Paata Zakareishvili's article on Meskhetians

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Subject: Paata Zakareishvili's article on Meskhetians

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Paata Zakareishvili's article on Meskhetians


Current Problems of Deported Meskhi
by Paata Zakareishvili

The article was published in the newspaper "Akhali Shvidi Dge",
31.12.98-7.01.99

1. On November 15-17, 1944, by Stalin's Decree No 6279, all the
Muslims dwelling in the South of Georgia - irrespective of their
nationality - were driven together to goods wagons and taken on the
way to Central Asia. Many of them - women, men, children, elderly,
mixed together in one wagon - died on their way. Passengers, who
happened to be at the stations of Khashuri, Zestafoni, Kutaisi at that
time, heard a kind of terrible animal groans from the train passing
by. The dead was thrown away from the train, as well as those who were
dying. That is why not all the deported people reached the place of
destination. It was Central Asia - the place of punishment for Soviet
criminals - a desert with few non-civilised settlements. It was chosen
in accordance with the Soviet strategy - to develop this area and to
settle it with people. Followers of Stalin often claim that their
Leader made this step because of national interests - by means of it
he "cleansed" Georgia from people of non-Georgian origin. I can answer
them by a firm argument: not only Georgia was "cleaned" from so called
Turks - Stalin deported all Muslims - from Chechnya, Ingushetia, the
Crimea (Crimean Tatars). The same people, pro-Stalinists, state that
this was caused by those people's pro-Turkish orientation during World
War II. But they forget that those people were punished without
committing any crime and at the time when the war was nearly finished,
the fascists were driven away from Volga and the end was obvious - at
the time when there was no danger. In other words, this was punishment
just to punish - a specially planned and totally unjustified action. 

The people who are now called by the most paradox and cynical name -
Meskhi Turks - dwelt in Georgia, in Meskheti, for ages. The Meskhi as
an ethnos are not only the people who were driven from Georgia in
1944. They were Christians in past centuries. Invasions of Turks left
them two choices: to move into central areas of Georgia or to stay and
change their religion. Some of those, who stayed and changed their
religion formally, used to wear crosses in secret and trusted in
Christ for a long time after this. But the country, being
disintegrated, could not support those people at that time: they were
in Turkey's hands. Nobody tried to return them before the Russian's
coming to Georgia. As to Russia, it fought for the territory, but
against the people. Unlike Islamic mentality, religion and nation are
the same for the Christian. That is why Russia fought against the
Muslim Meskhi (who, we should admit, were already Turks by their
mentality) as it did against Turkey. So, the Muslim population of
Meskheti naturally turned into Turks, enemies of the Christian
Georgians. They were registered as Turks during a census; we called
them Tartars like all Muslims and created Azerbaidjanian schools for
them in the Soviet period. So Stalin only completed their historical
sentence. The problem is that this tragedy was not finished even in
the times of Stalin: the following governors continued the relay
started by tsarist Russia and Stalin.

By Decree No 135/142 of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the
USSR, dated by 1956, these people were rehabilitated. This means that
for the first time they were given proper certificates of citizenship
- passports - and were allowed to move within the whole territory of
the Soviet Union, except Georgia. And do you know what did those
people do? In order to come at least a bit closer to Georgia, they
settled in the forlorn Mugani (which means Snakes' Dwelling) Steppe in
Azerbaijan and in the Krasnodar Krai. The Georgians created villages
in Mugani, where there were no plants or animals, except snakes, and
in Krasnodar. 

2. Meskhi Turk: this term expresses the irony of their fate like all
their life does. This term has been translated from Russian:
"meskhetinskiy turok". In Georgian this means a Turk from Meskheti and
not the absurd invented nation, which has never existed - Turkish
Meskhi. Of course, Russia has put its own political meaning into the
term, to make these people remember Meskheti, but to recognise
themselves always as Turks. This way not Georgians but Turks would
keep their orientation towards Meskheti. Georgia and the Georgians
have not called this poor people even Turks. They created their name
by means of some synthesis of nationalities. Any government, which
will declare that it is going to solve the problem of these people,
must first do something with this term. As to me, I would solve this
problem at once: their name is "Deported Meskhi".

