İsmail Şen
21 January 2023•Update: 21 January 2023
ELAZIG, Türkiye
Ahiska Turks students received their first report cards and began the semester break in Türkiye where they resettled with their families because of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
The group, also known as Meskhetian Turks, continue to live in peace and security in a temporary accommodation center where they were placed in the eastern province of Elazig after being evacuated from Ukraine with the organization of Türkiye’s Foreign Ministry.
A total of 860 students in kindergarten, primary and secondary schools are studying at the accommodation center.
Deputy Governor Abdulkerem Abbasoglu, told Anadolu that Türkiye has mobilized all of its means to ensure Ahiska Turks students do not fall behind in their education.
Abbasoglu noted that children in preschool, primary and secondary schools continue classes created in the accommodation center and high school and university students are offered education in public schools.
"We enabled students to continue their education in Türkiye without any interruption. With our Turkish courses and other courses, we have ensured that our children receive the best education without being affected by the war. They adapted to their lessons very well,” said Abbasoglu. "Today, 860 of our students received their report cards, they achieved great success. We witnessed this happiness."
Primary school student Asia Chakhalova, was sad when she could not go to school due to the war in Ukraine before coming to Türkiye.
Chakhalova said she went back to school thanks to Türkiye and loves her school in Elazig more than the one she attended in Ukraine. “I studied hard, I'm very happy because my report card is good, I love my school and my friends."
About 100,000 Ahiska Turks were deported Nov. 14, 1944, by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin from their ancestral lands in Georgia's Meskheti region to distant parts of the USSR, according to the World Ahiska Turks Association. Some of the expelled Ahiska Turks were settled in Ukraine in 1989.
Despite harsh conditions, they preserved their identity over the decades and passed on their cultural heritage to future generations.
Due to the conflict that broke out between pro-Russian separatists and the Ukrainian army in eastern Ukraine in 2014, most Ahiska Turks were allowed to move to Turkiye and settled in the eastern Erzincan province on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's initiative.
*Writing by Seda Sevencan
