INTERNATIONAL CIRCASSIAN ASSOCIATION ASSEMBLY

TEXT OF THE SPEECH GIVEN BY CIHAN CANDEMIR,
THE PRESIDENT OF KAFFED, AT THE ICA GENERAL ASSEMBLY

(06 May, 2006, Istanbul)

1. Welcome Message

Dear President Zawurbiy, our delegates from various countries (from the Russian Federation, Abkhazia, Europe, the U.S.A., Jordan, Syria and Israel) all over the world, dear guests who answered our invitation in order to follow the congress, and dear members of our associations; you are all welcome. When our ancestors were forced to exile from their historical lands, many of the ones who could survive the fierce storms of the Black Sea, diseases and famine could land in Istanbul. “Istambulaku’o”, that is to say “Istanbul passenger”, became the word for exile. People who landed in Istanbul had to scatter throughout the lands of the Ottoman Empire first, then throughout various countries all over the world. Istanbul, at this time, is meeting the Circassians who were scattered throughout the world from Istanbul 142 years ago. I thank all the participants personally and in the name of our Federation, of which I am in charge, founded by 50 associations in Turkey, for you have joined us and shared our enthusiasm on this historic day of ours.

2. The Importance of the ICA Meeting

Dear guests, today is really an important day for us. Because, the World Circassians came together for the first time at the meeting for the "Commemoration of the 125th year of the Circassian Exile" again in Turkey on October 21, 1989. People who came together on that day summoned the public to “Form a world, let peace and brotherhood become stronger, let peace and brotherhood between nations in this world become stronger, let winds of peace wipe out the word "war" from all the languages. People who esteem humanity and peace; let’s altogether adorn the world with love”, and they made the first steps towards the foundation of the World Wide Circassian Assembly as the federation of the Circassians living in different countries. Preparations for the founding took two years. World Wide Circassians Assembly was founded at the first congress held in Nalchik on 19-20 May, 1991. Since it was founded in 1991, six congresses were held in Maikop in 1993, in Cherkessk in 1998, in Krasnodar in 1998, in Nalchik in 2000 and 2003. We, as Circassians living in different countries of the world, many of whom are relative to each other, are now coming together in order to hold our seventh congress in Istanbul, where they were scattered throughout the world. Turkey, where the decisions of the establishment were made, is hosting the World Circassians in the hope of forming a new vision for the ICA and determining a new mission this time.

Timing of our applications for the meeting unfortunately conflicted with the period when the fight with the separatist groups in the South East increased. Some said "If only you hadn't done this meeting at such a sensitive time". But we couldn’t give up a resolution which was taken at the congress in 2003, three years before. There was not a single reason to hesitate or a ground to take offence for us, the Circassians, living in peace with all the other nations as proud citizens in every country they reside. On the contrary, we think that this meeting is a chance for us. This meeting gives us the opportunity to address the world once more after 17 years on this day when people fear from the conflict of civilizations, people are killed because of inter-religious intolerance, racism is raising again, our artists who served as ministers are beaten to death and terror is spreading. We say to the world that: “Lets form a world, let peace and brotherhood between nations in this world become stronger, let winds of peace wipe out the word "war" from all the languages. People who esteem humanity and peace; let’s altogether adorn the world with love”. We pray the God in our language: “God, help all the nations in the world. But, don’t forget us, the Circassians.”

3. For what purpose was the ICA founded and what could it do

Dear delegates and dear guests, the purpose of the ICA was written in its first bylaw as follows: “Daghestanians, Osetians and the Chechen-Ingush people have a dense population in their historical lands while their population in the Diaspora is rather few. So, they don’t require more population and they don’t have a problem of repatriation. Or this is a small problem for them. On the contrary, 80-90% of the Adyghean-Abkhazian-Ubykh people in Abkhazia, Karachay-Cherkessia, Kabardino-Balkaria and Coastline Shapsugh Area were forced to exile. It is necessary for them to gain the repatriation right, and to prevent assimilation and cultural extinction by means of rapidly realizing this historic right.”

