Ahıska Türklerinin Ülkelerine Geri Dönme Hakkı

Year 2024, Volume: 44 Issue: 2, 433 - 486, 01.03.2025

Ceren Zeynep Pirim , Akif Emre Öktem

https://doi.org/10.26650/ppil.2023.44.2.1494095

Abstract

Ahıska Türkleri, Sovyet Sosyalist Cumhuriyetler Birliği’nin Devlet Savunma Komitesinin 31 Temmuz 1944 tarihli ve 6279 sayılı kararı uyarınca 1944 yılının Kasım ayında Gürcistan Sovyet Sosyalist Cumhuriyeti’nin Ahıska bölgesinden Orta Asya’ya tehcir edilmiştir. 1989 yılında, yani Sovyet Sosyalist Cumhuriyetler Birliği’nin çöküşünden iki yıl önce, Özbekistan’ın Fergana bölgesinde yaşayan önemli sayıdaki Ahıska Türkü, etnik şiddete maruz kalmaları nedeniyle, Sovyet yönetimi tarafından Sovyet Sosyalist Cumhuriyetler Birliği’nin başka bölgelerine tahliye edilmişler ve böylece ikinci bir tehcir daha yaşamışlardır. Ahıska Türkleri, günümüzde, eski Sovyetler Birliği coğrafyasının yanısıra başta Türkiye ve Amerika Birleşik Devletleri olmak üzere çeşitli devletlerde yaşamaktadır. Bu makale dünyanın muhtelif yerine dağılmış Ahıska Türklerinin, anavatanları olan ve günümüzde Gürcistan Devleti sınırları içinde kalan Ahıska bölgesine geri dönme haklarının bulunup bulunmadığını tartışmakta, ülkelerine geri dönmelerine imkân sağlayacak hukukî yolları incelemekte ve değerlendirmektedir. Bu çerçevede, makalenin ilk bölümü Ahıska Türklerinin tarihine, sürgün edilme süreçleri boyunca yaşananlara ve ülkelerine geri dönme çabalarına ayrılmıştır. Çalışmanın ikinci bölümünde ise uluslararası hukuk altında “geri dönme hakkı”nın tanımı, kapsamı ve niteliği incelenmekte, Ahıska Türklerinin halefiyet hukuku altında geri dönme hakkına sahip olup olmadıkları tartışılmakta, bu hakkı kullanabilmek için başvurabilecekleri hukuki yollar üzerinde durulmakta ve bu hukuki yollar içinde en etkili mekanizmanın 1966 tarihli Birleşmiş Milletler Medenî ve Siyâsî Haklar Sözleşmesi’nin denetim organı olan İnsan Hakları Komitesi’ne başvuru mekanizması olduğu tespiti yapılmaktadır.

Keywords

Ahıska Türkleri , Geri dönme hakkı , Medeni ve Siyasi Haklara İlişkin Uluslararası Sözleşme , Sürgün , Toplu Tehcir

The Right of Meskhetian Turks to Return to Their Country

Abstract

Meskhetian Turks were deported from the Meskhetian region of the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic in November 1944, following the State Defence Committee of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics’ decision No. 6279 (July 31, 1944). In 1989, just two years before the collapse of the Soviet Union, a significant number of Meskhetian Turks residing in Uzbekistan’s Fergana region were forcibly relocated by the Soviet administration to various parts of the Soviet Union, resulting in a second wave of deportation. Today, Meskhetian Turks live not only in the former Soviet territories but also in several States, notably Türkiye and the United States of America. This article explores the legal pathways that could enable Meskhetian Turks, now dispersed globally, to return to their ancestral homeland in the Meskhetian region of present-day Georgia. The first section focuses on the history of the Meskhetian Turks, detailing their deportation and subsequent efforts to return to their country. The second section examines the definition, scope, and nature of the ‘right of return,’ explores whether Meskhetian Turks possess this right under the law of state succession, and studies the legal remedies available to them. It is proposed that the Human Rights Committee, the supervisory body of the 1966 United Nations Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, would serve as the most effective mechanism for enabling Meskhetian Turks to reclaim their right to return to their homeland.

