Meskhetian Turks of Southern Russia mark 72nd anniversary of deportation

Meskhetian Turks have held a rally in Volgodonsk to demand from Presidents of Georgia and Russia to take measures to repatriate the nationals. A similar appeal was made by the Meskhetian Turks living in Chechnya and the Stavropol Territory.

In January 2008, the Georgian Parliament adopted a Law "On Repatriation of Persons Forcibly Displaced by USSR Authorities from Georgia in 1940s". However, it was stated at the rally that the law was purely declarative.

The leaders of about 12,000 Meskhetian Turks living in the Stavropol Territory have been trying, for more than 20 years, to return them to their historical homeland. The "Komsomolskaya Pravda in Northern Caucasus" writes about it quoting Odil Aliev, the chairman of the Stavropol branch of the organization "Vatan Elunda".

A similar situation is in Chechnya, where over 3000 Meskhetian Turks are living, the Chechen State TV and Radio Company "Grozny" reports.

Now, Meskhetian Turks are facing problems due to lack of citizenship; many of them still have Soviet passports, Khamid Dursunov, the chairman of the society "Vatan" (Homeland), earlier told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.