Source for cover photo: Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii Collection (Library of Congress)
Recently, a video of a woman named Nina Katigirova singing in Azerbaijani went viral. Many misheard her and believed she was singing about "Lebanon," which led some to associate her with ethnic Armenians from Lebanon. However, she was actually saying "Livadi," not "Livan" (Lebanon in Azerbaijani). Livadi is a village in southern Georgia, founded in 1830 by refugees from the same-named village on the Black Sea coast in modern-day Turkey. These refugees, like Nina Katigirova, were Urums — followers of the Greek Orthodox Church who spoke Turkic “Urum dili” - a dialectal continuum that includes Azerbaijani dialects and the dialects of eastern Anatolia.
In recounting the history of the Greeks in the Caucasus, one can go back to ancient times. Both historical records and mythological narratives extensively reference interactions between Hellenic-speaking tribes and those residing in the Caucasus. Beginning around 700 BC, ancient Greek city-states established trade colonies along various points on the Black Sea coast. Yet most of the history of the Greeks in the Caucasus is relatively new, shaped by imperial wars and mass displacements.
Before delving into imperial history, it would be better to make a few remarks on naming, as the primary debate within Greek national discourse has centered on the choice among three ethnonyms: Greek, Hellene, and Roman. Of these, "Roman" is particularly relevant to this discussion. Following the fall of Constantinople in 1453, Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II declared himself “Kayser-i Rum,” meaning "Caesar of the Romans," thus claiming the legacy of the Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire).
As the new Caesar, he reorganized the multi-confessional landscape of the Empire by introducing millets — confessional groups that were granted a degree of autonomy over religious matters. Although the divisions and boundaries of these millets lacked uniformity and changed over time, they generally comprised five major groups: Muslims, Armenians, Rums (Orthodox Christians), Jews, and Catholics. Over the years, the term “Rum” came to encompass followers of the Greek Orthodox Church throughout the empire.
Nationalist and primordial readings of the past often portray the Rums of Anatolia as a uniform and homogenous ethno-confessional group with historical continuity dating back to Ancient Greece. However, identity in this region has rarely conformed to such clear-cut definitions. To give a snapshot of the cultural mosaic of the Balkans, Anatolia, and the Caucasus, one could look at several examples: there were Karamanlis who spoke a Turkic language but adhered to the Greek Orthodox Church; there were Vallahades, who spoke Greek but practised Sunni Islam; and the Hayhurums that spoke Armenian while following the Greek Orthodox faith.
Returning to the imperial wars, as Russia expanded its military influence, it sought to claim the title of New Rome, positioning itself as the protector of Eastern Christians, particularly in its rivalry with the Ottomans. The Russo-Turkish wars since the 18th century became a routine catalyst for the displacement of communities deemed “the Other.” Victories by either side often resulted in the deportation of Muslims to the Ottoman Empire and Christians to Russia, with the Rums of Anatolia — known as Millet-i Rum — bearing the brunt of these imperial conflicts.
By 1828, Russian control over the South Caucasus was consolidated. The initial decades of Russian rule were marked by constant forced population movements. The treaties of Turkmenchai (1828) and Edirne (1829) provided a legal framework for such population exchanges. Among those who migrated to the Russian Caucasus were many Rums — later identified as Greeks — from the Pontus region along the Black Sea coast.
These migrants brought two distinct linguistic backgrounds: Grecophones, who settled in Abkhazia, Tiflis, Baku, northern parts of modern Armenia, and even the village of Mehmana in mountainous Karabakh; and Turcophones, who largely settled the sparsely populated areas of what is now Tsalka in Georgia. Most of the new arrivals were from the latter group. Originating from eastern Anatolia (Kars, Erzurum), they had long coexisted with their Turkic-speaking neighbors — primarily Azerbaijanis — and spoke a Turkic dialect that is now considered a dialect of Azerbaijani.
Over time, these Turcophone Rums referred to as Urums by their Turkic neighbors, integrated well into the linguistically Turkic milieu inhabited by Azerbaijanis and Meskhetian Turks. Due to their nearly identical language to Azerbaijani, they were even officially classified as “Azerbaijani” in the Soviet system's “hierarchy of nations” during census periods. Non-Turkic neighbors of Urums such as Armenians and Georgians called them, quite interestingly, “Turks” or “Tatar” - two ethnonyms used intensively to name Azerbaijanis in the South Caucasus.
