TURKISH-ISLAMIC COMMUNITIES IN GEORGIA

Öz

This study investigates Turkish-Islamic communities residing in Georgia, based on information and assessments regarding their history, settlements, populations, and relations with the Republic of Türkiye. This comprehensive study focuses on the community in different geographical areas that have historical, ethnic, and religious ties to the Republic of Türkiye, within the context of identity policies that were reshaped across Eurasia immediately after the collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Turkish and Muslim communities, which had been closed behind the Iron Curtain of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) for decades, entered a process of rediscovering their identities and reestablishing relations with Türkiye, which they saw as their homeland or “kin state,” in the post-1991 period. This process has brought not only an emotional reunion, but also severe socio-political pains, waves of migration, and integration problems. The study primarily analyzes the Turkish-Islamic communities that are an established element of Georgia. Based on the secondary resources, field data, demographic analyses, and diplomatic reports, this study aims to analyze the historical traumas of these communities, their current socio-economic situations, and their strategic relations with Türkiye from a comparative perspective. The findings reveal that the communities in Georgia have existed through the struggle of the “autochthonous” (native) people and over land ownership.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Turkish Foreign Policy
• Caucasus
• Turks in the Caucasus

Gürcistan'da Türk-İslam Toplulukları

Öz

Bu çalışma, Gürcistan'da yaşayan Türk-İslam topluluklarını, tarihleri, yerleşim yerleri, nüfusları ve Türkiye Cumhuriyeti ile ilişkileri hakkındaki bilgi ve değerlendirmelere dayanarak incelemektedir. Bu kapsamlı çalışma, Sovyetler Birliği'nin dağılmasından hemen sonra Avrasya'da yeniden şekillenen kimlik politikaları bağlamında, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti ile tarihi, etnik ve dini bağları olan farklı coğrafi bölgelerdeki topluluklara odaklanmaktadır. On yıllar boyunca Sovyet Sosyalist Cumhuriyetler Birliği'nin (SSCB) Demir Perdesinin arkasında kapalı kalan Türk ve Müslüman topluluklar, 1991 sonrası dönemde kimliklerini yeniden keşfetme ve vatanları veya “akraba devlet” olarak gördükleri Türkiye ile ilişkileri yeniden kurma sürecine girmiştir. Bu süreç, sadece duygusal bir yeniden birleşme değil, aynı zamanda ciddi sosyo-politik acılar, göç dalgaları ve entegrasyon sorunları da beraberinde getirmiştir. Çalışma, öncelikle Gürcistan'ın yerleşik bir unsuru olan Türk-İslam topluluklarını analiz etmektedir. İkincil kaynaklar, saha verileri, demografik analizler ve diplomatik raporlara dayanan bu çalışma, bu toplulukların tarihsel travmalarını, mevcut sosyo-ekonomik durumlarını ve Türkiye ile stratejik ilişkilerini karşılaştırmalı bir perspektiften analiz etmeyi amaçlamaktadır. Bulgular, Gürcistan'daki toplulukların “otokton” (yerli) halkın mücadelesi ve toprak mülkiyeti üzerinden varlıklarını sürdürdüklerini ortaya koymaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Türk Dış Politikası
• Kafkaslar
• Kafkaslarda Türkler

Kaynakça

1. Akiner, S. (1983). Islamic peoples of the Soviet Union. Routledge.
2. Alasania, G. (2016). Level of Independence in Georgia throughout the 14th Century. Journal of Literature and Art Studies, 6(8), 964-978.
3. Aslan, H. K. (2018). Ottoman–Persian Treaties. The Encyclopedia of Diplomacy, 1-10.
4. Aydıngün, A., & Aydıngün, I. (2015). Meskhetian Turks: An introduction to their history, culture, and resettlement. Ankara: Hacettepe University Press.
5. Balcı, B. (2019). Islam in post-Soviet Georgia: Revival, transformation, and challenges. Amsterdam University Press.
6. Beihammer, A. D. (2016). Christian views of Islam in early Seljuq Anatolia: Perceptions and reactions. In Islam and Christianity in medieval Anatolia (pp. 51-76). Routledge.
7. Cornell, S. E. (2001). Small nations and great powers: A study of ethnopolitical conflict in the Caucasus. Routledge.
8. Dragadze, T. (1989). Rural families in Soviet Georgia: A case study in Ratcha province. Routledge.

9. European Centre for Minority Issues. (2012). Minorities in Georgia: Statistical and sociological overview. ECMI Report No. 38.
10. Gamkrelidze, T. (2000). Georgia: Europe or Asia. In Proceedings of the 2nd International Symposium of Georgian Culture (pp. 22-24).
11. Gammer, M. (2004). The Muslim resistance in the Caucasus: Shamil and the Conquest of Chechnia and Daghestan. Routledge.
12. Göyünç, N. (2002). “Turkish-Armenian Cultural Relations”, The Armenians in the Late Ottoman Period (ed.) Ataaöv T., TBMM Yay., 23-42. Güzel, F. (2018). Ermeniye Fatihi Habib b. Mesleme el-Fihrî’nin Hayatı ve Askeri Faaliyetleri, December 2018Türkiye İlahiyat Araştırmaları Dergisi 2(2):205-222.
13. Homanyuk, M., & Bülbül, H. B. (2024). Meskhetian/Ahiska Turks in time of uncertainty: Changes in civic, ethnic, and religious identification. In Minorities at War (pp. 239-261). Routledge.
14. Hussain, M. (2008). The European Union and Transcaucasus (South) Countries: On a Cross-road. Caucasus Journal of Social Sciences, 1(1), 52-80. Imber, C. (2009). The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650: the structure of power. Macmillan International Higher Education.
15. Jafar, I. S. (2024). KIPCHAKS IN THE CAUCASUS. International Science Group.
16. Johanson, L., & Csató, É. Į. (2015). The Turkic Languages. Routledge.
17. Jones, S. (2005). Socialism in Georgian colors: The European road to socialism in Georgia, 1883–1917. Harvard University Press.
18. Karagiannis, E. (2014). The Russian interventions in South Ossetia and Crimea compared: Military performance, legitimacy and goals. Contemporary Security Policy, 35(3), 400-420.
19. King, C. (2008). The ghost of freedom: A history of the Caucasus. Oxford University Press.
20. Mamedova, S. (2006). Islam and identity in Adjara. Tbilisi State University Press.
21. Olbrycht, M. J. (2000). Remarks on the Presence of Iranian Peoples in Europe and Their Asiatic Relations
22. Özgür, H. (2015). Ahıska tragedy: Exile, memory and identity transformation. Kafkas Research Institute Yayınları.
23. Suny, R. G. (1994). The making of the Georgian nation. Indiana University Press.
24. Surguladze, M. (2015). The Relations between Pre-Islamic Turks and Georgians from the Third to the Ninth Century: A History of Byzantine-Persian Politics in the Caucasus. Caucasus Journal of Social Sciences, 8(1), 1-10.
25. TİKA. (2020). Kırgızistan saha raporu. Türk İşbirliği ve Koordinasyon Ajansı Başkanlığı.
26. Williams, B. (2015). The Crimean Tatars: From Soviet genocide to Putin’s conquest. Oxford University Press.
27. World Bank. (2019). Religious and ethnic demography of Georgia: Census and migration analysis. Washington, DC.