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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| Once Again, US Rights Others Old Wrongs |
| 2006-02-26 |
| 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." 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 Csar 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. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #29 #28 kill them all getting off the plane The blonds? |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-02-26 17:14 |
| #28 |
| Posted by: .com 2006-02-26 17:09 |
| #27 I always assumed: either natural blond, or sheer OCD/perfectionist :-) |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-02-26 17:01 |
| #26 And the lighter note is, indeed, the answer. Humor devastates. I tried him with mild jokes, then with severe ones. -Twain |
| Posted by: .com 2006-02-26 17:01 |
| #25 According to the WHO study, the last natural blond is likely to be born in Finland during 2202. Then we'll all know just as much as her hair dresser. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-02-26 16:58 |
#24 I kinda see it like this... From my twisted heroes at www.somethingawful.com |
| Posted by: .Alley Oop 2006-02-26 16:49 |
| #23 Political correctness sucks. So does knee-jerk reaction from the other end of the political spectrum. But on a lighter note, it appears that cavegirls were the first to have more fun .... ;-) |
| Posted by: lotp 2006-02-26 16:43 |
| #22 You have anything against BJ's, EY? As a mongrel mix of Scots, English, and Native American Noble Savage (lol), plus a smattering of other mongrel ethnicities, I find the entire range of mild snobbery / racism a BIG yawn. I detect a whiff of another manufactured bit of PCism. Doesn't mean shit by the second generation if the immigrants aren't morons and assimilate in every way possible. (And yes, all the ethnic BS is baggage and boat anchors, IMNERHO. All of it.) I offer the benefit of the doubt and suggest that most of the above are referring to the morons, not to us. Don't fall for the faux outrage game, bro - you're a solid citizen and that just wastes your needed and welcomed brain power. :-) |
| Posted by: .Alley Oop 2006-02-26 16:31 |
| #21 as long as they're not guaranteed welfare or unemployment (i.e.: sponsors) and they choose to assimilate and take the oaths, no problem here, either. Willing to work and become American = welcome |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-02-26 16:29 |
| #20 You know, that's the sort of thing some people said when the Vietnamese boat people came here. And earlier, when the eastern European immigration wave hit. And before that, about the Irish. And before that, about the Germans. Funny, I think they said the same about the Chinese. (That it was the Irish is ironic but besides the point.) Not exactly amused, am I, by many of the comments here. ... and if this article is old as hell, then why the bitchery? Thanks, lotp. :) I appreciate your bringing this up. |
| Posted by: Edward Yee 2006-02-26 16:16 |
| #19 Heh. Let's be fair - back then, who knew? ;-) When discussing the Pahtee! vs Parent issue, one is tempted to recount Nurse Nancy's tales of reproductive woe from the Saudi Clinic System... The ignorance (under Shari'a) still lives! I freely admit that Nancy has her own, um, foibles. The have quite a bit to do with her affectation for latex... |
| Posted by: .Alley Oop 2006-02-26 16:12 |
| #18 LOL dammit :-) |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-02-26 15:44 |
| #17 There's a reason we've outbred you, AO. ;-) |
| Posted by: anon 2006-02-26 15:43 |
| #16 And we've been ever thankful to them for that. |
| Posted by: anonymous5089 2006-02-26 15:18 |
| #15 "there goes the neighborhood" I said it first. But I changed my mind. You folks saw Quest for Fire, right? well, it's true - the Homo Saps did invent the BJ. |
| Posted by: .Alley Oop 2006-02-26 15:15 |
| #14 You know, that's the sort of thing some people said when the Vietnamese boat people came here. And earlier, when the eastern European immigration wave hit. And before that, about the Irish. And before that, about the Germans. History doesn't record much about what the native Americans said when the English and Spanish and French colonists showed up, although I suspect it included the equivalent of "there goes the neighborhood". |
| Posted by: lotp 2006-02-26 15:09 |
| #13 OMG, here I was berating the French and about to start on the Germans when I see this. What in hell is wrong with this administration ? This Congress? I USED TO BE aRepublican. No more. Not after the performance of this Repulican majority. They care nothing about our security. What is Santorum doing ? Got his headwhere the sun don't shine. Stop letting Muslims into US. They are strictly Persona non Grata. Pass a law based on political basis as with Communism. We don't want or need Muslims here. We need to get rid of the ones already here. Think of the twerp in Lodi, Ca. |
| Posted by: SOP35/Rat 2006-02-26 15:00 |
| #12 It's not like they're Mumia, is it? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-02-26 11:28 |
| #11 We've got all brands in PA, even Episcopalians. Hard to tell one from another. They haven't killed anybody yet so I'd relax. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-02-26 10:44 |
| #10 ...reported a Russian newspaper on Friday, July 23.... That's July 23 2004. This very same IslamOnLine.com story was posted on Rantburg July 26 2004.(See that thread. Note Chuck Simmins' post, #4) Anyone from Pennsylvania know the latest status of this 18 month old plan? Also, anything locally about the politics, eg Wahhabist,etc., of the grand mosque in Philadelphia? I just hope this isn't another battallion of the 'unarmed invaders' I ranted about the other day in #19 of this thread. |
| Posted by: GK 2006-02-26 10:27 |
