Human rights activists: authorities in Kuban region do not want to observe law with respect to Meskhetian Turks

A group of human rights activists concerned with the problem of Meskhetian Turks in the Kuban region has issued a statement. The statement came in response to information published by RIA Novosti news agency, which quoted the Russian deputy interior minister, Colonel-General Aleksandr Chekalin, as saying, "Some 4 thousand Meskhetian Turks in Krasnodar Territory have become citizens of Russia."

The statement is signed by: Svetlana Gannushkina (chairwoman of the "Civic Assistance" Committee and member of the Presidential Commission on Human Rights), Vadim Karastelev (Fund "School of Peace", Novorossiysk), Tamara Karasteleva (Novorossiysk City Committee on Human Rights), Sarvar Tedorov (International Association of Akhaltsikhe (Meskhetian) Turks "Vatan"), Tienshon Svanidze (Regional Public Organization "Turkish Community"), Yevgeny Gaidash (Krasnodar office of the Human Rights Center "Memorial"), Mikhail Arutyunov (International Assembly for Human Rights Protection, Moscow), Emil Adelkhanov (Caucasian Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development, Tbilisi), Chingiz Neyman-Zade (Association of Akhaltsikhe (Meskhetian) Turks "Vatan" in Azerbaijan), Fuad Pepinov (Association "Vatan", Moscow), and Vasily Rakovich (Krasnodar Human Rights Center).

The condensed version of the statement reads as follows:

"This is true that about 15 thousand Meskhetian Turks have in fact been living in Krasnodar Territory since 1989. About 4 thousand of them succeeded in receiving Russian citizenship, but they received it either in the Russian Embassy to Uzbekistan or in the other regions of Russia. Only a few hundreds of people succeeded in receiving citizenship in Krasnodar Territory.

The registration of Meskhetian Turks by officials in Krasnodar Territory has been suspended since 1 November 2002. At the same time, the police have resumed large-scale visits to the homes of Meskhetian Turks, who are fined as though they were foreign citizens violating the regulations on residence in the Russian Federation. Police officers totally disregard any documents which are presented to them, including judicial rulings confirming their residence in the area since 1989.

At the same time, the Meskhetian Turks are refused the right to appeal to the courts in fact. Judges of the Krimsky Regional Court act illegally and use spurious grounds in order not to consider the merits of the complaints lodged by Meskhetian Turks against illegal actions of the police.

No one criminal case opened in connection with the attacks on Meskhetian Turks has come to trial.

In reality, the Meskhetian Turks' legal position was adjusted as early as 1991 by the Law of the Russian Federation "On Citizenship" (Article 13.1), since they permanently resided in the Russian Federation when that law came into force, i.e. as of 6 February 1992. The law granted them citizenship, which has been confirmed by the practice of the Supreme Court. Thus the new version of the Federal Law "On Citizenship in the Russian Federation" has not made any changes to their position. In other 26 regions, where the law is more respected, all Meskhetian Turks received passports as Russian citizens.

In our opinion, the problem is that the leadership of Krasnodar Territory do not wish to respect the law, and the federal authorities encourage it in this, ignoring the recommendations of 2003 by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and UN Human Rights Committee. And above all, they disregard Russian laws.

We voice our hope for cooperation between Russian authorities, NGO activists and members of ethnic communities."

Editors note: See also the articles "Human rights activists criticize Interior Ministry's stance concerning state of Meskhetian Turks",  "Some 4 thousand Meskhetian Turks received Russian citizenship".