deportations

A history of displacement: Meskhetians in Azerbaijan and Ukraine cling to their identity

Seventy-seven years have passed since Stalin deported the Meskhetians from Western Georgia to Central Asia; since then, they have faced war and displacement multiple times. Despite continued hardship, two communities in Azerbaijan and Ukraine are still clinging to their identities. ‘More than 30 years have passed, but I want to go back because that place has specific air, water, and nature’, says Afrail Isgandarov, 67, a retired Meskhetian.   Along with 250 other Meskhetian families, the Isg