Abstract
A Probable Separatism in Georgia: Samtskhe-Javakheti Region
Georgia, which has lost "de facto" sovereignty in a significant part of its territory-Abkhazia and South Ossetia-may face a new separatism in the coming period. Because the Samtskhe-Javakheti Region, located on the Turkish border at the south-western side of the country, has been active since the country's independence. The region, which is also known as Ahıska in Turkish and where Turks had lived intensively to the forced migration that Stalin implemented, has a population constituted by Armenians today. Despite being a citizen of Georgia, the people of the region are close to Armenia, which is based on their ethnic identity, and differ from the rest of Georgia in cultural and political sense. Especially the foreign policy to be followed by Georgia and Russia's approach to this policy may bring about the use of the Armenians at the region in a separatist context.
Keywords
Separatism, Frozen Conflict Zone, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Russia, Armenian
