The Gagauz Republic: An Autonomism-Driven De Facto State

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Date
2017
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Brill
Abstract
The post-Soviet area is a home for a several de facto states, which are entities that resemble “normal” states but lack international recognition. This paper examines a historical case study of the Gagauz Republic (Gagauzia), a de facto state that existed on the territory of Soviet and then independent Moldova between 1990 and 1995. Whilst the prevailing view in the literature on de facto states is that these entities strive for internationally recognised independence, this study draws on a new suite of sources (including interviews, memoirs and journalism) to argue that the Gagauz Republic’s leaders did not pursue the goal of independence. Instead, they sought autonomism, pursuing a measure of self-governance within Gagauzia’s two subsequent parent states, namely the Soviet Union and then independent Moldova.
Description
Keywords
Gagauz Republic, Gagauzia, de facto state, autonomism, independence
Citation
"The Soviet and Post-Soviet Review" T. 44, no. 3 (2017), s. 292–313
ISBN
Creative Commons License