TheFirst All-Union Census of the Soviet Union in 1926 recorded 8,570Ottoman Turks living in theSoviet Union. The Ottoman Turks are no longer listed separately in the census, it is presumed that those who were living in Kazakhstan have either been assimilated into Kazakh society or have left the country.[4]
Thus, war against Turkey seemed possible, andJoseph Stalin wanted to clear the strategic Turkish population situated inMeskheti, near the Turkish-Georgian border.[11][12] Nationalistic policies at the time encouraged the slogan: "Georgia for Georgians" and that the Meskhetian Turks should be sent toTurkey "where they belong".[13][14]
By 1944, theMeskhetian Turks were forcefully deported fromMeskheti and accused of smuggling, banditry and espionage in collaboration with their kin across theTurkish border.[15] Thus, large settlements of Meskhetian Turks were formed in Kazakhstan and they were not permitted by the Georgian government ofZviad Gamsakhurdia to return to their homeland.[13]
In the lastSoviet Census, conducted in 1989, there were 207,500Meskhetian Turks in the Soviet Union and over 23.8% were registered in Kazakhstan.[16]
Although thelast Soviet census recorded a low figure of 207,269 Turks, this may have not counted all ethnic Turks, because for many years, Turks were denied the right to register their nationality in legal documents. Thus, in Kazakhstan, only a third of them were recorded as Turks on their passports. The rest had been arbitrarily declared members of other ethnic groups.[17][18]
Due to historical links between Turkish and Kazakh people, the Turks living in Kazakhstan are well provided. The Hoca Ahmet Yesevi International Kazakh-Turkish University was established inTurkistan of Kazakhstan in 1993 and has around 20,000 students.
It is one of the leading universities in the country. There is also 28 Kazakh-Turkish high schools, one university and one primary school which are operated by private Turkish foundations. There is also one Turkish Language Teaching Center inAlmaty.
^Karcı, Durmuş (2018), "The Effects of Language Characters and Identity of Meskhetian Turkish in Kazakhstan",The Journal of Kesit Academy,4 (13):301–303
^Fatih AHISKALI ile Röportaj, Güneydoğu Güncel Haber Gazetesi, 2020, retrieved21 December 2020,Fatih Osmanlı; 11 Eylül 1979 Almatı Kazakistan doğumlu aslen Ahıska Türkü'dür. 2017 yılında Vatanı Türkiye'ye yerleşip temel oyunculuk dersleri alıp hayal ettiği oyunculuk kariyerine başladı. Kuruluş dizisinde başarılı oyunculuk performansı ile dikkatleri çekmeyi başardı.
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