The legal status of Gagauzia, the implementation of language legislation, and the historical origins of the Gagauz people were the main topics discussed during the public debate “Historical Roots in the Present and Future of the Gagauz People,” organized by the IPN News Agency. Participants highlighted both the historical development of the Gagauz community and the distinctive features of the legal and institutional framework governing the region, against the backdrop of upcoming elections to the People’s Assembly and for the post of governor of the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia.

At the start of the debate, expert Igor Botan outlined the responsibilities of Gagauzia’s main institutions. “Under the Law on the Special Legal Status of Gagauzia, the People’s Assembly is Gagauzia’s representative body, directly elected by the region’s residents and empowered to adopt legislation within its remit. Under the same law, the governor (Bashkan) is Gagauzia’s highest-ranking official and head of the region’s executive branch. All public administration authorities in Gagauzia are subordinate to the governor,” explained the project’s resident expert.

For his part, historian Oleg Bercu, who holds a doctorate in history, referred to the constitutional and legal framework governing Gagauz autonomy, established in 1994. According to Bercu, one of the problems that has emerged over time is the failure to fully uphold the status of the Romanian language in the region’s public institutions.

“In 1994, lawmakers decided to establish the autonomous territorial unit of Gagauzia. The Constitution of the Republic of Moldova itself stipulates that Gagauzia is an integral part of the country. Under the law, the languages used in Gagauzia are Gagauz, Romanian and Russian. In my view, the situation went off track, and the Republic of Moldova failed to ensure that public authorities in Gagauzia respected the status of the state language,” explained Oleg Bercu, author of the monograph “The Socio-Political Evolution of the Gagauz Population from the Mid-Nineteenth to the Late Twentieth Century.”

Discussing the identity of the Gagauz people, historian Ștefan Bejan explained that their resettlement in the Budjak region was tied to the interests of the Russian Empire. The imperial authorities sought to populate the territory with communities they regarded as loyal.

“There is no broad consensus on the origins of the Gagauz people. The most widely accepted theory, however, is that they emerged from a mingling of several Turkic peoples who settled in southern Dobruja and, under Byzantine influence, converted to Christianity and embraced Christian values. In 1812, the Russian Empire needed a loyal population to settle in Budjak, farm the land, and supply the army with everything it needed for future campaigns,” explained historian Ștefan Bejan, author of the monograph “The Gagauz: Origins, Development, and Settlement in Southern Bessarabia.”

The public debate “Historical Roots in the Present and Future of the Gagauz People” is the 66th in the series “The Impact of the Past on Trust-Building and Peacebuilding Processes.” The IPN News Agency organizes this debate series with the support of Germany’s Hanns Seidel Foundation.