The history of the emergence and formation of such a people as the Meskhetian Turks is covered with interesting historical facts. The position of this nation on the geographical and socio-political map of the world has been very ambiguous for several decades. The origin of the Turks and the features of their identification in the modern world are the object of research by a number of scientists - sociologists, anthropologists, historians and lawyers.
Until now, in the study of this issue, researchers have not come to a common denominator. It is important that the Meskhetian Turks themselves ambiguously designate their ethnicity.
One group identifies themselves as indigenous Georgians who converted to Islam in the 17th-18th centuries. and mastered the Turkish language; the other is the descendants of the Turks who ended up in Georgia during the Ottoman Empire.
One way or another, in connection with historical events, the representatives of this people endured many migrations and led a nomadic way of life. This is due to several waves of deportations experienced by the Meskhetian Turks (from Meskhetia, located on the territory of southern Georgia in the Meskhet-Javakheti region). Moreover, the Meskhetians call themselves Akh altsikheTurks (Ahıska Türkler).
The first large-scale expulsion from the developed native places dates back to 1944. It was then, on the orders of I. Stalin, that the "objectionable" in the face of the Meskhetian Turks, Crimean Tatars, Chechens, Greeks, Germans should be deported. It was during this period that more than 90,000 Meskhetians went to the Uzbek, Kazakh and Kirghiz SSR.
Thus, not having time to recover from ordeals, the Meskhetian Turks of the new generation suffered oppression as a result of hostilities in the Fergana Valley of the Uzbek SSR. Having become victims of a massacre, after the order of the Government of the USSR, they were evacuated to Central Russia. One of the main goals pursued by the Fergana "mess" was the Kremlin's pressure on Georgia and the entire people, who declared their desire to be independent and free in April 1989.
With the growing conflict and instability of the situation not only in Ferghana, but also in other parts of the country, the Turks dispersed in Russia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Kazakhstan. In total, about 70 thousand people became internally displaced people.
In the modern world, the issue of repatriation and protection of the rights of the Meskhetian people is very relevant and complex, speaking at the forefront of international relations and political vicissitudes. The problem is exacerbated by the ambiguity of goals, deadlines and wishes, both on the part of the authorities and the representatives of the people themselves.
By joining the Council of Europe in 1999, Georgia undertook to raise and resolve the issue of the return of the Turks to their homeland within 12 years, to intensify the processrepatriation and integration, give them official citizenship.
However, there are factors that complicate the implementation of this project. Among them:
- the once active armenization of the historical homeland of the Turks (Meskheti and Javakheti); fanatical attitudes of aggression of one minority against the return of another to this territory can be traced;
- insufficiently resolute position of the Georgian official bodies;
- the low level of the legislative and legal framework regulating this issue, which is the reason for the lack of results of all decisions made and voiced.
