About 300 Meskhetian Turks from eastern Ukraine were flown by military plane on Friday to Erzincan province in Turkey. Most come from Sloviansk, where fierce fighting is ongoing between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed separatists.
“We’ve been hiding in basements for days, for weeks,” said Sloviansk resident Alizar Nuriyev. “We were starving, we were worried. We had heart attacks. But we survived.”
Uprooted once again, the Meskhetian Turks originally hailed from Georgia, and were deported to Central Asia by Stalin during Soviet times. Now, they are starting over in Turkey, although many of them have called Ukraine home for many years.
“Everything was fine, we got along well with our neighbours, with everyone else. It’s a pity to leave it all,” said Sloviansk resident Larisa Bagaliyeva, who left with her two children and husband. But life among pro-Russian rebels had become unbearable, she continued: "There were shootouts and shellings. It affected [the] children's psychological state. It affected everyone."
The conflict in Ukraine has so far killed more than 9,000 people. In April Ankara announced it would repatriate some 2,000 ethnic Turks living in eastern Ukraine. The Turkish government has pledged support to help them find housing and jobs in Turkey.
Turkey's repatriation of residents from eastern Ukraine comes at a time of heightened tensions between Moscow and Ankara over the war in Syria. Moscow continues to deny involvement in the Ukrainian conflict.
