Today we have gathered here not only to talk about the past, but also to build the future. Our people, having survived the greatest tragedies, have preserved their identity and faith in justice. However, now we are faced with the question: are we ready to join forces to achieve our common goal – the restoration of the statehood of Circassia?
To this end, I propose to take a decisive step – to create a Coordination Council of Circassian Organizations and Activists (Coordination Council of Circassia). This body will become a key instrument for consolidation, coordination and effective interaction of all our people.
Why is this necessary?
First, the Coordination Council will unite Circassian organizations and leaders, creating a single platform for:
• strengthening cooperation,
• eliminating the duplication of efforts,
• increasing the effectiveness of our actions.
Secondly, it is on the basis of this Council that we will be able to initiate the creation of a new level World Circassian Congress, which:
• will unite Circassian communities around the world,
• develop strategic directions for development,
• will become a legitimate representative of the interests of the Circassian people in the international arena.
The next step is the national parliament
The work of the World Congress, in turn, will become the basis for the formation of the Circassian National Parliament. This parliament:
• will represent us in the dialogue with international organizations,
• defend our rights and interests,
• and will become a symbol of national sovereignty and identity.
These initiatives are not just words. They are a roadmap that will lead us to historical justice, strengthen our national identity and take our rightful place in international politics.
I appeal to all of you, dear participants of the Congress. If we are united in our goal, if we are ready to work for the sake of a common future, then the creation of the Coordination Council will be the first step on the path to success.
Let us show the world that the Circassian people can not only remember their history but also build their future.
Sincerely,
Marianne Sheru
Head of the Circassian Center and Foundation, New York”
“Do not try to be heard when you just talk. You will be heard when you start to act – systematically and purposefully. Systematically and purposefully – this means uniting into one force with one goal. Uniting different people with different views on the methods and nature of the struggle for the freedom of Circassia, in its future is difficult, but by no means impossible. There are three mandatory components here: “Circassia first of all”, a common TACTICAL goal, and constant rotation of the leader (coordinator).
What is the common tactical goal for all? I see it as achieving conditions for the realization of the right of the Circassian people to self-determination. And we all need to work together until this goal is achieved. After all, the realization of the right to self-determination is most often carried out in parallel with the elections of a new government.
The leader of any movement must understand that he is not, at least for now, the leader of the entire people. That his organization is not the only one, but simply one of the initiatives of the Circassians. To what extent it and its ideas (the Mountain Republic, the Federation, the Confederation with the Kubans, full independence) are popular among the Circassians, only the Circassian people will be able to say during the first free elections. This is the only way for anyone who wants to be not a dictator, but an executor of the will of the people. If he is serious about political struggle and political victory, he has only one way: to ensure, together with other colleagues in the union, the conditions for holding the first free elections in Circassia, transform his movement into a political party and conduct an election campaign that will ensure support for this party in these elections.
Any other path is a path of continued discord, essentially working for the Kremlin and a path to nowhere, that is, to the assimilation of the people and their disappearance.
It is important to remember that your organization is a model of your future state. An undemocratic movement, having come to power, will never build a democratic state.
If the leader does not change, the organization becomes his sect. Do not hold on to the chair, let go of the reins. Do not criticize or reject the author of any initiative, but appoint him as the project manager for the implementation of this initiative. At least some members of your organization will support life projects and they will be implemented, and empty fantasies and their authors will be quietly forgotten.
Contradictions with other movements give rise to the temptation to throw all your strength and energy into the struggle. My advice: don’t do that. You just have to not initiate this “front,” and if it appears on your own initiative, ignore it. This struggle will simply tie your hands and feet, and lead you away from positive, constructive activity. All its participants will no longer see Putin and his regime as enemies, but rather the oppositionists who have a different point of view. This will only play into the dictator’s hands since the FSB will practically no longer need to intervene to destroy the opposition. Therefore, your rule, at least at this first stage, should not be “Whoever is not with us is against us!”, but “Whoever is not with them is with us!”
By the way, about the FSB. There is a widespread opinion – which is tacitly but constantly supported by the security officers themselves – about its omnipotence, about its presence everywhere where an anti-Putin opinion is heard. Naturally, this creates fear in budding anti-Putinists, and they begin to limit themselves. Caution is certainly necessary, but Putin’s “masters of the cloak and dagger” do not have any omnipotence or super-professionalism. Let’s just remember their stupidest failures with leaving traces of toxic substances in airplane cabins and underwear. Or about the murder of Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev in Qatar, when local police exposed the “super agents” and arrested them within a few hours. That means, I repeat, caution is necessary, but to such an extent that it does not become handcuffs put on ourselves with our own hands, which paralyzes our activities.
In conclusion, I emphasize once again: that the people colonized by Moscow have no choice. The Kremlin, with its genocidal and aggressive policy, has left them with one choice: either fight for liberation, win and live – or disappear.
Ukrainians are with you – and have always been so. Let me remind you of the words of Taras Shevchenko in the poem “Caucasus”, written almost 200 years ago and dedicated to your struggle against the Russian invaders: “Fight, you will overcome – God helps you!” They are relevant today.
Pavlo Zhovnirenko, Chairman of the Center for Strategic Studies (Kyiv, Ukraine)”
