Posted on 07/24/2004 11:54:20 PM PDT by ambrose
US Offers Citizenship To 7000 Ahiska Muslims
Several Ahiska Muslims packing to leave for the US
By Damir Ahmed, IOL correspondent
KRASNODAR, Russia, July 24, (IslamOnline.net) - The United States has agreed to grant citizenship to 7,000 Ahiska Muslims who will be settled in Pennsylvania, reported a Russian newspaper on Friday, July 23.
The first 11-strong batch of the Ahiska Muslims, living in the Russian province of Krasnodar, left for Geneva on Thursday, July 22, before flying to Philadelphia, reported Novie Izvestia.
It added that the Muslims would be housed near the grand mosque in Philadelphia.
The paper recalled that Krasnodar governor Alexander Tkachev was notified of the American decision on February 15.
Izvestia said the Russian government does not treat Ahiska Muslims as citizens and has not therefore given them passports or IDs.
An official in Krasnodar administration had told Interfax on Tuesday, July 20, that of the 11,999 Ahiska Muslims living in the region, 4,943 have received Russian citizenship and 744 have embarked on Russian naturalization procedures.
He added that more than 5,000 others have expressed a desire to emigrate to the United States.
Earlier, Chingiz Neiman-zade, chairman of Vatan, a Meskheti Turks association based in Georgia, said the United States had offered to accept the Ahiska Muslims living in Krasnodar as immigrants.
"On February 16, the International Migration Organization began an information program in Krasnodar to explain the terms for the resettlement of the Ahiska Muslims in the U.S.," he told Chicago Tribune on Thursday, July 22.
"The immigrants will be provided with housing and furniture, they will be helped to learn the English language and to complete formalities needed for residence in the US, which is especially important, and have been promised life-long welfare allowances for pensioners and the disabled."
Happiness
Ahiska Muslims were happy with the American offer.
"This decision marks a great change in our life", said Tepeshon Swanidze, leader of the Ahiska Muslim community in Russia.
"We thank the US administration for its humanitarian decision", he added.
Ahiska Muslims , originally hailing from Anatolia, were exiled from their homeland after Russia seized the region of Ahiska following its 1828-1829 war with the Ottoman Empire.
Many Ahiska Muslims were forced to seek refugee in Erzurum in eastern Turkey after being persecuted by the Russian Cesar for supporting the Ottoman Empire.
Facing a similar fate under the notorious Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, Ahiska Muslims fled to Uzbekistan in 1944.
One year later, they went to Azerbaijan where they currently reside.
Turkish and Azeri parliamentarians had recently appealed for an international intervention to pressure the Georgian government into allowing the return of Ahiska Muslims.
Ahiska became part of Georgia in 1918.
OH, how wonderful.
just dandy............
Great, who's next. Taliban and Hamas ?
To say that this is ridiculous would be the understatement of the year.
The clown who wrote this probably meant Visas. You get to become a citizen after 5 years legal residence last time I looked. Pennsylvania is the right choice, they can join the Amish, the Hutterites and the Pennsylvania Dutch and other groups that after more than 100 years have still to assimilate to the rest of the country. Isn't multi-culturalism great?
"The immigrants will be provided with housing and furniture, they will be helped to learn the English language and to complete formalities needed for residence in the US, which is especially important, and have been promised life-long welfare allowances for pensioners and the disabled."
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I am left speechless.
Why the hell should I vote for Bush when this kind of crap goen on under his watch?
The article is written a bit strange, probably because it IS a muslim website.
Do you really believe this POS?
If US wants more muslims, Russia gladly send...how about a batch of 100,000 Chechins? If your murder rate is low, send them to such spot to spike it up...or maybe to Detroit.
As my old dad used to say: "Son, beleive only half of what you see and none of what you read."
Will they also be enrolled in Wahhibist sponsored US mosques?
That article is the only one that pops up in google news.
Excellent question, anyone got an answer? What's next 100,000 Chechens?
"Novie Izvestia" - Consider the source. The ONLY source.
If this were true, I suspect it would make the news in Philly.
That's rich...
I live in LA and I cant drive 5 miles without seeing at least one burka or muslim hat.
Lets all hold hands and sing koombayah
It's a small (U.N.)american world
It sure doesn't take much to get the xenophobe convention off on a run! ;>)
I find this story a bit off.
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