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Wöber – The Autonomy of Gagauzia
During the Russian Empire, the Gagauz had a number of privileges, such as
exemption from military service and taxes. 17 In 1906, the Russian Revolution
reached the southern border of the empire, where the Republic of Comrat
was soon established. 18 During the Romanian period, especially the second
one after 1918, they were under pressure to assimilate, to resettle to
Romania, as well as being obliged to do military service and to speak
Romanian. 19 In 1944, Stalin sent thousands of them to labour camps. 20 About
half of the Gagauz died in the post-war famine (1946–47); however, they did
not associate this artificially created famine with Soviet policy about them. 21
Under Soviet rule, modernization reached the Gagauz in the form of the
collectivization and mechanization of agricultural production, and education
was made available for all parts of the population. The Cyrillic alphabet was
introduced in 1957; 22 from 1962 onwards education was conducted in Russian
only. 23
Between 1941 and 1989, the Gagauz made up 3.5 per cent to 4.9 per cent
of the overall population of Moldova, ranging between 115,700 and 153,458
people. 24 Only 4 per cent of Gagauz mentioned Moldovan (Romanian) as their
second language in 2004, compared to 73 per cent considering themselves
fluent in Russian. 25 The Soviet period thereby meant a wide Russification of
this geographically isolated people. 26
2.1.2. Identity Issues
A study 27 about the Crimean Tatars and the (Moldovan) Gagauz shows that the
pro-Russian and pro-Communist orientation among the Gagauz (in contrast to
the Tatars, also Turkic people, that gained autonomy after the break-up of
the Soviet Union) was formed by a number of historical experiences:
discrimination and persecution because of being Orthodox Christians during
the Ottoman Empire; mass migration to the Bessarabia region under the
17
Menz, “The Gagauz” …, 378.
18
N. N. Tufar, Комратская Республика. 1906 год. [The Republic of Comrat. Year 1906.] (Samisdat,
Comrat, 2009). Expert Ivan Grec (historian, writer, former MP; 20 July 2011 – Chisinau) called this
5-day entity a product of a social movement.
19
Menz, “The Gagauz” …, 378. Ljubov Stepanovna Tshimpoesh said that probably every Gagauz heard
bad stories about this time; the Romanians also treated the Moldovans badly, and there even
existed a plan to terminate small nations.
20
Stephen R. Bowers et al., “The Moldovan Confederation Conundrum”, in Issues of the Post-
Communist Transition: Structure, Culture, and Justice (2001), 66, at
http://works.bepress.com/stephen_bowers/19/.
21
Ivan Katchanovski, “Small Nations but Great Differences: Political Orientations and Cultures of the
Crimean Tatars and the Gagauz”, 57(6) Europe-Asia Studies (2005), 877–894, at 890.
22
During a short cultural renaissance in the 1930s, the priest Mihail Ciachir put together the first
dictionary of the language.
23
Claus Neukirch, “Autonomy and Conflict Transformation: The Case of the Gagauz Territorial
Autonomy in the Republic of Moldova”, in Gal Kinga (ed.), Minority Governance in Europe
(LGI/ECMI, Budapest, 2002), 105–123, at 106.
24
William Crowther, “The Politics of Democratization in Postcommunist Moldova”, in Karen Dawish
and Bruce Parrott (eds.), Democratic Changes and Authoritarian Reactions in Russia, Ukraine,
Belarus and Moldova (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1997), 282–329, at 287.
25
Dumbrava, Sprachkonflikt …, 29.
26
King, The Moldovans …, 211–213.
27
Ivan Katchanovski, “Small Nations but Great Differences …”, 877–894.
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