On 14 November 1944, around a hundred thousand Ahıska Turks, including children, women and the elderly, were deported from their ancestral lands in the Ahıska region of Georgia to the remote corners of the Soviet Union.

Many of our Ahıska brothers and sisters lost their lives under the inhumane conditions of the deportations, and the ones who survived struggled to stay alive in exile facing great difficulties.

Today Ahıska Turks, scattered across nine countries and numbering up to half a million people, are commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Ahıska Deportation in Georgia and in the other countries where they live.

Together with our Ahıska brothers and sisters, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs H.E. Mr Yavuz Selim Kıran and the members of the Turkey-Georgia Parliamentary Friendship Group are also participating to the commemoration ceremonies in the capital of Georgia, Tbilisi and the Ahıska region.

Turkey will continue to contribute to the extent possible to help Ahıska Turks to preserve their unity and pass down their identity to the next generation in the countries they live.

We hope that the process of return to Ahıska will be completed successfully and Ahıska Turks lead a peaceful life in their homeland as well as in the countries they live now.

On the 75th anniversary of the deportation, we feel the deep grief of Ahıska Turks, remember with respect the sacred memories of our brothers and sisters who lost their lives during their forced exile and wish Allah’s mercy upon them.