Primarily, the reason for founding the ICA was this. Its purpose and tasks are written in the bylaws as follows:

“PURPOSE AND DUTIES OF THE ICA:

The ICA is aiming at restructuring and improving the Adyghean-Abkhazian peoples, at performing the work necessary for realizing the objectives for this purpose and struggling to improve such, and at helping to unravel their wholly true histories.

For realizing this objective the ICA carries out the following tasks:

a) Improving the relations and strengthening the brotherhood ties between the Circassians all over the world and the Circassians living in their homeland,

b) Ensuring the use of the same writing and alphabet by all the Circassians,

c) Gathering up the parts of the Circassian culture scattered throughout the world, and the means of press in the Homeland, and gathering up all the publications about the Circassians.

d) Working for ensuring all the Circassians write and read in their mother language,

e) Helping the associations unite their power, ensuring them to be organized together as a federation,

f) Ensuring the Circassians living in different countries know each other, relatives find each other and the young generations are in solidarity,

g) Through international organizations, trying to make the Circassian Exile and genocide officially accepted and getting the right of double passport-dual nationality right,

h) Helping the Circassians who are wronged and who live scattered in many countries to return their Homeland as soon as possible,

Actuating the possibilities for our nationals living in countries other than our Homeland to be in contact and in cooperation with each other in economic matters.

Taking place in the states, regional unions and the organizations all over the world in matters regarding the national affairs and starting the necessary initiatives.

Dear delegates, we have to ask the following questions to ourselves. As the ICA, to what extend have we fulfilled the things we have written in the bylaws and the things we had to do? When we take a look at the past now, there is not a big achievement except for meeting the associations and their executives all over the world, having the UNPO take a good resolution and a little improvement in the matters of Adyghean History, Adyghe Encyclopedia, and using a single language. Even the excessive excitement and enthusiasm which existed at the beginning of the ICA decreased dramatically. Nothing could be done for the purposes of the objectives stated below. If we happen to make a self-criticism after a 15-years-work the results will be as follows:

· We couldn’t achieve a single writing and a common alphabet, or we couldn’t decelerate the assimilation of our language.

· Bringing population to the Homeland was to be our main mission but it couldn’t. Worsening of the repatriation and citizenship acts couldn't be prevented.

· We would enter international organizations in order to solve the Circassian national problems and bring our problems to those organizations and try to conclude them. We could enter only the UNPO, but we couldn’t back up the only important resolution that was taken. Now the Circassian Congress has claimed this matter, which we, as KAFFED, are keeping on the agenda for the last three years, and is pursuing the resolution.

· We couldn’t even solve the emblem problem of the ICA for 15 years.

· “Circassian Solidarity Fund" and “Reunification Fund of the Circassians” started to work but they didn’t continue.

· A Common Parliament between the three republics was formed and they started to gather their first meetings but the mistakes in Cherkessk eliminated this important opportunity.

· Only Turkey, Jordan and America paid their subscription fees, and the obligations of the others were always shifted forward with resolutions in a Circassian manner. Our organization is in financial crisis and it cannot work. The headquarters building was delayed for this reason for 3-4 years.

· We couldn’t make the bilateral cultural agreements between Turkey and Russia work and we started to experience difficulties as the ones living in the Diaspora.

· We would incessantly reach our people by means of religious and language teaching, writing-reading campaigns through broadcasting by establishing a TV, but we couldn’t.

Meanwhile, we had some serious problems. Some mistakes were made during the period when the ICA Headquarters was in Karachay-Cherkessia. The ICA was involved in politics inconsistently with its objectives. Difficult periods were experienced during the period in Cherkessk and at the Nalchik Congress. We offended some of friends with whom we set off. We couldn’t work freely because of the martial laws during and after the war in Chechenya. Upsetting events in Beslan and Nalchik prevented even our meetings. Many such unfavourable events can be counted.