Keywords

Exile , International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights , Mass Deportation , Meskhetian Turks , Right of Return

References

• Abi-Saab G, ‘Cours général de droit international public’ (1987) 207 Recueil des cours de l’Académie de droit international de La Haye 9-463. google scholar
• Agterhuis S, ‘The right to Return and its Practical Application’ (2005) McGill University Papers < https://prrn.mcgill.ca/research/papers/agterhuis.pdf > accessed 18 February 2024. google scholar
• Arzt D E, ‘Palestinian Refugees: The Human Dimension of the Middle East Peace Process’ (1995) 89 Proceedings of the Annual Meeting (American Society of International Law) 369-373. google scholar
• Arzt D E and Zughaib K, ‘Return to Negotiated Lands: The Likelihood and Legality of a Population Transfer Between Israel and a Future Palestinian State’ (1992) 24(4) New York University Journal of International Law and Politics 1399-1514. google scholar
• Aslan K, Ahıska Türkleri (Ahıska Türkleri Kültür ve Dayanışma Derneği 1995). google scholar
• Aydıngün A, ‘Creating, recreating and redefining ethnic identity: Ah L ska / Meskhetian Turks in Soviet and post-Soviet contexts’ (2002) 21(2) Central Asian Survey 185-197. google scholar
• Aydıngün A, Harding Ç B, Hoover M, Kuznetsov I, Swerdlow S, Meskhetian Turks: An Introduction to their History, Culture, and Resettelment Experiences (Center for Applied Linguistics 2006). google scholar
• Bothe M and Schmidt C, ‘Sur quelques questions de succession posées par la dissolution de l’URSS et celle de la Yougoslavie’ (1992) 96 Revue générale de droit international public 811-842. google scholar
• Blum Y Z, ‘Russia Takes Over the Soviet Union’s Seat at the United Nations’ (1992) 3 European Journal of International Law 354-361. google scholar
• Boling G J, The 1948 Palestinian Refugees and the Individual Right of Return. An International Law Analysis (BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights 2007). google scholar
• Brownlie I, ‘The Relations of Nationality in Public International Law’ (1963) 39 British Yearbook of International Law 284-364. google scholar
• Bühler K G, ‘State Succession, Identity / Continuity and Membership in the United Nations’ in Eisemann P M and Koskenniemi M (eds), La Succession d’états: la codification à l’épreuve des faits / State Succession: Codification Tested Against the Facts (Martinus Nijhoff Publishers 2000) 187-326. google scholar
• Czaplinski W, ‘Equity and Equitable Principles in the Law of State Succession’ in Mrak M (eds), Succession of States (Martinus Nijhoff Publishers 1999) 61-73. google scholar
• Czaplinski W, ‘La continuité, l’identité et la succession d’États-Evaluation de cas récents’ (1993) 26(2) Revue belge de droit international 374-392. google scholar
• Dirikgil N, ‘Addressing the Prevention of Internal Displacement: the Right Not to Be Arbitrarily Displaced’ (2023) 24 Journal of International Migration and Integration 113-138. google scholar
• Dirikgil N, Protection of Internally Displaced People from Arbitrary Displacement: The Development of the Right not to be Arbitrarily Displaced (Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Aberystwyth University 2020). google scholar
• Dirikgil N, ‘Zorunlu Göç Kavramının Hukuki Kapsamı ve Zorunlu Göç Sonucu Yerinden Edilen Kişilerin Uluslararası Hukukta Korunması’ (2022) X(1) Kadir Has Üniversitesi Hukuk Fakültesi Dergisi 67-88. google scholar
• Elçibey E, ‘Historical Background of Meskhetian Turks’ Deportation and Their Repatriation Process to Georgia’ (2023) 7(2) Uluslararası Kriz ve Siyaset Araştırmaları Dergisi 423-441. google scholar
• Frelick B, ‘The Right of Return’ (1990) 2 International Journal of Refugee Law 442-447. google scholar
• Hamant H, Démembrement de l’URSS et problèmes de succession d’Etats (Bruylant 2007). google scholar
• Hannum H, The Right to Leave and Return in International Law and Practice (Martinus Nijhof 1987). google scholar
• Helton A C, ‘Forced International Migration: A Need for New Approaches by the International Community’ (1995) 18 Fordham International Law Journal 1623-1636. google scholar
