MINELREL-L Archive (04221999-21:53:38-21499)

Meskhetians: Vienna Meeting Documents


Reply-To: [email protected]
Sender: [email protected]
From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1999 21:53:37 +0300 (EET DST)
Message-Id: <[email protected]>
Subject: Meskhetians: Vienna Meeting Documents

From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>

Original sender: Eldar Zeynalov <[email protected]>

Meskhetians: Vienna Meeting Documents 

-----Original Message-----
From: CIPDD <[email protected]>

Unofficial translation from Russian 

CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT

On 15-17 March 1999 informal consultations took place in Vienna which
were a follow-up to the meeting in The Hague in September 1998 on
Meskhetian Turk issues.  The participants could not agree on a common
term to denote the population in question (which was deported from the
Meskhetia region of Georgia in 1944).  

The delegation of Azerbaijan declared that it would use the term
"Meskhetian Turks" in connection with these people.

The delegation of Georgia declared that it would employ the term
"population deported from the Meskhetian region in 1944," as it is
used in the documents of the Council of Europe.  The delegation of
Georgia also stated that this is the term which will be used in laws
and other normative acts dealing with repatriation.

The delegation of the Russian Federation declared that it would use
the term "Turks-Meskhetians." The Russian delegation expressed
understanding for the declaration of the Georgian delegation and
affirmed its readiness to take into account the terminology used by
the Georgian delegation at the meeting and also during the preparation
of Georgian legislation dealing with that part of the population of
Georgia which was deported in 1944 from Meskhetia in the Georgian
SSR.  The delegation also took into account that Georgia will be
guided by its existing international commitments.

The representatives of the population deported from Meskhetia in 1944
who took part in the meeting declared unanimously that they do not
object to the use of the term "deported population from Meskhetia" and
that they are interested in discussing the substance of the issue and
not terminological squabbles.

Participants agreed that joint efforts to find mutually acceptable
solutions will continue without prejudice to the right of every person
to choose their own ethnic identity and the outcome of the discussion
about terminology.

The meeting in Vienna was initiated and hosted by the OSCE High
Commissioner on National Minorities, the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees and the Forced Migration Projects of the
Open Society Institute. Participants included representatives of the
Governments of Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Russian Federation, Turkey,
Ukraine and the United States, as well as representatives of civic
organizations of the category of people in question. In addition,
representatives of international organizations, including the Council
of Europe, the International Organization for Migration, and the OSCE
Mission to Georgia, as well as non-governmental organizations,
participated in the discussions. OSCE High Commissioner on National
Minorities, Mr. Max van der Stoel, Forced Migration Projects Director
Mr. Arthur C. Helton and Deputy Director of UNHCR's Bureau for Europe,
Mr. Hasim Utkan served as co-chairmen. The Head of the OSCE Mission to
Georgia, Ambassador Jean Michel Lacombe, chaired the opening session.

The Vienna consultations were a continuation of the discussions
initiated at the meeting in The Hague. In particular, the
co-organizers noted with great satisfaction the broadening of
participation on the governmental and non-governmental levels at the
Vienna consultations. The co-organizers also welcomed the higher level
of participants on the part of Governmental delegations.

Participants at the Vienna consultations recognized that the broad
parameters of the problems relating to the category of population in
question have been identified (rehabilitation, repatriation, and
regularization of their status in their places of residence), and that
attention should shift to the exploration of concrete solutions that
stress the humane management of the problems of the category of people
in question.

The co-organizers welcomed the personal invitation of Azerbaijan's
President Heydar Aliev to host the next consultation session in Baku,
Azerbaijan, in late 1999. The co-organizers additionally lauded an
invitation by the Georgian Government delegation to host subsequent
consultations in mid-2000. These consultations will offer
opportunities to refine a plan of action designed to address specific
medium- and long-term aspects of the problems of the category of
people in question, including a framework for repatriation and
mechanisms that would allow the category of people in question to
clarify their status in their current places of residence.

Given the expressions of interest from participants, the co-organizers
agreed to undertake to act under the auspices of the OSCE HCNM to
establish a focal point that will collect and act as a depository for
project proposals relating to the issues of the category of people in
question. In this regard, the co-organizers expressed their readiness
to receive proposals upon the conclusion of the Vienna consultations.
The co-organizers agreed to then analyze the collected material and
present selected proposals to donor Governments for funding
consideration. An early forum for the presentation of proposals will
occur at the meeting of the Steering Group of the CIS Conference on
migration-related issues, scheduled to be held in Geneva in June 1999.

