Gagauz Halkı (meaning "

Gagauz People The Gagauz (; ) are a Turkic ethnic group native to southern Moldova ( Gagauzia, Taraclia District, Basarabeasca District) and southwestern Ukraine (Budjak). Gagauz are mostly Eastern Orthodox Christians. The term Gagauz is also often used ...

" in the

Gagauz language Gagauz (; or ) is a Turkic language spoken by the Gagauz people of Moldova, Ukraine, Russia and Turkey and it is an official language of the Autonomous Region of Gagauzia in Moldova. Gagauz belongs to the Oghuz branch of Turkic languages, ...

) was a Gagauz cultural and political organisation in

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

. It originated as a cultural club in the Gagauz capital

Comrat Comrat (, ; , ) is a city and municipality in Moldova and the capital of the autonomous region of Gagauzia. It is located in the south of the country, on the Ialpug River. In 2014, Comrat's population was 20,113, of which the vast majority are ...

and initially supported the

Popular Front of Moldova The Popular Front of Moldova (PFM; , FPM) was a political movement in the Moldavian SSR, one of the 15 union republics of the former Soviet Union, and in the newly independent Moldova, Republic of Moldova. Formally, the Front existed from 1989 to ...

. However, the Popular Front's shift towards

Romanian nationalism Romanian nationalism is a form of nationalism that asserts that Romanians are a nation and promotes the identity and cultural unity of Romanians. Its extremist variation is Romanian ultranationalism. History Antecedents The predecessors of ...

and Moldova-Romania unification caused Gagauz Halkı to turn and support Gagauz autonomy within and later separation from the

Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic The Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic or Moldavian SSR (, mo-Cyrl, Република Советикэ Сочиалистэ Молдовеняскэ), also known as the Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic, Moldovan SSR, Soviet Moldavia, Sovie ...

. Moldovan authorities consequently declared Gagauz Halkı an illegal organisation in 1990. Gagauz Halkı supported the separatist side in the Gagauzia conflict, which was resolved with the intervention of the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

and the establishment of the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia.

History

Gagauz Halkı originated as a Gagauz cultural club in the Gagauz political capital of

, founded amid Moldova's move towards independence (1988–1989). In early May 1989, it was transformed into an umbrella association of Gagauz organisations and people, and one of its representatives attended the founding congress of the

later that month. Gagauz Halkı was initially supportive of the Popular Front, but the Popular Front's shift in focus to

and proposed

Romanian language Romanian (obsolete spelling: Roumanian; , or , ) is the official and main language of Romania and Moldova. Romanian is part of the Eastern Romance languages, Eastern Romance sub-branch of Romance languages, a linguistic group that evolved fr ...

laws created fears of cultural erasure among the Gagauz populace. Gagauz Halkı consequently made plans to declare the independence of Gagauzia from Moldova, in anticipation of the

unification of Moldova and Romania The unification of Moldova and Romania is the idea that Moldova and Romania should become a single sovereign state and the political movement which seeks to bring it about. Beginning during the Revolutions of 1989 (including the Romanian Revolut ...

. The organisation supported the declaration of the Gagauz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic within the

in November 1989 and then the declaration of the

Gagauz Republic The Gagauz Republic (, ; , ; , ) was a self-proclaimed unrecognised political entity, first declared in 1989, that separated from Moldova in 1990 during the dissolution of the Soviet Union but later peacefully joined Moldova after being '' de fac ...

on 19 August 1990. Both declarations were made amid worsening relations between Chisinau and Moscow. Moldovan authorities designated Gagauz Halkı an illegal organisation immediately after the latter declaration, on 22 August, and called on Moldovans to take up arms against separatists in the Gagauzia conflict. The intervention of

soldiers prevented massive bloodshed and the conflict was resolved peacefully with the creation of the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia. Gagauz Halkı supported the

1991 Soviet coup attempt The 1991 Soviet coup attempt, also known as the August Coup, was a failed attempt by hardliners of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) to Coup d'état, forcibly seize control of the country from Mikhail Gorbachev, who was President ...

, which sought to prevent the break-up of the Soviet Union.

Membership and orientation

Although it was founded as a general cultural organisation, Gagauz Halkı's membership mostly came from the local district-level administrative elite. Many were content with Soviet governance but receptive to reforms proposed in Chisinau because they wanted to revitalise the historically impoverished Gagauzia. However, for this reason they were also fiercely opposed to the idea of Moldovan independence and unification with Romania.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gagauz Halki Banned secessionist parties Defunct political parties in Moldova Gagauzia conflict Political parties in the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic Political parties of minorities in Moldova Pro-independence parties Separatism in Moldova