• Henckaerts J-M and Doswald-Beck L, Uluslararası İnsancıl Teamül (Örf-Adet) Hukuku, Cilt I: Kurallar (Galatasaray Üniversitesi Hukuk Fakültesi Yayınları 2005). google scholar
• Higgins R, ‘La liberté de circulation des personnes en droit international’ in Flory M and Higgins R (eds), Liberté de circulation des personnes en droit international (Economica 1988). google scholar
• Jagerskiold S (1981) ‘The Freedom of Movement’ in Henkin L (eds), The International Bill of Rights: The Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Columbia University Press 1981). google scholar
• Jones, S F, ‘Meskhetians: Muslim Georgians or Meskhetian Turks? A Community without a Homeland’ (1993) 13(2) Refuge 14-16. google scholar
• Joyner, C C, ‘The Palestine Problem in International Law and World Order’ (Book Review), (1987) 55(3) George Washington Law Review 689-714. google scholar
• Kıprızlı G, ‘Victims of the Soviet Policies: the Case of the Ahiska Turks (1944-1968)’ (2019) 56 Avrasya Etüdleri 79-98. google scholar
• Klabbers J, Koskenniemi M, Ribblink O, Zimmermann A (eds), State Practice Regarding State Succession and Issues of Recognition (Kluwer Law International 1999). google scholar
• Knisbacher M, ‘Aliyah of Soviet Jews: Protection of the Right of Emigration under International Law’ (1973) 14 Harvard International Law Journal 89-110. google scholar
• Kreindler I, ‘The Soviet Deported Nationalities: A Summary and an Update’ (1986) 38(3) Soviet Studies 387-405. google scholar
• Kuneralp S, Recueil des traités, Conventions, Protocoles, Arrangements et Déclarations signés entre l’Empire Ottoman et les Puissances Etrangères, 1903-1922, Vol. II, 1903-1916 (Les Éditions Isis 2000). google scholar
• Lapidoth R, ‘The Right of Return in International Law, with Special Reference to the Palestinian Refugees’ (1986) 16 Israel Yearbook on Human Rights 103-125. google scholar
• Lapidoth R, ‘The Right of Return in International Law, with Special Reference to the Palestinian Refugees’ in Dinstein Y and Domb F (eds), The Progression of International Law. Four Decades of the Israel Yearbook on Human Rights. An Anniversary Volume (Martinus Nijhoff Publishers 2011) 25-44. google scholar
• Lawand K, ‘The Right to Return of Palestinians in International Law’ (1996) 8(4) International Journal of Refugee Law 532-568. google scholar
• Love L, ‘International Agreement Obligations After the Soviet Union’s Break Up: Current United States Practice and Its Consistency with International Law’ (1993) 26 Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law 373-415. google scholar
• Malksoo L, ‘State Responsibility and the Challange of the Realist Paradigm: the Demand of Baltic Victims of Soviet Mass Repressions for Compensation from Russia’ (2003) 3 Baltic Yearbook of International Law 57-76. google scholar
• Mallison T W and Mallison S V, ‘The Right to Return’ (1980) 9(3) Journal of Palestine Studies 125-136. google scholar
• Martin T, ‘The Origins of Soviet Ethnic Cleansing’ 1998 70(4) The Journal of Modern History 813-861. google scholar
• Mirkhanova M, ‘People in exile: The oral history of Meskhetian Turks (Akhyskha Turkleri)’, (2006) 26(1) Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs 33-44. google scholar
• Müllerson R, ‘Law and Politics in Succession of States: International Law on Succession of States’ in Burdeau G and Stern B (eds), Dissolution, continuation et succession en Europe de l’Est (Cedin-Paris I 1994) 15-47. google scholar
• Noradounghian G, Recueil d’actes internationaux de l’Empire Ottoman II (Paris 1900). google scholar
• Nowak M, UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights: CCPR Commentary (NP Engel 2005). google scholar
• Nsereko, D D N, ‘The Right to Return Home’ (1981) 21 Indian Journal of International Law 335-351. google scholar
• Öktem E, Aküzüm H U, Uzun M C, ‘Hocalı Soykırımı Hakkında Avrupa İnsan Hakları Mahkemesi’ne Başvuru İmkânı Üzerine’ (2020) 15 Bahçeşehir Üniversitesi Hukuk Fakültesi Dergisi 1081-1125. google scholar
