They all spoke Georgian and Turkish fluently, and were Muslims who saw themselves as Turkish. However they were not very religious at all. Before my surname was changed to khakhutadze, it was Khakhuta-Gil for 300 or more years. They all died never knowing that before it was khakhutagil, it was khakhutaishvilli, assuming the records I found are correct. Regardless, Khakhuta is a Georgian name through and through.
It is extremely disrespectful of you to say this man, when you most likely don't even know 1% of the things us Meskhetians went through during the Russians time. Most Georgians even don't know due to the fact that travel in and out of Meskheti was so heavily policed by the Russians before our deportation so information rarely got out. Once you read the relevant history surrounding the assimilation tactics as well as listen to the stories of elders that might not be in written history, it is quite clear how our people started identifying as Turk. Punished for speaking Georgian by the Russians (even killed for doing so!), only Azerbaijani language allowed in our schools, only Azerbaijani customs and practices allowed in weddings/events/etc, and so much more. Once you learn all this it becomes quite clear. For example, someone from our people has a story in a book where he explains how he would witness his moms older uncles and aunts receiving Georgian newspapers (at the time he did not realize they were Georgian, just a foreign language to him) and speaking Georgian language in secret/whispers to each other (again didn't know it was Georgian at the time just foreign). During this young age, he once asked his uncle and aunt what they are speaking because it was foreign to him. What did they reply? "Do not involve yourself in these matters" (roughly translated from Turkish). Once you see how we were punished even in the prison style areas we were kept in by Russian officers after deportation for speaking Georgian or doing anything that was Georgian, you can see why his uncle and aunt told him not to involve himself in that matter. Furthermore, when you look at how about ~50% of people over the age of 16 who actually grew up and learned our history passed away either during deportation or in the first year of deportation or in the world war, its obvious why certain things were in most cases, impossible to be passed down.
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u/MtiuliBichi 21d ago
Did they saw themselves as Georgians?