BETWEEN INTEGRATION AND RESETTLEMENT: THE MESKHETIAN TURKS Oskari Pentikäinen and Tom Trier ECMI Working Paper # 21 September 2004 EUROPEAN CENTRE FOR MINORITY ISSUES (ECMI) Schiffbruecke 12 (Kompagnietor Building) D-24939 Flensburg Germany ( +49-(0)461-14 14 9-0 fax +49-(0)461-14 14 9-19 e-mail:
[email protected] internet: http://www.ecmi.de ECMI Working Paper # 21 European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI) Director: Marc Weller © Copyright 2004 by the European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI) Published in August 2004 by the European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI) List of Abbreviations.................................................................................................4 I. Introduction...........................................................................................................6 1. Who Are the Meskhetian Turks?...........................................................................9 2. A History of Forced Migration............................................................................11 II. The Meskhetian Turks’ Current Demographic and Socio-Political Situation.......13 1. Georgia...............................................................................................................15 2. Azerbaijan...........................................................................................................19 3. Ukraine...............................................................................................................20 4. Russia..................................................................................................................21