• Öktem E, ‘Turkey: Successor or Continuing State of the Ottoman Empire?’ (2011) 24 Leiden Journal of International Law 561-583. google scholar
• Öner N A Ş, ‘Stalin’in Milliyetler Politikasının Bedeli Olarak Ahıska Sürgünü ve Ahıskalılar’ın Sürgündeki Yaşamları’ (2019) 56 Avrasya Etüdleri 53-77. google scholar
• Panesh E K and Ermolov L B, ‘Meskhetinsky Turks Under the Conditions of the Modern Ethnic Processes in the USSR’ (1993) 57 Belleten 589-608. google scholar
• Pirim C Z, Devletlerin Uluslararası Sorumluluğa Halefiyeti (Turhan 2016). google scholar
• Pohl J O, ‘Stalin’s genocide against the “Repressed Peoples”’ (2000) 2(2) Journal of Genocide Research 267-293. google scholar
• Ray K, ‘Repatriation and De-Territorialization: Meskhetian Turks’ Conception of Home’ (2000) 13(4) Journal of Refugee Studies 391-414. google scholar
• Quigley J, ‘Mass Displacement and the Individual Right of Return’ (1997) 68(1) British Yearbook of International Law 65-125. google scholar
• Rosand E, ‘The Kosovo Crisis: Implications of the Right to Return’ (2000) 18 Berkeley Journal of International Law 229-240. google scholar
• Rosand E, ‘The Right to Return Under International Law Following Mass Dislocation: The Bosnia Precedent?’ (1998) 19(4) Michigan Journal of International Law 1091-1139. google scholar
• Sezgin M N and Ağacan K, Dünden Bugüne Ahıska Türkleri Sorunu (Avrasya Stratejik Araştırmalar Merkezi Ankara Çalışmaları Dizisi No. 14 2003). google scholar
• Sieghart P, The International Law of Human Rights (Clarendon Press 1983). google scholar
• Stalin J, Marxism and the National Question. Selected Writings and Speeches (International Publishers 1942). google scholar
• Taylor P, A Commentary on the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The UN Human Rights Committee’s Monitoring of ICCPR Rights (Cambridge University Press 2020). google scholar
• Vendramin T L, The Right to Return of Refugees in International Law. The Case Study of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Master Thesis, International University Institute for European Studies 2007/2008). google scholar
• Voitovich S A, ‘The Commonwealth of Independent States: An Emerging Institutional Model’ (1993) 4(1) European Journal of International Law 403-429. google scholar
• Volkovitsch M J, ‘Righting Wrongs: Toward a New Theory of State Succession to Responsibility for International Delicts’ (1992) 92(8) Columbia Law Review 2162-2214. google scholar
• Weiner J R, ‘The Palestinian Refugees’ “Right to Return” and the Peace Process’ (1997) XX(1) Boston College International & Comparative Law Review 1-53. google scholar
• Wiley M, ‘Circassian Right of Return: “Putin The Terrible or Putin The Enlightened?”’ (2015) 30(1) American University International Law Review 141-170. google scholar
• Williamson E D and Osborn J E, ‘A U.S Perspective on Treaty Succession and Related Issues in the Wake of the Breakup of the USSR and Yugoslavia’ (1992-1993) 33 Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law 264-274. google scholar
• Wimbush S E and Wixman R, ‘The Meskhetian Turks: A New Voice in Soviet Central Asia’ (1975) 17(2-3) Canadian Slavonic Papers 320-340. google scholar
• Wright Q, ‘Legal Aspects of the Middle East Situation’ (1968) 33(1) Law and Contemporary Problems 5-31. google scholar
• Zedalis R, ‘Right to Return: A Closer Look’ (1992) 6 Georgetown Immigration Law Journal 499-517. google scholar
• Ziemele I, ‘State Continuity, Succession and Responsibility: Reparations to the Baltic States and their Peoples’ (2003) 3 Baltic Yearbook of International Law 165-189. google scholar
• Committee on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by Member States of the Council of Europe (Monitoring Committee), Honouring of obligations and commitments by Georgia, Information note by the co-rapporteurs on their fact-finding visit to Tbilisi (22-24 March 2010) (24 June 2010) AS / Mon (2010) 24 rev. google scholar
• Committee on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by Member States of the Council of Europe, (Monitoring Committee), Honouring of obligations and commitments by Georgia, Provisional version, Doc 25 March 2011. google scholar
