The Ottoman Turks are no longer listed separately in the census; it is presumed that those who were living in Azerbaijan have either been assimilated into Azerbaijani society or have left the country.
[10] However, migration to Azerbaijan increased dramatically after World War II when the Soviet Union was preparing to launch a pressure campaign against Turkey.
Vyacheslav Molotov, then Minister of Foreign Affairs, demanded to the surrender of three Anatolian provinces (Kars, Ardahan and Artvin); thus, war against Turkey seemed possible, and Joseph Stalin wanted to clear the strategic Turkish population situated in Meskheti, located near the Turkish-Georgian border which were likely to be hostile to Soviet intentions.
[11] Thus, in 1944, the Meskhetian Turks were forcefully deported from the Meskheti region in Georgia and accused of smuggling, banditry and espionage in collaboration with their kin across the Turkish border.
[13][14] Joseph Stalin deported the Meskhetian Turks to Central Asia (especially to Uzbekistan), thousands dying en route in cattle-trucks,[15] and were not permitted by the Georgian government of Zviad Gamsakhurdia to return to their homeland.
This has been particularly noticeable with the number of Turkish Germans which have acquired Azerbaijani citizenship to play from the Azerbaijani national football team (e.g. Ufuk Budak, Tuğrul Erat, Ali Gökdemir, Taşkın İlter, Cihan Özkara, Uğur Pamuk, Timur Temeltaş [de], and Fatih Şanlı).