Ahiska Turks
Support & Assistance Campaign

Dear Turkish and American Friends,

We would like to inform you of a group of Ahiska (Meshketian) Turks that have recently moved to San Diego.  While some of you in our community may have heard of their presence, the majority of us are unaware of the existence of this group that needs our help, especially our social support.  Therefore, ATASC-San Diego, with the support of its members plans to kick off a support campaign to help the Ahiska Turks in San Diego in any way that we can in as many areas as possible, without offending them in anyway, while building a bond and making them feel as part of our community in San Diego.

One of our community members, the owner of BaklavaKing, Cevdet Ugur, who employes one of the members of this community, has recently brought the issue to our attention again to assist the Ahiska Turks that are living amongst us.  There is around 50 families, but the exact number is unknown.  Following is a number of issues that they face:

-          Language – Most of them do not speak/write English, while they have a very good command of Turkish & Russian. Turkish/English Dictionaries needed.

-          Transportation Assistance – Some families have basic transportation needs

-          Job Assistance – They all have work permits, however lack of language skills and transportation limits their ability to find jobs.

-          Communication (e.g. Cell Phones) – Help may be needed for especially the newcomers to sign up for phone services

-          Mentoring - Cultural Guidance & Social Assistance – This is a major change for these people.  Although it has been almost 6-8 months for some of them, some are new.  Some may be in need of mentoring and cultural assistance.

-          Networking – One of the families has a 2 year old daughter that has a problem on her left eye.  Currently they have Medicare Insurance.  They need assistance with trying to explain their daughter’s situation to the doctors at the Shiley Eye Center.

-          Furniture

-          Clothing

We were first contacted by the Refugee Services Coordinator of San Diego Catholic Charities in April 2006 about the Ahiska Turks in San Diego.  They have helped the Ahiska Turks with their resettlement to San Diego.   Following is an excerpt from the note we received from them that we had forwarded to our members in April:

“Recently we have had a large number of Meshketian Turks, people of Turkish ancestry who were born in Uzbekistan, Georgia, and Azerbaijan. They all speak Turkish and are highly motivated to start a new life here in San Diego. They live mostly in La Mesa and El Cajon, where they go to the ESL classes. These people are of different ages, both men and women; however what unites them is their difficult past and the hope for a good future here.

I was referred to you by the American-Turkish Chamber of Commerce whom I contacted in order to inquire about job opportunities for them. They told me you could help; therefore I am writing to you to see whether you might have some information or an idea in which direction I should go. I really want to help them and I would greatly appreciate any assistance from you.”

ATASC-San Diego would like to hear from you on how you can help.  We will also plan to better understand their current needs and try to match their needs with assistance from our members.

We plan to host our Ramadan Festival Celebration on October 24^th with the inclusion of as many Ahiska Turks as possible to this event, as this will be a venue for our community members to meet the Ahiska Turks first hand.  Until then, we would like to figure out how we may be able to help them immediately.  We are planning to use our Turkish School days every other Sunday as a time and venue to coordinate these efforts.  Please send us an e-mail at ahiska@sdturks.org to inform us on how you can help.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

ATASC-San Diego

More about the Ahiska Turks:

MESKHETIAN TURK HISTORY (pronounced Mesk-HET-ee-an)

1300s: Turkish settlers begin moving into the area along the borders of Georgia and Turkey known as the Meskheti. They become known as Meskhetian Turks.

1944: Soviet government deports the Turks living in this region to other regions in the Soviet Union because of fears they would be disloyal in a conflict with Turkey.

1989: Overcrowding and poverty lead to ethnic tensions and violence against the transplanted Turks. Most flee, with many later settling in the Krasnodar Krai region of southwestern Russia. There, many are denied citizenship and the benefits that come with it.

2004: U.S. State Department grants the Meskhetian Turks living in Krasnodar refugee status and offers to help them resettle in the United States.

CULTURAL PROFILE

Religion: Islam

Languages: A Turkish dialect with Russian and Uzbek influences and/or Russian

BY THE NUMBERS

300,000: Worldwide population of Meskhetian Turks

15,000: Population living in the Krasnodar Krai region of Russia

12,000: Total approved for refugee resettlement in the United States

8,000: Resettled in the United States as of mid-June (the most recent number available from the State Department)

  Please note that these events, dates and locations are tentative and subject to change. Please keep checking the website for the latest updates.