• Committee on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by Member States of the Council of Europe (Monitoring Committee), Honouring of obligations and commitments by Georgia (26 January 2012) AS/Mon (2011)24 rev3. google scholar
• Committee on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by Member States of the Council of Europe (Monitoring Committee), Honouring of obligations and commitments by Georgia (28 January 2013) AS/Mon (2013)04rev. google scholar
• Committee on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by Member States of the Council of Europe (Monitoring Committee), Honouring of obligations and commitments by Georgia (7 June 2016) AS/Mon (2016)15. google scholar
• Committee on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by Member States of the Council of Europe (Monitoring Committee), Honouring of obligations and commitments by Georgia (16 June 2017) AS/Mon (2017)16. google scholar
• Committee on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by Member States of the Council of Europe (Monitoring Committee), Honouring of obligations and commitments by Georgia (12 December 2018) AS/Mon (2018)23 rev. google scholar
• Committee on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by Member States of the Council of Europe (Monitoring Committee), Honouring of obligations and commitments by Georgia (8 April 2022) Doc 15497. google scholar
• Conseil de l’Europe, Comité consultatif de la Convention-Cadre pour la protection des minorités nationales, Deuxième avis sur la Géorgie (adopté le 17 juin 2015) ACFC/OP/II(2015)001. google scholar
• Conseil de l’Europe, Comité consultatif de la Convention-Cadre pour la protection des minorités nationales, Troisième avis sur la Géorgie (adopté le 7 mars 2019) ACFC/OP/III(2019)002. google scholar
• Conseil de l’Europe, Commission européenne contre le racisme et l’intolérance, Second rapport sur la Géorgie (adopté le 30 juin 2006). google scholar
• Council of Europe, Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, Fourth Report submitted by Georgia, ACFC/SR/IV(2022)001. google scholar
• Council of Europe, Parliamentary Assembly, Resolution 1428 (2005), The Situation of the Deported Meskhetian Population, Text adopted by the Standing Committee, acting on behalf of the Assembly, on 18 March 2005, Doc 10451, Report of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population (Rapporteur: Ms Vermot-Mangold). google scholar
• Deported Meskhetian Population, Text adopted by the Standing Committee, acting on behalf of the Assembly, on 18 March 2005, Doc 10451, Report of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population (Rapporteur: Ms Vermot-Mangold). google scholar
• Georgia’s Application for Membership of the Council of Europe, Opinion 209 (1999), Doc 8275, Report of the Political Affairs Committee (Rapporteur: Mr Davis); Doc 8296, Opinion of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights (Rapporteur: Mr Kelemen), adopted by the Assembly on 27 January 1999 (4th Sitting). google scholar
• Resolution 1257 (2001) Honouring of obligations and Commitments by Georgia, Assembly debate on 25 September 2001 (26th Sitting) (see Doc 9191, report of the Committee on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by Member States of the Council of Europe, rapporteurs: Mr Diana and Mr Eörsi). google scholar
• Agreement Establishing the Commonwealth of Independent States, Background / Content Summary (1992) ILM 31. google scholar
• Agreement Establishing the Commonwealth of Independent States (1992) 31 ILM 143-146. google scholar
• African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (adopted 27 June 1981, entered into force 21 October 1986) 1520 UNTS 217. google scholar
• American Convention on Human Rights (signed 22 November 1969, entered into force 18 July 1978) 1144 UNTS 123. google scholar
• Agreement on Visa-Free Movement of Citizens of the States of the Commonwealth of Independent States on the Territory of its Members, google scholar
• < https://cis-legislation.com/document.fwx?rgn=25681 > accessed 15 February 2024. google scholar
