On August 5, Istanbul hosted the first international conference dedicated to the independence of Circassia. The organizers called on world leaders to recognize the genocide of the Circassian people by the Russian Empire in the 19th century.
The creation of a sovereign national state is necessary to preserve the language, culture, national identity of the Circassians, the participants of the United Circassian Council said. It includes organizations of representatives of the diaspora and residents of Karachay-Cherkessia itself. A corresponding resolution was also adopted there.
“We attach great importance to the recognition of the genocide by the world community, but this is not an end in itself, but rather a tool to achieve the main goal – the creation of a free Circassia,” one of the organizers, head of the Circassian Congress based in Russia, said in an interview with the Kavkaz.Realii website “Kase Kik.
The interlocutor noted that the organization “Caucasian Union”, consisting of natives of Dagestan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Chechnya, Ukraine and Karachay-Cherkessia, also took part in the conference.
- Due to the Caucasian War and the mass deportation of Circassians to the Ottoman Empire, only about five percent of the representatives of the Circassian people remained in their historical homeland. Currently, Circassians live in more than 50 countries of the world. The only country that has recognized the genocide of the Circassians today is Georgia.
- Earlier, a group of people’s deputies of Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada proposed to recognize the genocide of the Circassian people by the Russian Empire. The initiative was supported by a total of 50 Ukrainian parliamentarians from various parliamentary groups, including from the ruling Servant of the People party.
- Also in 2022, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted a resolution recognizing Chechnya as a territory temporarily occupied by Russia, and also condemned the “genocide of the Chechen people” during two wars in the republic.
