The Vatan Society does not have a widespread and efficient operational structure within the former USSR; besides it is extremely constrained financially. Nonetheless, it does have its activists in the main areas of the Turks’ settlement in Krasnodar Territory. Since January 1995, the Society branch has been officially registered in the Territory. The Vatan activists are present in the overwhelming majority of residential areas in the Territory where the Turks live; they are actual heads of local communities and are recognised by the local authorities in this capacity.

The Khsna Society (the Salvation in the Georgian language) unites those Meskhetians who are ready to identify themselves as «Moslem Georgians» and to settle in different areas of Georgia as required by the Georgian authorities rather than just by Akhaltsikhe Region. The Khsna leaders believe that there are up to 40 thousand of their supporters¹ (that is, 13–15 per cent of all the Meskhetians). However, according to our estimates even in 1992–1993, during the period which was favourable for the Khsna, this Society was supported by not more than 5 per cent of the Meskhetians. There are members of the Khsna Society in Georgia, Kabardin-Balkaria and Azerbaijan. Eyib Abbasov (alias Eduard Tavdgiridze) was the representative and apparently the only activist of the Society in Krasnodar Territory in 1992–1994 and we could not find any indications showing that there were any other active members of the Khsna in the Region except for him.

The Umid (the Hope) Society was created in April of 1994 upon the initiative of Akram Bayrakhtarov, a resident of Krymsk Region (Nizhnebakanskiy stl.) and registered at the same time. The officially-declared objectives of the Society are to work for reconciliation, co-operation and to co-ordinate actions of different movements of the Meskhetians in order to protect the rights of the Turks and to facilitate their migration from the Territory. In reality the Umid unites those Meskhetians who are prone to emigrate to Turkey. The Umid operates only in Krymsk Region, mainly in Nizhnebakanskiy stl.

The Vatan territorial and local leaders emphasise that their main task is to struggle for the right of the Meskhetians to legally migrate back to Akhaltsikhe Region of Georgia. The leaders of the territorial organisation participate in drawing up collective appeals and complaints addressed to the Russian Federal (Union before 1992) and Territory authorities. The situation, however, makes the local leaders deal with currents problems. They have to act as intermediaries between the local Turkic–Meskhetian population and the authorities: to contact the latter with complaints and appeals concerning some types of violations, to press them to have some specific problems solved, to make inquiries, to resolve disputed situations, to conduct explanatory work and so on. They also need to be in constant contact with the Cossack² representatives, to speak at the local meetings.

Basically the leaders of the Umid and the representatives of the Khsna are engaged in similar activities. The Umid leaders are involved in preparation arrangements for those who wish to migrate to Turkey, at the end of 1994 they also took part in drawing up for the Territory administration the lists of families who wanted to move to Georgia. Eyib Abbasov (the Khsna) regularly visited Tbilisi in 1992–1994 and negotiated with the authorities in Georgia and Krasnodar Territory on possible migration of some Meskhetians to Georgia.

No Meskhetian organisation resorts to such mass actions as meetings, marches or pickets.

The majority of the Meskhetians who live in the Territory would want to return to Akhaltsikhe Region — the land they were expelled from in 1944. The idea of the «Moslem Georgian» self-identification and migration to different areas of Georgia has been winning insignificant and dwindling support. The last years have seen a progressive growth of those who think that the migration to Turkey should be the most acceptable solution for themselves and their families (though the majority of the Turks in the Territory who would like to emigrate do not consider Turkey their native country and admit that they are going to take this step only under pressure of circumstances). Practically nobody expresses desire to stay further in Krasnodar Territory although some representatives of the territorial and regional administration as well as the Cossacks are sure that the situation is quite opposite — they believe that the Turks are anxious to put down roots in the Kuban region.