soviet Georgia. At the meeting, the police operatives made it clear that they would use force if necessary and they gave notice of the consequences of resistance or attempting to evade the order.
An operative group was assigned to each family. The leader of this group asked the head of the family to voluntarily turn over any firearms or other weapons in their possession. The leader of the operative group then usually conducted a search of the entire house.
Resettled persons were allowed to take with them personal and other items (clothes, dishware, agricultural and domestic goods, money, jewelry and foodstuffs). The total weight of their luggage was not allowed to be more than 1.5 tons per family.
Soon after the end of the operation the resettled persons were released from the supervision of the authorities. At the same time the members of the operative group had to take into consideration the location of fugitives or those accused of anti-Soviet activities.
All the properties of the exiled persons, including their housing and household equipment, were inventoried by local commissions and transferred to the possession of state agencies.
The local authorities and these commissions were responsible for the timely and complete collection, inventory, and preparation of documents for the protection of the property of the exiled persons.
On the basis of the resolution No.6279 from July 31, 1914 of the Defense State Committee of the USSR, 19,818 families were specially exiled. Among them: Turks – 14,493 families; Kurds – 1,830 families; Azerbaijanis – 3,058 families; yezidis-7 families; Tatars-126 families, and Khemshids - 304 families.
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The number of exiled families by region is as follows:
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Akhaltsikhe region:
Turks – 2,609 families;
Kurds – 389 families;
Azerbaijania – 2,473 families;
Tatars – 126 families;
Total: 5,597 families.
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Adigeni region:
Turks – 6, 702 families;
Azerbaijania – 278 families;
Total: 6,980 families.
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Akhalkalaki region:
Turks – 614 families;
Kurds – 155 families;
Total: 769 families.
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Aspindza region:
Turks – 3,743 families;
Kurds – 488 families;
Azerbaijanis – 301 families;
Total: 4,532 families.
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Bogdanovka region:
Turks – 157 families;
Lurds – 6 families;
Azerbaijanis – 6 families;
Yezidis – 7 families;
Total: 176 families.
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From the unrecognized republic of Adjara of the Georgian Soviet Socialist republic 1, 764 families were exiled. Among them:
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Batumi city:
Turks – 84 families;
Kurds – 75 families;
Khemshids – 6 families;
Total: 165 families.
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Batumi region:
Turks – 346 families;
Kurds – 472 families;
Khemshids – 231 families;
Total: 1,049 families.
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Kobuleti region:
Turks – 70 families;
Kurds – 198 families;
Khemshids – 34 families;
Total: 302 families.
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Keda region:
Turks – 44 families;
Kurds – 12 families;
Khemshids – 5 families;
Total: 61 families.
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Khulo region:
Turks – 124 families;
Kurds – 35 families;
Khemshids – 28 families;
Total: 187 families.
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Of 106 applications reviewed concerning wrongful resettlement, in 89 cases the exiled persons were recognized as being representatives of Georgian, Armenian, Azerbaijani and other nationalities. According to the decisions of the prosecutor’s office of the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, as well as according to the instructions and decisions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, these persons were released from the places of special exile.
The remaining contingent was taken off the books and, in contrast to other exiled populations, on the basis of statement No.135/42, April 28, 1956 of the Supreme Council of the Presidium of the USSR, was released from their places of exile without the right to confiscated property or the right to return to their places of previous residence.
On the basis of a resolution of the Supreme Council of the Presidium of the USSR from October 31, 1957, peoples of Turk, Kurd, Khemshid, Yezidi and Azerbaijani origin who were wrongly exiled were allowed to settle in the Azerbaijani Soviet Socialistic Republic.
According to the telegraphic instruction No. 86 from May 10, 1955 of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR and explanation No.1259\AI from March 19,1957, members of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union were removed from the register of the specially exiled persons, and were no longer restricted in choosing the place of their residence.
Around the same time as the deportation of the "Meskhetian Turks," according to the statement No.546 from May 18, 1944, persons of Lezgin nationality from the Kvareli region of Georgia were transported to Dagestan. All in all 800 families were exiled in this operation.
The so-called "Meskhetian Turks" were settled in the Soviet republics of Central Asia. At different periods, famous Georgian scientists, intelligentsia members, dissidents and informal organizations criticized their deportation (and in the 1980s, several hundred families were able to return to Georgia). However, later, especially after the tragic pogroms against this group in the ferghana Valley on may 23, 1989, some Georgians changed their position and calls to evict "Turks" from Georgia were heard.
Positions on this issue varied within Georgian society and among "Meskhetian Turks" as well, where different identities manifested themselves. One part of the "Meskhetian Turks" was considered and considered themselves to be Georgians, while the second part of the population maintained a Turkish identity; there also existed a third group, it was the most numerous and lacked a clear ethnic identity.
The issues facing this population came to the fore at the end of the 1990s, when a whole range of international organizations became involved in addressing them. The effort was renewed to begin the process of repatriation of the deported persons and promote their further reintegration into Georgian society.
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Toma Chagelishvili 