• Arab Charter on Human Rights (adopted by the League of Arab States on 22 May 2004, entered into force 15 March 2008) (2005) 12 International Human Rights Rep 893. google scholar
• Convention on the Rights of the Child (adopted on 20 November 1989, entered into force 2 September 1990) 1577 UNTS 3. google scholar
• Convention relating to the Status of Refugees 189 UNTS 137. google scholar
• Convention IV relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, Geneva, 12 August 1949. google scholar
• Convention IV respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land and its annex: Regulations concerning the Laws and Customs of War on Land, The Hague, 18 October 1907. google scholar
• European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (signed 4 November 1950, entered into force 3 September 1953) 213 UNTS 221. google scholar
• General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Annexes (Dayton-Paris Agreements), Annex 7 (Agreement on Refugees and Displaced Persons) (30 November 1995) UN Doc A/50/790, S/1995/999. google scholar
• International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (adopted and opened for signature and ratification by General Assembly resolution 2106 (XX) of 21 December 1965, entered into force 4 January 1969) 660 UNTS 195. google scholar
• International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families (adopted on 18 December 1990, entered into force 1 July 2003) 2220 UNTS 3. google scholar
• International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid (adopted on 30 November 1973, entered into force 18 July 1976) 1015 UNTS 243. google scholar
• International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (adopted 16 December 1966, entered into force 23 March 1976) 999 UNTS 171 (ICCPR). google scholar
• Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (adopted and opened for signature, ratification and accession by General Assembly Resolution 2200A (XXI) of 16 December 1966, entered into force 23 March 1976 in accordance with Article 9) 999 UNTS 171. google scholar
• Protocol No. 4 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, securing certain rights and freedoms other than those already included in the Convention and the first Protocol thereto (signed 16 September 1963, entered into force 2 May 1968) 46 European Treaty Series. google scholar
• Quadripartite Agreement on Voluntary Return of Refugees and Displaced Persons (Abkhazia, Georgia, Russia and UNHCR) (signed on 4 April 1994). google scholar
• Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (adopted 23 May 1969, entered into force 27 January 1980), 1155 UNTS 331 (VCLT). google scholar
• Vienna Convention on Succession of States in Respect of State Property, Archives and Debts (concluded on 8 April 1983, not yet in force), Official Records of the United Nations Conference on Succession of States in Respect of State Property, Archives and Debts, vol. II (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.94.V.6). google scholar
• Vienna Convention on Succession of States in respect of Treaties (concluded at Vienna on 23 August 1978, entered into force on 6 November 1996) 1946 UNTS 3. google scholar
• Budlakoti v. Canada (2018) UN Human Rights Committee, CCPR/C/122/D/2264/2013. google scholar
• Case Concerning the Territorial Dispute (Libyan Arab Jamahiriya v. Chad) (Judgement) [1994] ICJ Rep 6. google scholar
• Francesco Madafferi v. Australia (2004) UN Human Rights Committee, CCPR/C/81/D/1011/2001. google scholar
• Giosue Canepa v. Canada (1997) UN Human Rights Committee, CCPR/C/59/D/558/1993. google scholar
• Nottebohm Case (Liechtenstein v. Guatemala) (Second Phase) [1955] ICJ Rep 4. google scholar
• Stewart v. Canada (1996) UN Human Rights Committee, CCPR/C/58/D/538/1993. google scholar
• Articles on Nationality of Natural Persons in Relation to the Succession of States (adopted by the International Law Commission in 1999) UNGA Res A/RES/55/153 (2001). google scholar
