Around 2,500 Turk-Meshetis, living in Azerbaijan, participated in a meeting with Georgiy Khaindrava, the Georgian State Minister on Regulation of Conflicts, also chairman of State Commission on Issues of Repatriation, Ibrahim Burkhanov, the chairman of Vatan Society of Turk-Meskhetis (so called Akhiska Turks), told Trend. He was commenting the meeting of Turk-Meshetis with Khaindrava in the Nasimi village, the Saatly region, on Tuesday.
Khaindrava got familiar with their state, informed them about the activities of the Georgian government on their repatriation, Burkhanov stressed. Touching upon the statement by Khaindrava at a news conference, organized at the Georgian embassy in Azerbaijan, on belonging of Turk-Meshetis to ethnic Georgians, Burkhanov said that the Georgian Minister stated that it was his personnel opinion after expression of protest by the representatives of Mesheti community.
As to the statement by the Georgian Minister on settling of Turk-Meshetis through all terrority of the country, but not in their historical motherland Samtskhe-Javatekheti province, Burkhanov underlined that nobody was eleigible to indicate to Akhiska Turks, where they should live. 82 villages are empty in the Samtskhe-Javakheti province and the Georgian authorities are informed about it, he added. According to Burkhanov, the Georgian authorities spoke about it to avoid critism by national circles of the country and adopt Law on rehabilitation and repatriation of the forcibly displaced peoples of Georgia at the spring session of the parliament without diffuculties.
Burkhanov also noted that repatriation of Turk-Meshetis would start after adoption of the law by 2006.
It should be mentioned that around 70,000 Tusk-Meshetis live in Azerbaijan, 160,000 - Kazakhstan, 70,000 - Uzbeskistan, 55,000 - Russia, 40,000 - Kyrgyzstan, 35,000 - Turkey, 12,000 - Ukraine.