More than 1,000 Meskhetian Turks reintegrated to Georgia

Georgia has complied with its obligations to reintegrate Meskhetian Turks who were deported from Georgia during Soviet times, officials say.  

Reintegrating deported Meskhetian Turks into the Georgian community was discussed at a meeting between leaders and Council of Europe representatives yesterday.

In response to the meeting, Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Accommodation and Refugees released a statement that said Georgia had complied with its obligation towards Council of Europe to reintegrate Meskhetian Turks in Georgia. The ministry said in 1999, in order to join Council of Europe, Georgia made a commitment to adopt a legal framework that would allow repatriation and integration of the deported Meskhetians, including granting them Georgian citizenship.

"In 2007 Georgian Parliament passed a law for repatriation of people that were compulsorily deported from Soviet Georgia in the 1940s. Furthermore,on March 30, 2010, the Georgian Government adopted a decree that enabled the repatriated population to get Georgian citizenship with simplified procedures.

To date, 5,841 people have addressed the Georgian government for repatriation, out of which 1174 have already been granted status of repatriate and seven have gained Georgian citizenship.