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23.12.2003
Since their region sits on the border with Georgia, Krasnodar Krai
residents naturally followed the events of the November Revolution
of the Roses with great interest. What happens in Georgia can have
a great impact on the social and economic life of Russia's south.
There are many problems in southern Russia that can only be resolved
at the federal level and Krasnodar is once again seeking federal
assistance in returning the Meskhetian Turks living in the krai
to Georgia. On 29 November the krai legislature adopted a resolution
to President Putin and other federal leaders asking them to activate
negations dealing with this issue. This appeal was the fourth request
for federal help the regional legislature has made since 1999. Each
time the Ministry of Foreign Affairs asks the Georgians to start
negotiations, but nothing happens. The Georgian authorities never
said that they would not fulfill their obligations, but never took
any concrete actions to do so. The latest attempt is based on the
hope that the new authorities will be more reception to such negotiations
than the Shevardnadze government. In 1999 Georgian officials
told the Council of Europe that they would prepare legislation on
returning the Turks over the next two years and carry out this process
over the course of ten years. Nothing like this has happened.
The situation surrounding the Meskhetian Turks has been one of
the main social problems in Krasnodar Krai since 1989. In 1989 there
was a bloody conflict in Uzbekistan's Fergana Valley between native
born Uzbeks and Meskhetian Turks moved there at Stalin's orders.
With the coming collapse of the USSR, the Soviet government could
not use force to stop the atrocities. So on 26 June 1989, the USSR
Council of Ministers allowed the Turks to move from Uzbekistan to
Russia. The order foresaw the establishment of compact living areas
for the Turks in the regions of Central Russia, setting aside housing
and jobs for them. However, 13,500 Turks instead moved to Krasnodar
Krai and settled in two raions which were already overcrowded.
Two years before the Turks' arrival, the USSR Council of Ministers
had limited opportunities to move into these areas. Because of the
Soviet government ruling, the Turks coming into Krasnodar could
not legally obtain housing or work in their new home. The Georgian-Abkhaz
conflict in 1992 made it impossible for them to return home and
after the hostilities ended, the Georgian side put off any action
on repatriating the Turks. As a result, the Meskhetian Turks received
neither Russian nor Georgian citizenship. Now there are more than
10,000 Turks living in these raions without being registered and
without even the status of individuals without citizenship.
The leaders of the Meskhetian Turk community have repeatedly appealed
to the krai leadership to legalize their status, but have consistently
been refused. According to the new federal law on foreign citizens
in Russia, which went into effect on 7 July 2002, the Meskhetian
Turks should have been registered by the Ministry of Internal Affairs
and received migration cards. But several of the Turk leaders called
for boycotting this procedure, pointing out that the Russian authorities
had no way of punishing them for doing so. In fact, the deportation
clause in the law cannot be applied to several thousand people at
once, especially if Georgia does not want to recognize the Turks
as citizens. In its latest appeal, the krai legislature warns that
the presence of Meskhetian Turks on its territory creates a dangerous
spur to inter-ethnic conflict and that the native population is
fleeing the area where the Turks live. Many of the locals prefer
to sell their homes and move to different parts of the krai. The
krai authorities point out that both they and the federal officials
want to move the Turks back to Georgia. The view of international
organizations, however, is different.
A recent delegation from the UN High Commission on Refugees, the
OSCE, Council of Europe, and US embassy suggested that the Meskhetian
Turks be given Russian citizenship. The krai authorities insist
that the only solution is repatriation, arguing that it is a matter
of national security. They warn that the presence of a compact population
of Turks in the region could create another "Kosovo,"
in which the local population is pushed out, creating an ungovernable
or poorly monitored autonomy. They claim neither the federal nor
krai authorities could accept such an outcome, given the krai's
strategic significance in Russia's south and its proximity to the
conflicts of the North Caucasus.
The krai's appeal to the president is an effort to resolve a problem
that has been festering for nearly 15 years. However, none of the
krai authorities are optimistic about its resolution. This issue
will most likely be lost among the many important items currently
on the Russian-Georgian agenda. Among the many points of contention
between the two countries are Georgia's energy debt, the presence
of Russian military bases in Georgia, and Russia's position on the
three separatist regions in Georgia. Additionally, it is not clear
that the new Georgian president will have sufficient strength and
influence to resolve this problem. A solution will require not only
the support of the Georgian officials in Tiflis, but also the regional
officials governing the areas to which the Meskhetian Turks would
return.
Source: Sergei Danilchenko in Krasnodar
Russian Regional Report Vol. 8, No. 26, 23 December 2003
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