Several Ahiska Muslims packing to leave for the US
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."
===
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.
Of course the article has nothing whatsoever to do with the War on Terror, but with the Russo-Turkish War of 1828-1829.
Are our leaders deranged? I can think of no other possibility. They'll be given living allowances and parked near a hotbed of Anti-US Muslims in NJ.
When are they going to STOP this immigration fiasco?
do you want 7000 new Muslims?
I'll go along with that... remember the "Nuclear Warheads Found!" article from Iraq earlier this week?
So why is this our problem?
I'm sure they'll fit right in with the Amish and other Pennsylvanians - they have so much in common.
Are you KIDDING? Do YOU?
>Why the hell should I vote for Bush when this kind of crap
>goen on under his watch?
Bite your tongue and get back on the reservation. You wouldn't want Kerry to become president, would you? Now, be a good boy and pull the lever for Bushie.
So what's the alternative?
Listen, I'm not trying to be confrontational. It's just that I don' give this story any credibility at all.
If 10,000 new Muslims were about to be settled in Philadelphia we'd have a new American Revolution on our hands in the City of Brotherly Love. Yet, there has not been even a whisper of this in Philadelphia, or for that matter, in any American newspaper.
>If 10,000 new Muslims were about to be settled in
>Philadelphia we'd have a new American Revolution on our hands
>in the City of Brotherly Love.
Yeah? And what makes you think this would be the case?
10,000 is but a drop in the bucket. There are - as of today - students from Islamic countries enrolled in our flight schools, learning to fly.
ping
A DEPORTED NATIONALITY: THE AHISKA TURKS*
Google is our friend. Especially page 2 & 3.
The people have been getting the shaft since before the Ottoman Empire collapsed. Might be good allies to have on our side.
Hey, I'm not looking for a fight! You could be right.
Maybe Philadelphians would sleep right through an invasion of 10,000 new Muslims. I doubt it, though.
It's just that for news about the United States, I don't turn to Novie Izvestia, and I'd suggest, very nicely, that you shouldn't either.
By the way, from you handle I'd guess that you haave a Mac G4. I am typing this on my brand new G5... it's fantastic. My first new Mac in 10 years.
As for students from Islamic countries learning to fly in our flight schools... I'm not sure of your point. If it is that they should not be allowed to learn to fly planes, well, that just isn't going to work. There are flight schools all over the world willing to teach Muslims to fly.
I'd be pretty much surprised if we are teaching any of them how to take off but not how to land any more. And I suspect they are better checked out than pre-911. But I can't see how a total ban would help.
This reminds me of the recent separation of the Egyption Siamese twins. My first reation was, "Great, now we have two terrorists instead of one."
( ;
Perhaps we should phone the Whitehouse and ask Jorge if he couldn't see his way to parking them on his ranchland so there will be something left over for us citizens.
Comment line: 202-456-6213 and 202-456-1111
Fax: 202-456-2461
Maybe our reps would like to hear from us too: Use it quick! It's a toll free line. But with so many new immigrants, how long will that last? 800-648-3516
Voice: 202-456-1414
Several Ahiska Muslims packing to leave for the US
Yep, that's the article, lifted straight from Novie Izvestia.
Hope the amish use firearms...
Not a single quote from any American source. I'd need confirmation before I freak out.
All pipelines lead to Azerbaijan.
That's a keeper!
What? Perfect idea, fools. We don't want another Cancer to try to deal with.
!!!
Steady on. I know Gary Sutton of www.WSBA910.com's morning talk show, and I've emailed him to check this out thru Rick Santorum. Back with some facts, soon.
Why the hell should I vote for Bush when this kind of crap goen on under his watch?
That's exactly the kind of attitude that this poster wants to ingite.
Do they get full refugee benefits?
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