In contrast, Grecophone Rums experienced a different identity trajectory. As many settled in urban centres, Russian emerged as a second language, effectively transforming them into Rusophones. For Soviet censuses, they were classified as Greeks. Notably, many Grecophones living in cities retained foreign citizenship, opting not to naturalize under Soviet laws.
The combination of foreign citizenship and classification as “Greek” proved disastrous as tensions with Nazi Germany intensified. Paranoia escalated over perceived “malign foreign influence” among ethnic minorities. What began as mass executions, deportations, and arrests eventually escalated into all-out population transfers as Nazi forces advanced into the Soviet heartland. Condemned by the Kremlin as “nations under malign foreign influence” due to their ethno-cultural similarities with Greece — a country viewed as hostile by the Soviets — these Greeks, despite having little direct historical connection to Greece, were deported en masse from the South Caucasus.
Among the persecuted was Pamphylia Tanailidi, known as Surayya Zangazurskaya, from Soviet Azerbaijan. Born in Zangezur (present-day Armenia), she entered the theater at age 14. Soon gaining fame for her talent, she performed in both Greek and Azerbaijani productions, touring the entire Caucasus. She even co-founded the first Azerbaijani drama theater in Tiflis (now Tbilisi). The purges did not spare her; arrested on fabricated charges — according to famous city tales, for publicly claiming Iranian tobacco was superior — she faced a sham trial. Executed in October 1937 after a mere 15-minute hearing, her burial site remains unknown.
Of the 41,000 Greeks in Abkhazia, only around 8,000 remained by 1959. The Stalin-era purges nearly obliterated Greek life in Armenia and Azerbaijan, as mass persecutions dismantled community structures. It is estimated that approximately 20,000 Greeks perished due to these brutal measures. After Stalin's death, some were allowed to return, but many chose to emigrate to Greece.
A further wave of war and displacement followed the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The conflict in Abkhazia forced many to flee, including Greeks. During “Operation Golden Fleece” in 1993, the Greek government relocated over a thousand Greek inhabitants of Abkhazia to Greece. The war in Karabakh compelled the residents of the last remaining Greek village, Mehmana, to abandon their homes. Socio-economic hardships also prompted many Greeks and Urums to leave Georgia and Armenia.
Yaghdan, a village in northern Armenia, exemplifies the drastic demographic shifts that have occurred over recent decades. Founded by Greek families who settled in the area to work in the mining industry, the village maintained a Greek majority throughout the Soviet era. However, the 1988 earthquake, the conflict, and subsequent economic hardships led to a mass exodus of its Greek residents. Today, Yaghdan remains the only village in Armenia with a Greek presence, though even there they now constitute a minority— out of 200 families, only 30 are of Greek descent.
As for Urums, the pattern was not different. Between 1989 and 2002, the Urum population declined dramatically from 35,000 to 3,000. In 2006, it was estimated that around 1,500 Urums remained in Tsalka, as the majority had migrated mainly to Greece and, to a lesser extent, to Russia for better socio-economic conditions. Abandoned Urum properties were soon occupied by internal migrants from the Adjara and Svaneti regions of Georgia, who had been displaced by landslides, as well as by economic migrants who settled in Tsalka to work as laborers on the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline in the early 2000s.
Today, most Urums reside in Thessaloniki, in the Greek region of Macedonia. Upon acquiring Greek citizenship, they gradually adapted linguistically to mainland Greek. However, Azerbaijani — affectionately referred to as bizim dil (“our language” in Azerbaijani) — remains an integral part of their identity, still spoken during communal gatherings. This linguistic continuity reflects their deep connection to their cultural roots, despite geographical displacement. Moreover, a vibrant cross-cultural exchange enriches their diaspora life, as many modern Azerbaijani musical performances and traditions find their way into the Urum community easily. These cultural expressions are not only enjoyed but actively lived, becoming embedded in their everyday experiences.
Greek and Urum history of the Caucasus is one of mass displacement, persecution, and war. Though their presence is now sporadic and diminished, it serves as a testament to the violent events that have significantly altered the region's ethno-cultural mosaic. Although Hellada Kafkasou — the Greek Caucasus — is no longer a reality, the memories and traditions of these communities continue to be transmitted, even among those who have never set foot on these lands. Many Urums and Caucasian Greeks now live in northern Greece – a region that once had its own mosaic consisting of Slavs, Jews and Turks, but no more.