Posted on 02/25/2006 7:10:24 PM PST by Imnotalib
KRASNODAR, Russia, July 24, (IslamOnline.net) - 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."
Happiness
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 Cesar 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.
The story if from July. Anybody have any updates? Was it found to be true?
July 24, 2005 ?
Here's a helpful tip:
Before starting another great whine and panic-fest, you MIGHT want to, possibly, conceivably, maybe, find another source for this story other than Islamonline quoting an unnamed Russian Newspaper. The SOLE source of the story on the entire internet seems to be this story.
Not that anybody is going to listen to me. Oh well.
Oh, the poor dears. We'll make them citizens, show the entire Islamic world how "compassionate" we are, and win countless "hearts and minds" in the process. Brilliant WOT strategy.
I would imagine that they would have to go through some type of naturalization process and not just granted.
Proof is not required to get a good rant going on FR.
Your guess is as good as mine.
This was posted on FR twice in the past:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1178226/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1178050/posts
Geez. Why the heck is this posted here? Have to start checking all the dates in breaking news posts.
Yup thur!....Dialing finger at the ready!
Bush must be down to his very last supporter. I now question even his loyalty to this country.
It's actually from July 24, 2004
Now comes the fun part where the series of outraged replies from people that skim the first few sentences of the original post and don't read any of the replies just keeps going on and on and on.
The most interesting thing is just HOW MUCH people ENJOY being outraged.
I hope you're right, but I think the odds are drastically against it.
Statistics show that among foreign Muslims, a large percentage believe crazy things like the CIA and the Jews were responsible for 9-11. Many of them, if not a majoriy, believe that either we were responsible for the tsunami that hit Indonesia, or Allah did it to punish the area (despite the fact that far more Muslims were killed than Christians).
I'll call too but Boxer and Feinstein are my Senators.
Oh wow, what "wonderful" news!!!
"Remember, the alternatives were Al Gore and John Kerry, making Bush the best choice by far."
Oh, I know; I voted for the man twice because of those alternatives, but that is small consolation right now.
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