http://www.diplomaticobserver.com/news_read.asp?id=1266
AHISKA TURKS WİLL RETURN TO THEIR HOMELAND
For Ahiska Turks who expelled from their homeland, a new hope emerged. Giorgi Haindrava, Georgian State Minister in charge of breakaway regions stated that they will provide an opportunity of the gradual return for Ahiska Turks who expelled from their homeland during Soviet Union. During his visit to Javakheti where Armenian population constitutes a majority, Haindrava said that Ahiska Turks were subjected to a forced immigration in 1944 and works over their return process are continuing. “All legal rights of Ahiskans like all ethnical minorities in Georgia will be under protection” he said.
Before Georgia is accepted to the Council of Europe as a full member, among other things, it must give an opportunity for Ahiska Turks to return to their homeland.
Ahiska Turks, coming from Anatolia were forced to settle in the region between 1578 and the Russian invasion in 1828. The essential homelands of Ahiska Turks are regarded as the provinces of Ahiska, Ahılkelek, Aspinza, Adıgen and Bogdanovka that are within the lands of the Republic of Georgia and the neighbors of Turkey. The reason for the classification of the Turks that settled in these regions as Ahiska Turks is that the geographical name of the region that included these provinces was Ahiska.
Ahiska Turks was a Turkish group that was exiled for 3 times in the recent 70 years who incurred the wrath of Stalin, the bloody dictator in the year of 1944 and was subjected to exile again. Ahiska Turks expanded to various regions of the USSR in this bloody exile. Today, Ahiska Turks live in 264 different regions of 13 Republics. 70 thousands in 28 centers of population in Russian Federation, 145 thousands in Kazakhstan, 106 thousands in Azerbaijan, 57 thousands in Kyrgyzstan, 30 thousands in Uzbekistan, 18 thousands in Ukraine, 200 thousands in Turkey, and 3000 Ahiska Turks in various countries. There are totally 629 thousands of Ahiska Turks.
The reason why Ahiska Turks were subjected to exile was kept as confidential information for exactly 47 years. The subject was revealed upon the publication of the major documents that were related with the exiles in the year of 1991. Lavrentiy Beriya of Georgian roots, Superintendent of the Public Internal Affairs of the USSR sent a letter of proposal to Georgian İ.V. Stalin, the President of the State Defense Committee who was equipped with all authorities due to the state of war. In his letter (24th July 1944), he stated that “most of the Turkish nation that reside in the regions of Georgia SSR on the border of Turkey have an inclination of immigration upon their relations with their relatives on the side of Turkey. They are smugglers and they are engaged as spies for the Turkish intelligence bodies and they constitute manpower for the brigands”. Due to this statement, he proposed that 16700 families (with a population of 86.000-91.000) could be exiled from Ahiska region towards the Central Asia. Instead of these people, he also proposed the settlement of 7000 Georgian families from the districts that suffered lack of sufficient land in Georgia. After one week pursuant to this letter, the “exile” activities were initiated upon the Resolution of State Defense Committee that was signed by Stalin.
