Circassians UNPO Yearbook 1997

Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization

Circassians

UNPO YEARBOOK 1997

Location           : Russian Federation
Religion            : Islam (Suni) and Christian
Language          : Circassian
Population         : 4 million

Historic Cherkessia (Circassia) occupied the territory from the Black Sea in the west to the River Sunzhi (in present day Chechnya) in the east until the Russian conquest in the 1860s. Documents show the existence of a confederated Circassian n 1830 with more than 4 million people. As a result of genocide and deportation, at present, 3 million Circassians are scattered over 50 countries throughouth the world. Adyge, the name the Circassians give to their nation, represent a number of different ethnicities such as Adyge, Kabardians, Shapsugs, etc.

It is said that 90% of the population perished as a result and the 10% of the population that still live on their ancestral land is divided into three separate republics. In the Republic Adygea, they make up 22.1% of the population (125.000); in the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic they make up 48.2% of the population (390.000); and the Karachay-Cherkess Republic they make up 9.7% of the population (60.000). In the respective republics they are called Adyge, Kabardian or Circassian. Other minorities belonging to the Circassian people are even more scattered, such as the Shapsug Adyge near Sochi, a small group near Mozdok and some villages near Uspensk in the region Krasnodar. The vast majority of Circassians live outside of Russian Federation: over two million Circassian in Turkey and about 100.000 in Jordan, Syria, Israel, the United States and Europe.

The Russian – Caucasian war (1711 – 1864), was a brutal expression of the colonialism of Tsarist Russia that brought hardship and suffering to all the peoples of the Caucasus, including Circassians. In the years 1918 – 1920, the Bolsheviks, halted the wave of Caucasian nationalism with the promise to restore their state and sovereignity. It was in spite of these promises that the Circassian nation was divided into three republics. The Circassians were forced to abandon their native language in favour of Russian in a policy intented to lead to assimilation. Presently, the Circassians are striving to reunite their nation and have managed to maintain a strong national consciousness, language and culture alive in exile, in part because of and old, unwritten epic, the Adyge Khabze, that expresses a philosophical and moral code which binds the people together.

The political, socio-economic and ethno-cultual problems that the Circassians are facing at the present time are a direct result of the Russian – Caucasian War and the subsequent genocide and deportations. Founded in May 1991, the International Circassian Association has set out to obtain recognition of the genocide which occured. The Russian Federation, as an heir to the Russian Empire, has not recognized or condemned the genocide committed against the Circassian people. Althought the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union adopted a law on the rehabilitation of oppressed peoples in 1989, the Circassians have so far not been included and therefore do not enjoy the status of ‘people-in exile’ with the regal right to return to their ancestral lands. They consequently lack the offical support needed to revive their language or to promote the return of their fellow people from exile.

In 1994 the International Circassian Association, with its headquarters in Cherkessk, became a member of the UNPO in order to stand up fort the interest of the Circassian people living in different countries through non-violent means. In order to take the first steps towards the reunification of the Adyge people in the Russian Federation, the third congress of the International Circassian Association (ICA) initiated a program to revive and re-develop the Circassian and Abazinian culture. It adressed the leaders of Adyge, Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay-Cherkessia to form a joint research centre to be presented to the Russian Federal Governtment for financial support. Throughout 1997, the ICA has been working on increasing the coordination of the activities of the various Circassian public organizations. In July 1997, Mr Teuvezh Kazanokov of the ICA was elected as a Member of the UNPO’s Steering Committe.

A positive development at the political level was the inter-parliamentary agreement that was reached in 1997 between the three Republics where the majority of the Circassians now live: Adygea, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia. The agreement proposes the further development and strengthening of the traditional friendly relations between the three republics. Furthermore, it foresees strengthening contacts and dialogue between the Parliaments and coordination of legislative initiatives of joint social and political action, both on regional as well as on Federal affairs.

The parliament of the Republic of Adygea adopted a law on the repatriation of Circassians regulating the legal position of the repatriants. A similar law was submitted to the Parliament of Kabardino-Balkaria and is hoped to be adopted in the near future. After the elections in Kabardino-Balkaria, scheduled for 1998, a similar law will be presented to their Parliament as well.

The economy of this region was so well integrated into the economy of the former Soviet Union and subsequently of the Russian Federation that it has become independent of the natural environment and is now incapable of developing on its own. There are some initiatives to establish new companies, joint ventures and to find new opportunities. Unfortunately, the unstable situation in the Caucasus, with the recent war in Chechnya, an economic blockade around Abkhazia and large-scale refugee problems all around, is little encouragement to potential investors.

Unemployment in the North Caucasus is very high and a large part of the Adyge working population move North to work in Russia. Their children can barely speak their native tongue. Although historic Cherkessia occupied fertile soils with large forest areas and is rich in oil, gas and gold, the bond with nature that was so typical for the Adyge people has been cut as a result of the diversion of rivers, the building of gigantic industries and the irresponsible use of the natural resources. In the 1970s, over 20 Circassian villages were resettled to create a huge reservoir, the so-called Kuban reservoir of Adygean sea. Due to the serious environmental consequences of this project, a federal program was created to drain this reservoir. However, due to lack of financial support from the Russian Government, the program has not been put into effect. Moreover, in spite of protests, the plans to re-route the Great and Small Zelenchuk into the Kuban reservoir continue. Several commissions have confirmed the technical and economic impossibilities of this project and the dangers fort the environment.

The Circassians became a Member the UNPO in 1994.

Circassia in UNPO

Abkhazia in UNPO

RESOLUTION ON THE SITUATION OF THE CIRCASSIAN PEOPLE
Resolution of the General Assembly of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization, 15 - 19 July 1997

Resolution of UNPO About Abkhazia
UNPO Resolution on the Issue of the Repatriation of Deported Abkhaz during
the Russian Caucasian War and the Legitimacy of the regime Sanctions against Abkhazia, 26 June 2005