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The Epic Interactive Encyclopedia 1998
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Epic Interactive Encyclopedia, The - 1998 Edition (1998)(Epic Marketing).iso
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Meskhetian
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1992-09-03
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Member of a community of Turkish descent who
formerly inhabited Meskhetia, USSR, on the
Turkish-Soviet border. They were deported by
Stalin 1944 to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, and
have campaigned since then for a return to
their homeland. In June 1989 at least 70 were
killed in pogroms directed against their
community in the Ferghana Valley of
Uzbekistan by the native Uzbeks. Stalin
distrusted the Meskhetians' potentially
pro-Turk leanings; an estimated 30,000-50,000
of the 200,000 deported died in the process.
In 1989 34,000 of the 160,000 living in
Uzbekistan were evacuated after the pogroms,
which resulted from the refusal of the
Meskhetians, who are mostly Shia Muslims, to
join with the predominantly Sunni Muslim
Uzbeks in an anti-Soviet pan-Islamic front.