Gagauzians come from the Oghuz Turkic tribes that settled across de Balkan Peninsula in XIII century. Hundreds of years later they moved from current Bulgaria to Bessarabia, the ancient territory which currently corresponds to Southern Moldova, near the Romanian border. Thus, Bulgaria, Moldova and Romania are the three countries with most of Gagauzian population.

Nevertheless, it is only in Moldova where the Gagauzians have their own political institutions, and so in speaking about Gagauzia we are referring to Moldova's Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia.

Such territory was under the administration of the Russian Empire from 1812 to 1917; it passed into the hands of Romania between 1918 and 1944 and later became Soviet territory until 1991. From then on, it is part of Moldova. The struggle for home rule and cultural rights headed by the movement known as Gagauz People did not gain momentum until the 80's, a time when the Soviet Union underwent the Perestroika and the Glasnost reforms.

Measures such as the recognition of Romanian as Moldova's official language in 1989 deeply concerned the Gagauz movement and other non-Moldavian populations, as they feared Moldova would join Romania sooner or later. The province of Comrat then declared itself an autonomous republic in 1990, a move that was immediately stopped by the central government in Chisinau.

In 1994, Moldovan president Mircea Snegur said publicly he was in favour of a self-governed Gagauzia and against secession and the division of Moldova into 3 federal states (Moldova, Gagauzia and Transnistria). Snegur's promises ended up in what it has come to be known as "external self-determination" of the Gagauzian people, which is only applicable in case there is a turn in Moldova's status. Several months later, the Moldovan Parliament granted Gagauzia its current autonomous status and established Gagauz, Russian and Moldovan as official languages.

Gagauzia set up its own government, headed by a Governor, and a legislative assembly, called Popular Assembly. It has powers on education, culture, local development, taxes and budget, territorial administration and social security. The Assembly can also participate in Moldova's domestic and foreign affairs and has the right to appeal to the Constitutional Court if central policies interfere with Gagauzian regulations. In spite of this, Chisinau has been traditionally reluctant to accept Gagauzian self-government and its political leaders, whose proposals are often restricted.

More information on the Gagauz people can be found at the Minority Rights Group directory. For information on Gagauzian language it is recommended to check Linguamón-House of Languages' website.

Photo: flag and map of Gagauzia in purple (Wikipedia).