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Meskhetistan (Georgia)

image by Enes Dursun, 25 August 2026

Presentation of Meskhetistan
Flag of Meskhetistan

See also:

Georgia

External link:

Don Macnaughtan's Meskhetians page

Presentation of Meshtekistan

According to James Minahan (Nations Without States, 1996 [mnh96]), Meskhetistan is the homeland of the Meskhetians in the Republic of Georgia. The Meskhetians are comprised of several small groups of Muslim peoples, mostly Shia, which formerly lived in southern Georgia near the Turkish border. During the Second World War Stalin had them deported to Central Asia, perhaps because he suspected them of pro-Turkish sympathies (their home areas were never occupied by the Germans as was the case with the other deported peoples - Crimean Tatars, Kalmycks and North Caucasians). The various deported Muslim peoples from south Georgia were rehabilitated in the post-Stalin era, but not allowed back to their former homes. Their shared experiences and fate led to the development of a sense of shared identity, and they adopted the collective name Meskhetian (Meskhi was the name of one of the component peoples - Georgian-speaking Shi'ites) and began calling their former homeland Meskhetistan.
In the aftermath of the breakup of the Soviet Union many Meskhetians suffered during ethnic violence, and at the time the book was written were living in refugee camps, unwelcome in their old Georgian homeland and their new central Asian homes.

Ned Smith, 23 March 2001

According to Roger Rosen (The Georgian Republic, 1992), Meshketi or Meskhetians were the inhabitants of Samtskhe or Meskheti, a Georgian land east of Ajaria. They were and are Georgians and played an important part in Georgian history. The famous writer Rustaveli, author of "Knight in the Pantherskin" (c. 1200), the national epic of the Georgians, was a Meskhetian. The most infamous Georgian, Joseph Vissarionovitsh Dzhugashvili, aka Stalin, banished them for no reason at all from their homeland.

Jarig Bakker, 24 March 2001

Minahan, however, draws a clear distinction between Meskhi (Georgian-speaking Muslims) and Meskhetians, who are comprised of not just Meskhi, but also Khemsils (Armenian-speaking Muslims who lived in Georgia), Shi'ite Ajars, Georgian Kurds and Karapapakh Turks. He claims that the "Meskhetian" identity arose in this amalgamation during their enforced resettlement in Central Asia, and the flag he described applies to this larger grouping of exiles, at least according to his report.

Ned Smith, 24 March 2001

Flag of Meskhetistan

The flag of the Meskhetian national movement is described by Minahan [mnh96] as a four color flag - three horizontal stripes of white, red and black with a vertical green stripe at the hoist bearing a white crescent. From the line drawing accompanying the entry the flag appears to have a proportion of 2:3. All four stripes appear the same width. The crescent is centered in the hoist stripe and extends slightly above and below the middle horizontal stripe.

Ned Smith, 23 March 2001

A photo of the flag can be seen here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Tiele/comments/tkar1z/flag_of_ahiska_turks_it_was_seen_during_the

Tomislav Todorovic, 25 August 2026

image located by Jaume Ollé, 27 August 2026

I believe that the Meskhetians Turks from Türkiye and other countries are now unified in the DUNYA AHISKA TURKELERI BIRLIGI, which means THE WORLD UNION OF AHISKAN TURKS. The usual flag is white with the logo and many photos are available on the net.
There's a local flag for Ahiskan of Kabardia Balkaria (attested by photo as used by people) but is uncertain if is recognized by any authority.

The flag is white with mountains in two blue shades, three dancing girls (wearing red and white) and a dark blue disk in the canton. Below are Cyrillic inscriptions.

A pro-georgian organization seceded in 2003, named Khsna (Salvation) but if it has a flag it is unknown to me.

Later a new pan-Turkish organization of migrants to Turkey was created, named Umid (Hope), and perhaps their flag is three horizontal stripes green, red, yellow with two white half moons toward the hoist in the green and yellow bars and in the red bar a white half moon and star. Christian Kretowicz send me this flag but its attribution is uncertain.

Meskhetians Turks use also in the XXI century an orange flag (orange seems to be a pan-Turkish color) with a black disc in the center and in that a white star of 32 points; within the star is a black bicefalic eagle. This flag seems to be the first one used by DUNYA AHISKA TURKELERI BIRLIGI but was later discarded.

The Meskhetian flags are rarely used, I assume because, following the Turkish system, the Ahiska /Meskhetian organizations now use the white flag with the logo, as their members are strongly influenced by Turkey and a national flag like the one with the green vertical stripe lost its place in favour of civil organization flags.

Jaume Ollé, 26, 27 August 2026