IPN analysis: The 23rd anniversary of the proclamation of the Gagauz Republic is marked in Comrat on August 19. While for the Gagauz people this date represents one of the main national holidays, in Chisinau these celebrations are regarded as expressions of camouflaged separatism, for clear reasons. However, when pondering over, one can see that there are not so many causes for concern about the separatism of Gagauzia. In fact, they are much fewer in number than the issues that unite the Gagauz people and the rest of Moldova’s population.
---
From political viewpoint, the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia traditionally attracts attention to it in August, not only by the political scandals experienced all over the country. As a matter of fact, there are no two years alike. Sometimes, like this year, the political confrontation becomes less intense, to the satisfaction of the inhabitants. The main political event of this month in the autonomous unit remains the day of the proclamation of the Gagauz Republic, which is celebrated on August 19, regardless of the atmosphere in the bodies of the power.
‘Separatist’ holiday
This day, alongside the day of December 23 (when Moldova’s Parliament adopted the Law on the Special Legal Status of Gagauzia, which “legalized’ the Republic of Gagauzia as an autonomous unit within Moldova), represents in the region one of the most important historical data. In Chisinau they surely do not share this holiday atmosphere. During the December festivities, the Comrat residents see many columns of cars with governmental number plates and congratulatory messages from the senior state officials are read on the local stages. But the day of August 19 is ignored by the Moldovan authorities, who probably avoid being seen among the participants in the ‘separatist’ celebrations.
It should be noted that the organizers of the August festivities in Gagauzia traditionally invite the whole administration of Moldova to these celebrations. The established tradition does not depend on the change of governments and parliaments or on the relations between Comrat and Chisinau. Judging by the comments of the Gagauz leaders, this way the administration of the autonomous region wants not to have high-ranking guests, but rather want the Moldovan side to recognize the period during which the Gagauz Republic existed as a historical stage common with Moldova. This history indeed had separated two peoples for several years, but it ultimately led to the contemporary period when Gagauzia forms part of the republic’s legal area, while its residents consider Moldova their motherland.
“Who is separatist and who is patriot”
For the time being, the day of August 19 continue to separate the Gagauz public opinion from the Moldovan one. When this day comes, they start to clarify who is separatist and who is patriot in tête-à-tête meetings or within Internet forums. They give examples that seem to confirm the disloyalty and separatism of the Gagauz people.
These arguments have simultaneously an opposite side that is not mentioned intentionally or out of ignorance. If looking at all these problems objectively, without distorting the reality as the mass media do when looking after sensations or as the politicians do when speculating over the national sentiments, it becomes clear that these ‘Gagauz separatists’ can become a model to be followed by so-called Moldovan patriots.
Many know that the Russian is the main language in the region and beats significantly Romanian. The press reported about the difficulties faced by the Gagauz graduates when taking the Romanian language exams. The local authorities insisted a lot on translating the correspondence of the central institutions into Russian. But not many wrote about the efforts made by the Gagauz administration to promote the Romanian language in the region. The people also don’t know about the sending of Romanian language teachers to Romania to improve qualification in universities there or about the cooperation with NGOs that organized free Romanian language courses for the local public functionaries. The important fact is that these things were done on the own initiative, without the support of the Moldovan authorities.
They indeed make statements about the necessity of gaining independence in Comrat. But not everyone attempt to perceive things and to see that the personalities who make such statements are not very popular in the autonomous unit. At the same time, most of the Gagauz people are concerned about the sovereignty of Moldova because they see a guarantee for their own existence in the country’s independence.
The Gagauz people can have a disrespectful attitude to the majority nation. But we should admit that this attitude is often a reaction to the offensive labeling of the Gagauz people.
Many consider that the Gagauz people are different from the Moldovans by an almost vibrating attitude to the Soviet past. But this is not true. Besides the positive things, the Gagauz people remember well the Stalinist deportations and the famine of 1946-1947. Not many imagine how tragically the Gagauz people perceive these. A proof is the numerous monuments to the victims of these tragedies.
The fact that the national Gagauz intellectuality often encourages the separatist processes is significant, but in our case it is inseparable from the Moldovan creation elite. The writers Todur Angheli and Todur Zanet, scientists Diana Nicoglo and Liubov Cimpoies, tenors Stepan Curudimov and Marina Radis. They all write about Moldova and translate the Romanian classical literature into the Gagauz language, work at the Academy of Sciences of Moldova, being the pride of the national opera.
We can also mention the famous Gagauz wrestlers Vladimir Gotisan, Piotr Ianulov and Alexandru Romanov, who repeatedly won gold medals for the national squad of Moldova at international competitions and carried the Moldovan flag with pride.
We can also enumerate other Gagauz athletes, artists and scientists who care about and make effort for other inhabitants to be proud of Moldova too. It will thus become clearer that we, the Moldovan and the Gagauz peoples, do not know much about each other. We don’t know the customs and traditions. We do not know our reciprocal history. Don’t these suspicions derive from here? Isn’t it because of this that it is so easy to cause hatred between us?
Way to integration
Are there in Gagauzia separatist states of spirit? The answer to this question depends mainly on our perception, phobias and prejudice. We often trust too much the news stories. In reality, Gagauzia is home to the same Moldovan people who have the same troubles as the people living in Donduseni or Cahul. Surely, the Gagauz people have their own cultural particularities, their own foreign policy landmarks and their own opinion as regards the country’s development. But who said that this is bad?
The way from separatism (even if it’s real) to integration is not so great. On the contrary. We should only know each other better and realize that more things unite us than separate us. As we are on the same ‘boat’ that is now facing difficulties the most reasonable solution is to act together and leave in peace as our prosperity and survival depend on this.
‘Separatism’ that brings closer
We should now remember the thesis that is often repeated by the administration of the autonomous unit, according to which ‘Gagauzia will also ways form part of the democratic, independent and neutral Moldova.’ We can perceive a slight dose of ‘separatism’ in this sentence. This way the political leaders of the region make it clear that if Moldova does not satisfy the enumerated demands, i.e. is not democratic, independent and neutral, the Gagauz people may benefit from its right to self-determination. Thus, this separatism is not so scary as most of the Moldovans have the same expectations of the country.
P.S. On August 19, 1990, the first Congress of the people of the southern settlements of the Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic, inhabited mainly by Gagauz people, adopted the statement on the liberty and independence of the Gagauz people from Moldova, which proclaimed the creation of the Gagauz Republic in the composition of the USSR. Two days later, the presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic invalidated the decision on the creation of the Gagauz Republic in an extraordinary meeting. On December 23, 1994, Moldova’s Parliament adopted the Law on the Special Legal Status of Gagauzia by which the southern region was given autonomous powers as part of the Republic of Moldova.
Veaceslav Craciun for IPN