• Experts of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination Commend Georgia on Increased Prosecution of Discrimination Crimes, Ask about Minorities’ Access to Education and Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Territories, 24 November 2022, <https://www.ohchr.org/en/news/2022/11/experts-committee-elimination-racial-discrimination-commend-georgia-increased > accessed 12 February 2024. google scholar
• On the Repatriation of Persons Involuntarily Displaced by the Former USSR from the Georgian SSR (The Soviet Socialist Republic of Georgia) in the 1940’s, 11 July 2007, Consolidated versions (8 July 2015-5 July 2018), google scholar
• < https://matsne.gov.ge/en/document/view/22558?publication=6 > accessed 8 February 2024. google scholar
• Progress Report of the United Nations Mediator (Count Folke Bernadotte) on Palestine Submitted to the Secretary-General for Transmission to the Members of the United Nations (18 September 1948) UN Doc A/648. google scholar
• Report of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (1995) GAOR 50th Session Supp 18, UN Doc A/50/18. google scholar
• ILC, ‘Report of the International Law Commission on the work of its Forty-Seventh Session’ (1995) GAOR 50th Session Supp 10, Annex: Report of the Working Group on State Succession and its Impact on the Nationality of Natural and Legal Persons, UN Doc A/50/10. google scholar
• Second Report on State Succession and its Impact on the Nationality of Natural and Legal Persons (1996) UN Doc A/CN-4/474. google scholar
• UN Commission on Human Rights, Report of the Representative of the Secretary-General, Mr. Francis M. Deng, submitted pursuant to Commission resolution 1997/39. Addendum: Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement (11 February 1998) E/CN.4/1998/53/Add.2. google scholar
• UNGA 14th Session, Third Committee, 959th Meeting (17 November 1959) UN Doc A/C.3/SR.959. google scholar
• UNGA Res 194 (1948) UN Doc A/RES/194. google scholar
• UNGA Res 2452A (1968) UN Doc A/7218. google scholar
• UNGA Res 3236 (Question of Palestine) (1974) UN Doc A/9631. google scholar
• UN Human Rights Committee, CCPR General Comment No. 27: Article 12 (Freedom of Movement), 2 November 1999, CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.9. google scholar
• UNSC Res 237 (1967) UN Doc S/RES/237. google scholar
• UNSC Res 787 (1992) UN Doc S/RES/787. google scholar
• UNSC Res 971 (UN Observer Mission in Georgia) (1995) UN Doc S/RES/971. google scholar
• UNSC Res 1088 (1996) UN Doc S/RES/1088. google scholar
• Universal Declaration of Human Rights (adopted 10 December 1948) General Assembly Resolution 217A, UN Doc A/810. google scholar
• Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, adopted by the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna on 25 June 1993. google scholar
• Ahıska Mesket Türklerinin Türkiye’ye Kabulü ve İskânına Dair Kanun Tasarısı Hakkında Görüşmeler, TBMM, Dönem: 19 Yasama Yılı: 1. google scholar
• Ahıska Türklerinin Türkiye’ye Kabulü ve İskânına Dair Kanun, Law no. 3835, adopted on 2 July 1992, Official Gazette: 11 July 1992, No 21281, Düstur (Collection of Legislation) Tertip 5, Vol. 31. google scholar
• Commission européenne contre le racism et l’intolérance, Rapport de l’ECRI sur la Géorgie (quatrième cycle de monitoring) (adopté le 28 avril 2010, publié le 15 juin 2010) CRI (2010)17. google scholar
• Decision by the Council of Heads of State of the Commonwealth of Independent States (1992) 31 ILM 151-154. google scholar
• International Law Association, Declaration of International Law Principles on Internally Displaced Persons (29 July 2000). google scholar
• “Punished Peoples” of The Soviet Union, The Continuing Legacy of Stalin’s Deportations, A Helsinki Watch Report, 1991, google scholar
• < https://www.hrw.org/reports/pdfs/u/ussr/ussr.919/usssr919full.pdf > accessed 6 February 2024. google scholar
• Statement on the Future Status of Russia and Other Former Soviet Republics, EPC Press Release, 133/91 (23 December 1991) Brussels. google scholar
• ‘The Right to Leave and the Right to Return: A Declaration adopted by the Uppsala Colloquium’ (1973) 7(1) The International Migration Review 62-66. google scholar