But, on the other hand, we also had some achievements in the past period. There has been some important progress in Turkey in the EU accession process. Some important steps have been made towards democratization. Although not being fully applied yet, our associations are freer and their working field is broader. Although it is not enough, we are able to work with bigger budgets. We have an independent office as the ICA. We have state presidents, such as Kanoko Arsen and Shovmen Hazret who are trying to do something for their societies in Kabardino-Balkaria and Adyghea.

4. What do we expect from the ICA

Today, we gathered in Turkey, where the ICA was founded, once more. Year 2006 and many things have changed in our world. We have lost some of the people who contributed the foundation of the ICA 17 years before. We pray the God to have mercy on them. Again, some of the people who contributed to the foundation of the ICA 17 years before are still among us. We pray the God to give long lives to them. Now, we all have a new task. We have to start a new era once again in Turkey with the enthusiasm of 17 years before. First, we have to restructure the ICA in order to fulfil what we have to do and what we couldn't do in the future. We have to form younger and more dynamic staff. We have to make the ICA an organization which has economic power. We are to review the past and take lesson from the past while doing this.

After all these explanations and self-criticism, our wishes and considerations regarding the future as KAF-FED are as follows:

First of all, we want to serve you well and carry out a congress that will be followed as an example.
We want to take resolutions that will allow a return to the first bylaws of the ICA at its foundation.
We want to deal with our national problems without damaging the relations of Turkey and the Russian Federation and exhibit a consistent attitude. We recognize that Caucasia needs its fertile lands to be cultivated and businessman to invest in the region to develop economically. We have sufficient human resources for this. We see that the return of sufficient human power to their Homeland by means of repatriation is beneficial to both countries.
We want efficient work to be performed in order to keep our language live.
We want the Chechen war, which forced Caucasia into instability, to be finished immediately with an honourable peace. We want all the nations living in North Caucasia to develop in peace and to live together.
In June 1998, the President of Adyghea, Mr. Carim Aslan, concluded his words after many remarks as follows: “The last matter I will state is that: The Kuban basin is a home and a home that belongs to all of us. For this reason, I wish you feel yourselves home at this home and you finish your work in peace and you return to your homes safely.” We don’t want the gates of this house, to which some of us dream of returning, some of us would like to visit at least once a year, to be closed. We are expecting effective efforts for preserving the given statutes of our existing republics against their historical rights.
We don’t want terror in Caucasia and we are expecting favourable initiatives that will improve the situation in the Russian Federation. In this context, we believe that returning the bodies of the ones who died in the Nalchik events will make a positive contribution.
We want the embargo imposed on Abkhazia to be removed completely.
We want to head towards our primary objectives from the very beginning with a unique foundation instead of alternative and weak organizations by removing the crossness with the people excluded at the 2000 Nalchik congress.

We hope we will be able to fulfil these wishes and thoughts together in our upper organization, the ICA, in the following periods. Otherwise, the existence of the ICA with its current situation which cannot provide solutions to the problems of the society will only have a symbolic meaning.

I wish this Congress will result in favourable outcomes according to our purposes and wishes. I thank all the participants once more.

I want to finish my speech with the words of the late Kalmuk Yura. The statement made by the President Kalmuk Yura for “Adyghe Makh” (Voice of the Circassians) newspaper at the end of the General Assembly in 1993 sounds as if it was addressing today. On that day, dear Kalmuk Yura said:

“Uttering beautiful words, talking a lot, making good decisions and breaking up don’t work. It is time to gird the loins and get down working. Everybody has to work according to his strength in order for our nation to regain what we were caused to lose in the past. We have to strengthen our ties with our brothers who are still living their lives in exodus. I know not all the national problems can be solved by the ICA administration. All the governments, parliaments, presidents and the people who feel responsibility must contribute to the solution of the national problems. The cooperation and the performance of the ones who are elected to the administrative organs of the ICA will be an important factor in solving national problems. It is not time to complain but to work. You must know that the solution to any of the national problems is not easy and simple.”

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