3. The attitude of the post-Soviet Gamsakhurdia's government towards
those people is known very well. I will not tell you, because
everybody remembers it, how a new '44 was organised for the Meskhi
repatriated to Georgia. Settled in various places of Georgia, they
were gathered on lorries in one night and again taken to the way of
their fathers and grandfathers. The same Gamsakhurdia and the same
government, who, when being dissidents, had declared their positive
attitude towards those people through underground literature, did it.
I myself used to distribute Gamsakhurdia's "Sakartvelos Moambe" at
that time and I can remind you even the paragraphs of the text, in
which the activists of the national movement demanded support for
these people.  Everything went on in a very simple way afterwards.
When Gamsakhurdia met those people and saw nothing Georgian in them,
he immediately took back his slogans and demands. This way he once
more proved that he was an adherent of "slogan politics". Nowadays the
government does not behave in a better way. It acts in its own style,
according to which some fine theories are created, but nothing real is
done in practice. It is surprising that the government, which calls
itself democratic, in fact appears (including its most democratic and
reform-minded representatives) as a follower of a fascist policy. Why?
Where is the democratic process? And what does the decree of
Shevardnadze mean - the State Program of Solving Legal and Social
Problems of Deported Meskhi Repatriated to Georgia, which was signed
by the President in December 1996 and according to which a
repatriation of 5 thousand Meskhi to Georgia was to start in 1997 and
to continue by several stages till year 2000? Two years have already
passed after the decree was signed. The Meskhi carry out hunger
strikes outside the Parliament building, demanding realisation of the
decree. As to the authorities, they let the police to attack the
demonstrations and later, in the nearest radio interview, express
their regret for the tactless behaviour of the police. But what do you
regret for, gentlemen? And why do you think you should apologise for
others? These people start hunger strikes because of the promise YOU
have not kept... 

4. From the point of view of violation of human rights, the problem of
Turk Meskhi has had no precedent. The Meskhi are the only group in the
world, which was entirely deported and still is not rehabilitated. I
would like to remind Georgian specialists of human rights protection
the simplest reality of their profession: everyone has the right to
live where the Law allows him/her. The Meskhi have the right to live
in Georgia irrespective of their religion and no one can argue against
this. If the Georgian, who ruined Rustaveli Avenue in Tbilisi and let
Russian military forces to shell Samegrelo, remain Georgian, why
cannot a person, who by torture and threat was deprived of their God
and mentality, remain Georgian as well? How can we accuse them instead
of at least trying to give them their god and mentality back? 

5. It is not only impossible to differentiate these people, it is a
crime. It would be the same as discrimination, which is a violation of
human rights and should be punished. The issue should be raised in a
different way: those Meskhi, who should be brought back first and
those, who could return later. According to my opinion, first should
come back those, who will be loyal towards certain demands put to
them. The demand should be following: Meskhi will return to different
regions of Georgia - and should not be changed. 

6.  To direct these people against Georgia could conceivably be the
interest of someone and maybe someone even tries to do this. But for
how long can we stay in the position of a frightened ostrich, with our
heads hidden in our own bodies, pretending that there is no problem if
we do not see it? What is more dangerous: the people ignored by us,
whom we cannot manage and who are managed by others against us, or
people controlled by us? I have already said many times, that as long
as we keep our door locked for these people and they are in others'
hands, there is always a danger that they will be used against us. If
we take the problem in our own hands, it will be easier for us to
solve it. I have met some Meskhi, who have settled in Krasnodar, and
have talked with them. After Georgia became independent, the wish of
these people to come to Georgia has reduced to the minimum. They are
people of urban mentality - why do they need Meskheti and the
difficulties of rural life? Those, who still really want to settle in
Georgia, mostly are very old and there are very few of them. There
also are several organisations, among them "Vatan". The idea of return
to Georgia becomes weaker and weaker among them. Most of those, who
want to leave, prefer Turkey. The Cossacks in Krasnodar openly oppress
the Meskhi, forcing them to go to Georgia. Had the Georgian Government
been able to carry out an independent policy, it would have made the
following simple step: it would have declared that it recognised the
Meskhi's right to return to Georgia, but demanded from the CIS
Supervisory Council to state that, as the initiator of their
deportation from Georgia was the Soviet Government, all the former
Soviet Republics should take part in their rehabilitation - I mean
economical rehabilitation. As to Russia, it should recognise the
citizenship of these people in the places where they mainly live now -
Krasnodar, for example. I assure you that those people are trying to
come to Georgia because of the only reason: they have a genetical
feeling of the fact that Georgia should give them citizenship, while
Russia does not want to. After they get Russian citizenship, no more
than 7-8 thousand Meskhi will be willing to return to Georgia. Thus,
to solve the problem of the deported Meskhi, we need an elementary
thing (as well as to solve other problems): the authorities'
willingness and ability. I doubt whether the Government has any of
them.

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