thumb|Meskhetian Turks in Karabük, Turkey

Meskhetian Turks, also referred to as Turkish Meskhetians, Ahiska Turks, and Turkish Ahiskans, (; Meskhetis turk'ebi) are a Turkish ethnic subgroup who historically inhabited the Meskheti region of Georgia, along the border with Turkey. The Turkish presence in Meskheti began with the Ottoman military expedition of 1578, although Turkic tribes had settled in the region as early as the eleventh and twelfth centuries. In 1944, the Meskhetian Turks were accused of smuggling, banditry and espionage in collaboration with their kin across the Turkish border. Expelled by Joseph Stalin from Georgia in 1944, they faced discrimination and human-rights abuses before and after deportation. Approximately 115,000 Meskhetian Turks were deported to Central Asia and subsequently only a few hundred have been able to return to Georgia as Georgia does not allow repatriation. Those who migrated to Ukraine in 1990 settled in shanty-towns inhabited by seasonal workers.

Origins and terms

thumb|right|250px|Meskhetian/Ahıska Turks holding a banner which reads "Osmanlıların Torunları: Ahıskalı Türkler" (The Ottoman Grandchildren: Ahıska Turks)

Most Meskhetian Turks identify themselves as having descended from Ottoman settlers.

Pro-Georgian historiography has traditionally argued that the Meskhetian Turks, who speak the Kars dialect of the Turkish language and belong to the Hanafi school of Sunni Islam, are simply Turkified Meskhetians (an ethnographic subgroup of Georgians) converted to Islam in the period between the sixteenth century and 1829, when the region of Samtskhe–Javakheti (Historical Meskheti) was under the rule of the Ottoman Empire.

The Russian anthropologist and historian Professor Anatoly Michailovich Khazanov has argued against the pro-Georgian narrative and has said that:

The Meskhetian Turks speak an Eastern Anatolian dialect of Turkish, which hails from the regions of Kars, Ardahan, Igdir and Artvin. The Turkish Meskhetian dialect has also borrowed from other languages (including Azerbaijani, Georgian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Russian, and Uzbek) which the Meskhetian Turks have been in contact with during the Russian and Soviet rule. It is commonly written using the Cyrillic script.

Wedding

thumb|right|200px|Meskhetian bride in traditional attire.

Meskhetian Turks' weddings consist of a traditional proposal from the groom's parents and if the bride's parents accept the proposal, an engagement party, or Nişan, is done. Everyone at the Nişan is given a ceremonial sweet drink, called Sharbat. The actual wedding lasts for two days. On the first day the bride leaves her house and on the second day is when the marriage happens. Before the bride enters her husband's house she uses the heel on her shoe to break two plates with her foot and applies honey on the doorway. This tradition serves the purpose of wishing happiness upon the new bride and groom in their marriage. At the end of the wedding, a dance ensues with the men and women dancing separately. Finally, the newlyweds have their last dance which is called the ‘Waltz’ and that completes the wedding.

Circumcision

The religious male circumcision ceremony of the Ahiska Turks, is hold in a big way of dance, music, guests, recitation of the Koran and a special Kirve (Sandek).

Notable people

thumb|100px|right|[[Ömürbek Babanov, Billionaire and former Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan (2011-12).]]

thumb|100px|right|[[Timur Kapadze, football player and manager of the Uzbekistan national football team.]]

thumb|100px|right|[[Omar Faig Nemanzadeh, writer in Azerbaijan.]]

The following is list of people of Turkish Meshetian origin:

  • , Azerbaijani artist
  • Fatih Ahıskalı, Turkish musician
  • Taner Akçam, Turkish historian
  • Celal Al, Turkish actor in Diriliş: Ertuğrul and Kuruluş: Osman
  • , Turkish politician
  • Aslan Atem, Turkish wrestler
  • Tevfik Arif, Kazakh-Turkish billionaire, real estate developer and investor residing in the US
  • Refik Arif, Kazakh businessman
  • , Turkish poet
  • Isgender Aznaurov, Uzbek-born National Hero of Azerbaijan who fought in the First Nagorno-Karabakh War
  • Ömürbek Babanov, Kyrgyz billionaire and politician who served as Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan (2011-2012)
  • Yusuf Rıza Bey, Ottoman soldier in the Teşkilât-ı Mahsusa special forces
  • , Turkish painter and museologist
  • , Turkish actor
  • , Azerbaijani literary critic
  • , one of the first female journalists, educators, writers and philanthropists in Azerbaijan
  • , Azerbaijani military doctor
  • , Azerbaijani ashik
  • , Azerbaijani scientist
  • , Azerbaijani scientist
  • , Azerbaijani literary critic
  • , lawyer and mystic
  • Niyaz Ilyasov, Russian judoka; medalists in the 2018 and 2019 World Judo Championships
  • Elvira Kamaloğlu, Ukrainian-born Turkish female wrestler
  • , Uzbek football coach
  • Timur Kapadze, Uzbek football player
  • Handan Musaoğlu Kasa, Turkish presenter on TBMM TV
  • Mediha Kayra, Ottoman-Turkish writer and teacher
  • Abubekir Kurşumov, Russian architect and owner of the KavkazStroyGrupp construction company
  • Movlud Miraliyev, Uzbek-born Azerbaijani judoka
  • Mukhtar Mukhtarov, Kazakh football player
  • Bahram Muzaffer, Uzbek boxer
  • Ömer Faik Nemanzade, Azerbaijani journalist
  • , Russian war hero during the Great Patriotic War
  • Emrah Ormanoğlu, Ukrainian-born Turkish freestyle wrestler
  • Fatih Osmanlı, Kazakh-born actor in the Turkish historical drama Kuruluş: Osman
  • Buğra Öner, Turkish professional boxer
  • Alptuğ Öner, Turkish professional boxer
  • Cüneyt Özdemir, Turkish journalist
  • , Ottoman statesman
  • Ahmad bey Pepinov, Azerbaijani Minister of Agriculture
  • Ravil Tagir, Kazakh-born Turkish football player
  • Fırat Tanış, Turkish actor
  • Yalçın Topçu, Turkish politician and former Ministry of Culture and Tourism
  • , Uzbek-Russian educator

See also

  • Turkish communities and minorities in the former Ottoman Empire
  • Turks in the former Soviet Union
  • Meskhetians
  • Meskheti

Notes

Bibliography

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Further reading

  • Daniloff, Caleb. “The Exile of the Meskheti Turks: Still Homesick Half a Century Later”. AZER.com at Azerbaijan International, Vol. 5:1 (Spring 1997), pp. 12-16, 88
  • Robert Conquest, The Nation Killers: The Soviet Deportation of Nationalities (London: Macmillan, 1970) ()
  • S. Enders Wimbush and Ronald Wixman, "The Meskhetian Turks: A New Voice in Central Asia," Canadian Slavonic Papers 27, Nos. 2 and 3 (Summer and Fall, 1975): 320-340
  • Alexander Nekrich, The Punished Peoples: The Deportation and Fate of Soviet Minorities at the End of the Second World War (New York: W. W. Norton, 1978) ().
  • Emma Kh. Panesh and L. B. Ermolov (Translated by Kevin Tuite). Meskhetians. World Culture Encyclopedia. Accessed on September 1, 2007.