Circassian Outrage At Anniversary Plans
Officials in Adygeia accused of cashing in on a fraudulent version of
history.
By Oleg Tsvetkov in Maikop (CRS No. 358 21-Sep-06)
An official initiative to celebrate the 450th anniversary of Adygeia’s
“unification” with Russia has angered Adygs, also known as Circassians,
who accuse the Russian federal and local authorities of distorting
history for political gain.
Russian president Vladimir Putin signed a decree on September 8 naming
2007 as a year of festivities in Adygeia to mark the North Caucasian
republic “voluntarily joining of the Russian state”. Similar events are
also planned in Kabardino-Balkaria, where the majority Kabardinians are
also part of the wider Circassian ethnic group.
The events will commemorate the sending of a Kabardinian prince as an
envoy to Moscow in 1557, which resulted in a military alliance being
agreed with Tsar Ivan the Terrible.
The initiative came from the local government in Adygeia, supported by
the republic’s parliament.
“We are very serious about the planned festivities,” said Yuri Udychak,
chairman of the local parliamentary committee dealing with interethnic
relations. “As a result of joining Russia, we Adygs came into close
contact with the culture of the great Russian people and became able to
develop our own culture.”
“There are two universities and other educational institutions in
Adygeia nowadays,” said Udychak. “The fact the Adygs speak Russian so
well proves that we are very close to the Russian people. Asked whether
Adygeia had actually joined Russian “voluntarily”, Udychak replied, “No
one forced anyone. Why revise history?”
However, many Circassian politicians and activists are outraged, saying
the commemoration is a “falsification of history” which overlooks the
decades-long resistance by Circassians to incorporation into the Russian
empire in the 19th history.
Zaur Dzeukozhev, deputy chairman of the Circassian Congress, told IWPR,
“Adygea was colonised by the Russian Empire in the course of an almost
century-long bloody Russian-Caucasian war. All honest historians
acknowledge this, and we want the Russian authorities to tell the truth.”
Murat Berzegov, chairman of the Congress, said, “It’s wrong to celebrate
an event that never happened historically. Had we joined Russia
voluntarily, the Russian-Caucasian war of the 19th century would not
have been a popular liberation war but an insurrection by the people
against their own tsar…. This is how a single date - a holiday which
should not be celebrated - can change the history of a people,
converting them from heroes and champions of liberty into bandits.”
Another Circassian nationalist organisation, Adyge Khase, appears to be
divided on the planned festivities.
“[Moscow] just wants to tick a box to say that they’ve carried out work
to improve interethnic relations, and local officials just want to make
some money,” said Aly Tliap, head of Adyge Khase in the town of Adygeisk.
Amin Zekhov, another of the leaders of Adyge Khase, said that
Circassians had indeed served the Russian state in the past and had been
outstanding military commanders.
“However, the truth should also be spoken about the Russian-Caucasian
war, during which Adygeia was turned into a colony. How can we talk
about voluntarily accession after so much blood was spilt?” he asked.
Despite these reservations, Adyge Khase is officially supporting the
idea of next year’s celebrations, on the grounds that Circassians and
Russians had friendly relations long before the Caucasian war.
Dzeukozhev believes the group’s official support for the plans is
financially motivated. He said Adyge Khase representatives admitted in
private that the celebrations were historically inaccurate, but wanted
to earn money from them.
“Members of Adyge Khase are ‘great writers’ and ‘great composers,’ who
want to earn some money,” he said. “They don’t want to spoil their
relations with the republic’s bureaucrats.”
The end of the Caucasian war in the 1860s resulted in the expulsion of
tens of thousands of Circassians from the Russian empire to the Middle
East and Turkey. As a result, there are now far more Circassians outside
the North Caucasus than in it. Those in the region are mainly divided
between three small autonomous republics, Adygeia, Kabardino-Balkaria
and Karachai-Cherkessia.
Rushdi Tuguz, a Syrian-born Circassian who has recently moved to the
North Caucasus, remarked that if Adygeia’s integration into Russia had
been voluntary, his ancestors would not have fled to the Middle East in
the 19th century. “If you add sweet water to bitter water, it won’t be
good water,” said Tuguz.
In Adygeia, Russians form the majority while the ethnic Adygei account
for only around 25 per cent of the population. However, the Adygei form
the bulk of the republic’s political elite, a state of affairs that is a
constant cause of discontent among local organisations of ethnic
Russians. However, as far as the celebrations are concerned, the latter
are also critical.
“National elites have betrayed the history of their people,” said
Vladimir Karatayev, one of the leaders of the Slavs’ Union of Adygeia, a
Russian associations that is often at loggerheads with Circassian groups.
Others in Maikop see the presidential decree as a public relations
exercise by Moscow to make up for the dearth of serious policies on
ethnic minority issues in Russia’s North Caucasus.
They also say that the festivities are designed to smooth over a quarrel
between Moscow and the local elite.
Khazret Sovmen, president of Adygeia, and Dmitry Kozak, Russian
presidential envoy in the Southern Federal Circuit, were engaged in a
public row earlier this year. Sovmen threatened to resign over reports
that Kozak was backing a plan to abolish Adygeia’s autonomous status and
incorporate it into Krasnodar region. (See “Adygeia’s President
Confronts Kremlin”, CRS 335, April 13, 2006)
President Putin refused to accept Sovmen’s resignation, but relations
between Maikop and Moscow were seriously strained.
Meanwhile, opposition deputies in parliament are planning a no-confidence
vote against Sovmen, and the republican prime minister, Yevgeny Kovalyov,
was dismissed on September 13.
Sovmen’s term in office expires in January 2007 and his successor will
be appointed rather than elected. Kozak will propose candidates for the
post for approval by the Russian president. One way to get on the list
might be to support the anniversary idea.
Oleg Tsvetkov in an independent political analyst in Maikop, Adygeia.
Source: IWPR - Institute for War & Peace Reporting
