Tsalkin Greeks

Before moving to the territory of the Tbilisi province , which at that time was part of the Russian Empire, the Tsalkin Greeks lived in the highlands of the northeastern part of the Ottoman Empire . Most of the immigrants arrived from the districts of Gyumyushkhan (Argyroupolis), Bayburt and Erzurum . The Kars region , often a part of the Russian Empire, was a transit point for many Greeks, both the ancestors of Tsalkin Greeks and other Greeks fleeing Turkish oppression. Some names of the villages of Tsalka retain the names of the places of the first settlement ^{[1] [2]} .

The main territory of the Tsalkin Greeks is the southern regions of Georgia, among which are Tsalkinsky , Tetritskaroysky , Dmanisi , Bolnisi , Borjomi . Some of the Tsalkin Greeks live in neighboring regions of Armenia ^[1] .

In 1991, the Greeks of the former USSR were allowed to travel abroad. The mass departure of the Greeks to their historical homeland began ^[3] .

The first Greek settlers appeared in 1813 in the village of Tsintskaro in the Tetritskaro district ^[4] . 17 Greek surnames settled here. In the years 1829-30, the villages of Upper and Lower Tsintskaro were formed ^[1] . The first Hellenophones in the Tsalka district appeared in 1830-31, having founded the village of Santa in 1832. In 1854-1855, during and after the Crimean War , Greek Hellenophones were resettled from the Pontic coast to the city of Tetri Tskaro , the village of Trialeti (villages of Gumbati , Tarsoni , Neon Kharaba), as well as to the Borjomi gorge ( Tsikhisjvari village) ^[1] . The peculiarity of the resettlement was that it was carried out with the permission and under the supervision of the Russian authorities by whole villages. For the Greeks, places of settlement were allocated, a population census and registration were conducted ^[3] .

The vast majority of Tsalkin Greeks did not speak Greek. After the conquest of the Byzantine Empire by the Turks , they switched to Turkish . An interesting fact is that in the villages of Tsalka, during the periods of its settlement, many Greeks were native speakers of the Pontic dialect of the Greek language . However, the practical relevance of the Turkish language (the weapons areas of Tsalka were populated by Kars and Erzurum Armenians , Azerbaijanis and Meskhetian Turks using Turkish as a common language) forced many to switch to Turkish. For example, residents of the villages of Imera, Gunia-Kala, a hundred years later ceased to fully speak Greek. The self-name of the Tsalkin Greeks “ Urum ” comes from the Greek “Romeos” (translated Greek is a resident of the Roman / Byzantine Empire) ^[1] .

The most significant, but not the only difference between the intra-Anatolian groups of the Greeks is their language - the dialects of the East Anatolian dialect of the Turkish language ^[2] .

The Georgian historian Nikoloz Janashia also noted that the Greek population of the Tsalka region speaks mainly in East Anatolian dialects of the Turkish language ^[5] .

According to Pashayeva, three languages ​​had a significant influence on the dialect of Tsalkins: on the one hand, Azerbaijani, on the other - Georgian and Russian ^[6] . Tsalkin Greeks communicate in the Turkish dialect, which is divided into a number of dialects that differ little from each other.

Greek Turkophones and Armenians speak a special oriental dialect of the Turkish language, which differs significantly from the modern Turkish language. His study could provide some information about the environment in which and on what basis it was formed and modified, which is of undoubted interest to the history of the Tsalkin Greeks ^[3] .

Tsalkin Greeks are divided into Turkish-speaking and Greek-speaking. That part of the Greeks, who lived in the northeastern vilayets of the Ottoman Empire , was forced to abandon their native language and adopt the Anatolian dialect of Turkish. The descendants of this part of the Greeks make up the majority of the Greeks of Tsalka. The ancestors of the Greek-speaking part of the population of Tsalka (villages of Santa , Gumbati , Tarsoni and Neo-Kharaba), for various reasons, for example, in connection with living in mountainous inaccessible areas, preserved the Pontic dialect of the Greek language. The Greek-speaking population of the Tsalka district makes up no more than 20% of the total number of Greeks in Tsalka ^[3] .

In Turkish-speaking Greek villages, Turkish-Russian bilingualism is widespread. Moreover, the Turkish language is used mainly in everyday life, everyday life. The Russian language is adopted in state institutions, in cultural life.

The Russian language had a beneficial effect on all aspects of Tsalka’s life. The knowledge of the Russian language facilitated for many Tsalka Greeks to enter the higher educational institutions of the Soviet republics, improve their qualifications, and actively include in the development process various fields of science and culture. At the same time, the craving for the revival of the native Greek language is increasing more and more ^[3] . Linguistic nostalgia is especially characteristic of Turkish-speaking Greeks. Their ethnic identity is so keen that many, not knowing the Greek language, still recognize his native language, while Turkish is recognized by them as a foreign, imposed ^[3] .

Among the Tsalkin Greeks there are many famous personalities. Mikhail Afanasov, a member of the Federation Council Committee on Constitutional Legislation and State Building, is Greek in his origin ^[7] . He is the author of the study “Famous Greeks of the Stavropol Territory” (2006) ^[8] .

Another prominent Greek is the famous Governor-General of the Stavropol province Nikolai Yegorovich Nikiforaki . During his seventeen-year rule in the Stavropol province there was a real industrial boom. Steam mills, distilleries, oil mills, tanneries, and candle factories were put into operation. Newspapers of those years wrote: “Nikiforaki turned all spheres of life of the Stavropol province into a blooming oasis” ^[8] . By the 225th anniversary of Stavropol , a monument to the “most brilliant governor” ^{[9] of} Stavropol, as the famous local historian, honorary citizen of Stavropol German Belikov ^[10], was erected on the square near the railway station of the city by the Stavropol Greeks with the support of the Rostov Greek diaspora.

Among the outstanding representatives of the Tsalkins, there is also the goalkeeper, Honored Coach of Russia Neofiti Bursanidi, who devoted his whole life to football, artist Leonid Samardzhidi , composer Stavro Kolianidi, film actor Euclid Kurdzidis , artists Leonid Popandopulo, Alexander Livinsky, photo artist and poet Stanislav Livinsky .

• Janashia N. General characteristics of the Turkic dialect of the Tsalka Urumi .. - In the book: Greeks in Georgia .. - S. 178—192 ..
• Pashaeva L. Family and family life of the Greeks Tsalka district. - Tbilisi, 1992. - S. 18-19.
• Iliadi I. Kh. “The Most Brilliant Governor”: Lieutenant General Nikolai Egorovich Nikiforaki / I. Kh. Iliadi, G. A. Belikov , V. Kaishev. - 2nd ed., Erased. - M .: Ileksa, 2008 .-- S. 384.
• Belikov G. A. “The Brilliant Governor” // Stavropolskaya Pravda. - 2002. - February 8. Archived on June 8, 2016.

• Alexander Frangulandi: Greeks of the plateau and “Tsalkin” Greeks
• Pontic genocide
• A. I. Robakidze: On the Question of Some Remnants of the Fish Cult p. 120
• Our Tsalka - 174 years
• Greek Pontic surnames with Turkish roots
• Afanasov Mikhail Alexandrovich
• Greeks in the Stavropol Territory