Deputy Of The People's Assembly.

[Aharim]

In the badges of late Moldavian SSR, I left out, a key autonomous region/republic, Gagauzia. In the turmoil of 1990, the Gagauz (Turkic people who had generally converted to orthodox Christianity, speak Turkish or Russian and write in Cyrillic) of southern Moldavian SSR/Moldova declared autonomy and status as an Autonomous Republic. Subsequently, they voted to remain part of the USSR. But when Moldova voted for its independence after August 1991, the Gagauz delegates to the Supreme Soviet split on independent Moldova or USSR, and thus did not split “from” Moldova. Gagauzia has now achieved an autonomous territorial status within the Republic of Moldova, with special authority of self-determination – in the event of any decision to change the national status of Moldova (such as joining Romania).

Gagauzia has an area of approximately 700 square miles (slightly less than ½ the size of Rhode Island – the smallest of the U.S. States)(or 2/3 the area of Ajara in Georgia) and approximately 155,000 inhabitants (slightly less than ½ the population of Ajara). The badge shown is that of the Gagauz Autonomous Republic, the three stars apparently representing the three republics of Moldova, namely Moldavia, Gagauzia, and Transniestria. That idea of a Federal Moldova was nixed by the Moldovan central government in Chisinau. The badge is from after 1991 since the flag shown was formally adopted in 1995, and in 1992, the flag appeared without the stars!