Based on this information, write a new short title in English: “The determination of Meskhetian Turks to return to their homeland continues with the same belief and national consciousness” – BRTK

TRNC Ahıska Turks Culture and Solidarity Association President Hakan Uygun published a message on the 80th anniversary of the 14 November 1944 Meskhetian Turks Exile.

In his message, Association President Uygun said, “The determination of more than 500 thousand Meskhetian Turks living in 10 different countries of the world, including TRNC, to return to their homeland continues with the same belief and national consciousness.”

Uygun noted that during the Soviet Russia period, as part of Stalin’s operation to clean the Black Sea coast from the Turks, approximately 100 thousand Meskhetian Turks were forcibly removed from their homeland on November 14, 1944, from Georgia’s Meskhetian region, and were put on trains overnight and exiled to obscurity. He evaluated it as “a dark stain in human history”.

Uygun said that during this exile, thousands of people lost their lives on the train journey under inhumane conditions, and thousands more lost their lives in harsh conditions in remote places of the Soviet Union, where they were exiled, and emphasized the determination of Ahiska Turks to return to their homeland.

“We are grateful to our homeland, Turkey, which is our greatest assurance and has always stood by the Meskhetian Turks in this process.” Uygun said and continued:

“Our sadness and pain are as fresh as the first day, our devotion to our country and our national cause and our national belief are as strong as the first day. On the 80th anniversary of the Exile of Meskhetian Turks, we commemorate our brothers who lost their lives with mercy and gratitude.

On this occasion, we celebrate with enthusiasm and pride the 41st anniversary of the founding of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is the symbol of the freedom struggle of our Turkish Cypriot brothers and sisters with whom we share a common destiny. “