Chveneburi
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Chveneburi (Georgian: ჩვენებური), meaning "of us" in Georgian, is an autonym of Muslim immigrants of Georgian descent who had settled in non-Georgian majority regions of Turkey, thus, "of us" signifies a triple distinction from Christian Georgians, Muslim Turks, and autochthonous Muslim Georgians. Chveneburi are Sunni Muslims of Hanafi madhhab.
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[edit] History
Chveneburi had arrived in Turkey basically in three waves of migration. The first wave was during and after the Russo-Turkish War, 1828-1829 when the Porte consigned its sovereignty over Georgia to the Russian Empire. Minor immigrations had also followed until Russo-Turkish War, 1877–1878 when the major wave of immigration involved immigrants from historic Georgian regions that had considerable Muslim populations like Artvin, Adjara, Ardahan, Samtskhe, and Lower Guria. The immigrants from Adjara were also known by their places of origin, such as Batumlular for people from Batumi, Çürüksulular for people from Kobuleti. This wave of being muhajirs, known as muhajiroba (მუჰაჯირობა) had left many Muslim-majority regions of Georgia virtually depopulated. The last sizeable wave of immigration was in 1921 when Turkey finally gave up her claims on Adjara in the Treaty of Kars with the Soviet republics. This last wave also involved Turkish-speaking Muslims from Upper Adjara.
[edit] Distribution
Chveneburi live scattered throughout Turkey, although they are concentrated on two major regions of residence:
- Black Sea coast, in the provinces Giresun, Ordu, Samsun, and Sinop, with extension to Amasya and Tokat. Chveneburi particularly in the Ünye, Ordu, Terme, and Çarşamba areas preserve their speech and traditions.
Chveneburi far outnumber Muslim Georgians in both Georgia and Artvin region. Total number of Georgians living in Turkey is probably more than 1,5 mil [1], compared to about 50,000 Georgian-speaking people in Artvin area.
[edit] Çveneburi
The most important Georgian cultural magazine in Turkey also bears the name Çveneburi. It was founded in 1979 by Ahmet Özkan (Melashvili) who also wrote the book Gürcüstan (Georgia) in 1968. In 1980, Özkan was assassinated in Bursa by the Grey Wolves [2]. Since then, his son İberya has been in charge of the magazine. The magazine's content is almost completely in Turkish and presents articles on Chveneburi as well as the present situation and the history of Georgia and Georgians worldwide.
[edit] Group Identity
Group identity is shaped basically by the schism with Christian Georgians. Chveneburi usually restrain from using the word Kartveli (ქართველი) as a self-designation because they think it indicates being a Christian. They prefer to use Gurji (გურჯი) when referring to their more precise ethnic background. Islam still plays a central role in the life of most Chveneburi. They had long approached the Soviet Georgia with suspicion for its atheistic practices and today, allegations of mass conversions to Christianity in Georgia bear a potential to further severe the ties.
Intermarriage with other Sunni groups is common. In some regions, specifically Ünye for instance, Chveneburi maidens are sought brides, seen by local Turkish population as beautiful and hard-working wives. This phenomenon further accelerates cultural and linguistic assimilation of the community.
Historical theses to lay claims for a non-Georgian or Turkic ancestry for Chveneburi have been encouraged by the Turkish State. The most prominent figure of this historiography was Mehmet Fahrettin Kırzıoğlu. A more recent example of such efforts is the 2001 book by Yunus Zeyrek, Acarlar ve Acaristan. Many Chveneburi have assigned to these ideas and style themselves as "Acar" from the historical Turkish land "Acaristan".
On the basis of identity politics, İberya Özkan, editor of Çveneburi and Ali Arslan, administrator of the web portal Gamarcoba seem to constitute two poles. Arslan blames Özkan for being a "Kartvelianist", claiming that the most important indicator of Chveneburi community is Islam.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Black Sea: Encyclopedic Dictionary (Özhan Öztürk. Karadeniz: Ansiklopedik Sözlük. 2. Cilt. Heyamola Publishing. Istanbul. 2005. ISBN 975-6121-00-9.)
- Paul J. Magnarella, The Peasant Venture: Tradition, Migration and Change among Georgian Peasants in Turkey. (Schenkman Publishing Company: Cambridge, MA, 1979) ISBN ISBN 0-8161-8271-X