| #9 Hmmm ... .doesn't sound as if we've just given them carte blanche here: (After being forcibly removed to central Asia by the Russians in the 19th century) in the end of 1980Â’s, the attack against them has increasingly escalated in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan ... Ahiska Turks had to immigrate in Krasnodar Region of Russian Federation. They have lived under primitive conditions in this region by involving in agriculture and stock breeding. Ahiskans are deprived from the citizenship rights and are not granted residence and working permission, are not provided access to the health and education services, are experienced ethnic discrimination, especially they are harassed, attacked continuously and their goods are robbed by Russian and Kazaks organizations. Finally, after the period of 16 years, they have to immigrate to, this time, the USA with the facilities provided by the USA. Within the framework of this resettlement program, as first wave of resettling, 90 families (nearly 300-350 people) departed from Krasnodar in which nearly 30. 000 Ahiska Turks live and they are resettled to Texas and Philadelphia states (Telford town) of the USA. The American officials said that total 11-12 thousands persons will take advantage from this resettlement program. ... Ahiska Turks are informed about providing them residence and job from the date they are resettled to the USA and renewing residence permission in every period of 6 months, giving examination to them for such courses as language, knowledge about citizenship after 5 years. While Ahiskan families are allocated lands by the American officials in order to plant cotton and tobaccos, they are definitely prohibited to work in other fields rather than farming. Also they have been prohibited to travel out of the USA for 5 years, if they want to go out the USA after 5 years period, they must repay the aid of 10.000 dollars which are given them unconditionally when they came to the USA. While Ahiskans are resettled in distant regions as per 3 families, even members of the same family must be resided in different settlements. It is observed that Ahiskans concern for their future since they are broken off each other and even off their families, they consider this practice is only the result of assimilation policy. |
| Posted by: lotp 2006-02-26 09:52 |
| #8 There's a good article on the complex political and religious issues around Azerbaijan, Iran and Georgia here. And more on the Ahiska Turks here. Ahiska Turks, coming from Anatolia were forced to settle in the region between 1578 and the Russian invasion in 1828 and then became the indivisible part of the Anatolian Turkism. The essential homelands of Ahiska Turks are the provinces of Ahiska, Ahýlkelek, Aspinza, Adýgen and Bogdanovka that are within the lands of the Republic of Georgia and the neighbours of Turkey ... Until it was subjected to the Russian dominion in the year of 1828, Ahiska remained as a forefront city of the Ottoman State. When it was separated from Turkey, the Serhat Turks that lived in this region met with their bad destiny. In the course of the Ottoman-Russian war in 1853-1856, some of Ahiska people ran away and took shelter in Erzurum due to the intense pressure imposed upon them on the grounds that they collaborated with the Ottoman army. Pursuant to this war, Kars was broken off from the Ottoman borders and Ahiska remained far away from the border of Turkey. In this period, an Armenian migration was experienced from the North East Anatolia towards the Ahiska region. As ethnic Anatolians they're not likely to thrive under increased Iranian pressure in the region. But I haven't seen any speculation on why Turkey didn't take them in. |
| Posted by: lotp 2006-02-26 09:46 |
| #7 Hey guys, its not like they're French. :) |
| Posted by: Flogum Gleart9450 2006-02-26 09:12 |
| #6 I dunno ... we sure don't need more hostile Muslims here. OTOH - reading the history of this small community and knowing just how horridly the Tsars acted in that part of the world (and Stalin afterwards) I have some real sympathy for them. Maybe they will indeed add to the threat here. But I suspect that they will turn out like most of the hill tribes from southeast Asia who came here. Most showed great courage in adopting to a totally alien world and their kids are doing fine and contributing to society. On the third hand, from the dates given in the article it appears they are already here. Given that, it is not only generous but also a prudent course of action to be sure that we don't dump them and ignore them. That would guarantee their kids would join whatever jihad movement them come up against. JMO |
| Posted by: lotp 2006-02-26 08:36 |
| #5 Cheer up Mac, Maybe the plane will go down over the Bermuda Triangle or something. |
| Posted by: Whealet Angoth7913 2006-02-26 08:17 |
| #4 What in hell is wrong with us? They're Russia's problem, not ours. If Russia wants to be rid of them, let Putin send them to Turkey, not Pennsylvania. WE DON'T NEED OR WANT ANY MORE MUSLIMS IN THIS COUNTRY. WE'D BE BETTER OFF WITHOUT THE ONES WE HAVE!!!!! |
| Posted by: mac 2006-02-26 07:58 |
| #3 agree. This idea worked so well in Europe. Let's try it here. Whose responsible for this and how much money did they get for gracing us with a group of people whose stated goal is to undermine our democracy and replace it with Sharia? Jeesh. I'm all for being nice. But there's a difference between being nice and allowing yourself to be abused. |
| Posted by: 2b 2006-02-26 06:35 |
| #2 Somehow I don't think it will be appreciated... I hope that they all get the same background checks and have to go through the same immigration procedure as everyone else. But somehow I dont think so - they are already being promised lifelong welfare, housing, and even furniture. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2006-02-26 05:42 |
| #1 "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." Wonderful. Let's import a few thousand folks likely to be hostile to us, our culture, our government, and our way of life and put them on welfare so we'll be able to share the cost of creating a cancer in our midst. Apparently we've not been paying attention to recent events in Europe. |
| Posted by: AzCat 2006-02-26 02:30 |
