Soviet Muslim emigrés in the Republic of Turkey

Abstract

Abstract : The experience of Turko-Tatar and North Caucasian Muslim refugees from the USSR in the Republic of Turkey is the subject of the following report. This work and the bibliographies appended to it were prepared prior to the disintegration of the USSR. When it was initiated, the project aimed to shed light on a very poorly understood and then inaccessible region, the former Soviet Muslim East. Although events have rendered this approach unnecessary, the findings and raw data which have been generated remain useful. In particular, a wealth of information on the leading personalities, organizations and publications of these groups emerged from the research undertaken. This provides analysis with previously untapped sources on the history, culture and early political objectives of peoples which today are in the process of being integrated into the international community. Such information is of interest to analysts concerned with the larger Muslim East and Commonwealth affairs. Increasingly, these sources are also becoming available to former Soviet Muslims who will find it useful in restoring their lost history and defining their identity.