Meskhetian Turks Hold on to Life Again in Their Homeland

Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) renovated the houses of 45 families in the cities of Akhaltsikhe and Gori in Georgia, provided greenhouses to them, and trained them in greenhouse production.

Although some of the Meskhetian families who were exiled after the 1990s, when Georgia gained independence, returned to their homeland, they have financial problems due to unemployment, low income levels, or lack of sources of regular income. From 2012 to 2019, TİKA implemented various projects that directly affected their daily life in fields such as agriculture, education, and production.

Meskhetian families who lived under challenging socio-economic conditions in the cities of Akhaltsikhe and Gori in Georgia are now able to live under better physical conditions as the roofs, doors, windows of their houses were replaced and their similar needs were met. Thanks to the support provided to a total of 45 families in 5 different regions of Georgia, Meskhetian families who were not able to afford the renovation and repair of their houses expressed their gratitude to the Republic of Turkey and TİKA.

Tezegül Faziliyeva, who benefited from the project in the village of Taverani, said, “I migrated from Azerbaijan to my homeland, Akhaltsikhe. May Allah bless the Turkish Government, which built greenhouses for us. Here, we grow the plants we want and generate income from them.”

Shukri Aflatov, from the village of Tsiteliubani, said, “We consume the fruits of our saplings and generate income from them. May Allah bless Turkey and TİKA. They have created great opportunities for us.”

Implementing agricultural development and sustainable agriculture projects in many parts of the world, TİKA added a new project to its portfolio by providing greenhouses to Meskhetian families. With the greenhouses provided to a total of 43 families, it is expected to ensure that local people earn a regular income, achieve self-sufficiency, and become an integral part of economic life by harvesting and selling an average of 15-20 kilograms of products each day.

As part of the greenhouse support project that benefited a total of 215 people, families who were provided greenhouses on their own lands were also given theoretical and applied training by agriculturists in various subjects such as irrigation techniques, greenhouse production, and combating pests. In addition to the theoretical training sessions held for 16 hours a month for a year and the training program lasting more than 200 hours in total, families requesting solutions are provided distance learning and daily and weekly uninterrupted support on social media by agricultural specialists.