Turks in the former Soviet Union were a relatively small minority within theSoviet Union when excluding Turks ofAzerbaijan,Oguz Turks and other Turkish groups. However, their presence is considered important withinTurkology due to the deportation of thousands ofTurks from their home countries.[citation needed] Under theOttoman Empire,Samtskhe-Javakheti was heavilyIslamised producing aTurkish ethnicity within the southwestern region ofGeorgia. In November 1944, up to 120,000 of these Turks were deported toCentral Asia under the rule ofJoseph Stalin.
Turks in the formerSoviet Union have a long history beginning in theOttoman Empire when the Turks began to migrate to theOttoman territories which created Turkish communities inGeorgia andUkraine. However, large migration of Turks to otherpost-Soviet states was in 1944 when theMeskhetian Turks were suppressed byJoseph Stalin and deported toCentral Asia. The Turkish community were originally native to the Georgian-Turkish border area and forcibly displaced to Central Asia on November 15, 1944.[1] The majority ofTurks settled in Uzbekistan, however, in 1989, anti-Meskhetian riots broke out due to their superior living standards and economic well-being in an area heavily struck by unemployment. Thus, over 90,000 Turks resettled fromUzbekistan to other parts of the Soviet Union.[2] Some of the Turks relocated in and aroundNagorno-Karabakh. However, when theArmenians took control of the area, they were once again forced to flee.[3] Although some have returned to Georgia, a problem however has constantly been thatGeorgians and Armenians who resettled into the homes of the Turks have vowed to take up arms against any return movements. Moreover, many Georgians have advocated that the Meskhetian Turks should be sent toTurkey, 'where they belong'.[4]
| Effects of the deportation of Turks during Soviet rule[5] | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1939 census | Number of deaths during the first 5 years of exile | In exile by January, 1953 | 1989 census | ||||
| 115,000 | 15,000 | 49,000 | 208,000 | ||||
Within the Soviet Union,ethnic cleansing of Turks duringWorld War II took the form of massdeportations carried out by theSoviet secret police and theRed Army.[6] The reason for the deportation was because the Soviet Union was preparing to launch a pressure campaign againstTurkey. In June 1945Vyacheslav Molotov, thenMinister of Foreign Affairs, formally presented a demand to the Turkish Ambassador in Moscow for the surrender of threeAnatolian provinces (Kars,Ardahan andArtvin). Moscow was also preparing to support Armenian claims to several other Anatolian provinces. Thus, war against Turkey seemed possible, andJoseph Stalin wanted to clear the strategic Turkish population (especially those situated inMeskheti) located near the Turkish-Georgian border which were likely to be hostile to Soviet intentions.[7] The deportation is relatively poorly documented, but Soviet sources suggests that an estimated 115,000 Turks were deported mainly toCentral Asia, most of which settled inUzbekistan.[8]
In 1989,ethnic clashes between theUzbeks andTurks occurred. According to official figures, 103 people died and over 1,000 were wounded. Moreover, 700 houses were destroyed and more than 60,000 Meskhetian Turks were driven out of Uzbekistan.[9] The events of 1989 are considered by the Turks as theirsecond deportation. Those that remained in Uzbekistan complained (in private due to the fear of repercussions) of ethnic discrimination.[10]
Although thelast Soviet census recorded a figure of 207,512 Turks, this may have not counted all ethnic Turks, because for many years, Turks were denied the right to register theirethnicity in legal documents. For example, inKazakhstan only a third of them were recorded asTurks on their passports. The rest had been arbitrarily declared members of other ethnic groups.[11][12]
| Country | 1897 Census[13] | 1939 Census[14] | 1970 Census[15] | 1979 Census[16] | 1989 Census[17] | Current estimates | Further information |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Armenia | 19 | 28 | 13 | ||||
| Azerbaijan | 8,491 | 7,926 | 17,705 | 38,000[18] | Turks in Azerbaijan | ||
| Belarus | 9 | 17 | 55 | ||||
| Estonia | 23 | 22 | 23 | ||||
| Georgia | 853 | 917 | 1,375 | 1,000[18] | Turks in Georgia | ||
| Kazakhstan | 18,397 | 25,820 | 49,567 | 110,000[18][19] | Turks in Kazakhstan | ||
| Kyrgyzstan | 3,076 | 5,160 | 21,294 | 42,000[18]-70,000[20] | Turks in Kyrgyzstan | ||
| Latvia | 12 | 3 | 9 | ||||
| Lithuania | 5 | 30 | 8 | ||||
| Moldova | 26 | 20 | 14 | ||||
| Russia | 1,568 | 3,561 | 9,890 | 105,000[21] | Turks in Russia | ||
| Tajikistan | 39 | 53 | 768 | ||||
| Turkmenistan | 347 | 149 | 227 | Turks in Turkmenistan | |||
| Ukraine | 226 | 257 | 262 | 10,000[21] | Turks in Ukraine | ||
| Uzbekistan | 46,398 | 48,726 | 106,302 | 15,000[21]-20,000[22] | Turks in Uzbekistan | ||
| Total | 208,822 | 115,000 | 79,489 | 92,689 | 207,512 | 386,000 to451,000 |