In pursuit of the formulation of frameworks and mechanisms for the
human management of the problems of the category of people in
question, some participants:

* Expressed unease over the length of the Council of Europe's
timeframe for Georgia to address issues of the category of people in
question - including the formulation of a legal framework regulating
rehabilitation and repatriation - in connection with the country's
accession to Council of Europe membership.

* Emphasized that any potential repatriation to Georgia by the
category of people in question should be of a voluntary nature.

* Stressed the need to take action to prevent and reduce statelessness
among the category of people in question in accordance with
international norms and practices.

* Underscored the importance of providing humanitarian assistance in
the process of establishing durable solutions to the issues of the
category of people in question.

The Georgian delegation:

- announced that a Presidential Decree is expected in the near future
on the establishment of a State commission to prepare, in connection
with the country's accession to the Council of Europe, the resolution
of the issue in question;

- pledged to resolve the question of the citizenship of the
repatriants currently living in Georgia by the end of 1999;

- offered to host a mission by internationally recognized experts to
Georgia at the earliest possible date in order to assess conditions in
the areas of origin of the deported population;

- indicated a willingness to ratify the 1951 UN Geneva Convention
relating to the status of refugees, and to bring national legislation
into conformity with international norms;

- expressed a desire to seek the help of international experts in
preparation for adhesion to, and ratification of, the 1961 Convention
on the Reduction of Statelessness;

- emphasized the need for greater cooperation among CIS member states
on issues relating to issues concerning the problem of the deported
population;

- called for the creation of a data base of information relating to
the deported population;

- requested international assistance to help with the creation of
repatriation centers that would facilitate the adaptation and
integration of the deported population into Georgian society, the
training of the proper personnel and carrying out of tolerance
building work among the local population.

The Delegation of the Russian Federation:

- agreed to look into taking steps to ease conditions for
Turk-Meskhetians living in Krasnodar Krai. In particular, the
delegation announced that the regional administration would consider
lifting fines imposed in connection with the expired registration of
Turk-Meskhetians in the region. The Delegation of Russia pledged to
propose to the Administration of the Krasnodar Krai that it regularize
the procedure for the registration of the Turk-Meskhetians in
Krasnodar Krai in order to lengthen the period of temporary
registration;

-  pledged that the relevant State authorities will carefully study
the requests of the Turk-Meskhetians, particularly in the social
sphere (especially as regards education and health care);

- expressed the intention to continue regular contacts with
representatives of Turk-Meskhetian civic organizations in the
Krasnodar Krai;

- expressed the readiness of the Russian Ministry of the Interior to
assist in the identification of Meskhetian/Meskhetian Turks, and also
help local authorities compile information on the intentions of those
people, now residing on the territory of the Russian Federation, who
want to leave Russia for permanent residence with the agreement of the
host country;

- indicated that the Ministry of Interior would issue foreign
passports in accordance with existing procedures to those individuals
wishing to leave Russia to take up permanent residence with the
agreement of the receiving country.

The representative of the government of Turkey:

- reiterated the Turkish Government's commitment to deal with
questions connected with these issues at the highest level.

Representatives of civic organizations of the category of people in
question

- called for immediate steps to be taken that would aimed at the
rehabilitation and repatriation of the category of people in question;

- expressed the desire to further strengthen contacts among their
civic organizations groups, including for the purposes of  return to
the historical homeland;

- called for the regularization of the status of the category of
people in question and application of  (Russian) federal legislation
to the category of people in question living Krasnodar Krai.

The representative of the Russian non-governmental organization, the
Memorial Human Rights Centre:

- called for measures to be implemented in order to safeguard the
basic civil and social rights and freedoms of the category of people
in question in their current places of residence, including personal
safety and security.

Participants expressed their support for the process initiated at the
consultations in The Hague and their readiness, in cooperation with
relevant international organizations and in the spirit of
responsibility sharing, to contribute to the joint search for sensible
and just measures that will contribute to the humane management of the
issues relating to the category of people in question.

Participants expressed their appreciation to the High Commissioner for
National Minorities for his leadership role in the process, and
requested that he continue this role.

Vienna, 17 March 1999   

-- 
==============================================================
MINELRES - a forum for discussion on minorities in Central&Eastern
Europe

Submissions: [email protected]  
Subscription/inquiries: [email protected] 
List archive: http://www.riga.lv/minelres/archive.htm
==============================================================