Thursday, October 29, 2020

Moscow Treating North Caucasus Republics like Colonies, Khatazhukov Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, October 27 – Many Russians and others as well blame conditions in the North Caucasus republics on the nations there, blaming them for the authoritarianism of their regimes. But that is not the cause of the situation. These republics began to build serious civil societies in the 1990s, but then Moscow crushed them, Valery Khatazhukov says.

            The Circassian head of the Kabardino-Balkar Human Rights Protection Center says that the reason for this change was not the second post-Soviet Chechen war but rather the Kremlin’s decision to treat Chechnya and the other republics as colonies and test repressive measures there before using them elsewhere (caucasustimes.com/ru/valerij-hatazhukov-kreml-vystraivaet-svoi-otnoshenija-s-severnym-kavkazom-kak-metropolija-s-kolonijami/). Read more →

Tuesday, October 27, 2020

Chechens Turned to Islam to Find Justice But Circassians Already had It, Bzegezhev Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, October 25 – Russians and other outsiders are accustomed to lumping together all the peoples of the North Caucasus, except for the North Ossetians, as Muslims, but what it means for each of them to be a Muslim varies widely depending on the nature of their cultural code before Islam arrived and whether it provided justice, Askhad Bzegezhev says.

            Writing on Moscow’s Snob portal, the Circassian commentator says he always was struck by the fact that Russians call all Circassians Muslims while none of his relatives, friends or acquaintances go to mosques or wear the hijab or otherwise behave as Russians expect Muslims to (snob.ru/profile/32165/blog/171092/). Read more →

Paul Goble’s 42 Windows on Eurasia for Oct. 22-27, 2020

1.      Putin Blames Higher Coronavirus Figures Now on Better Diagnostics and Reporting

windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2020/10/putin-blames-higher-coronavirus-figures.html

2.      New Cold War a Clash of Civilizations Between Russia and the West, Bartosh Says

windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2020/10/new-cold-war-clash-of-civilizations.html Read more →

Read more →

Проект Великая Черкесия – миф или реальность

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الجمعة 23 أكتوبر/تشرين الأول 2020

يقول أوزدمير إن جهود موسكو وأنقرة لاستغلال الشركس تجعل دور الشركس في أماكن أخرى أكثر أهمية

بول غوبل (Paul Goble)

ترجمة: عادل بشقوي

23 أكتوبر/تشرين الأول 2020

            ستاونتون، 21 أكتوبر/تشرين الأول — يقول جيم أوزدمير، وهو شركسي يعمل كنائب عن حزب الخضر في البرلمان الألماني، إن موسكو وأنقرة تبنتا هكذا نهج مفيد للشركس، مع استخدام كل منهما لتلك الأمة لأغراضه الخاصة، بحيث يكون دور الشركس في البلدان الأخرى، يعتبر ضمان بقاء ذلك الشعب أكثر أهمية.

            سعت الحكومتان الروسية والتركية، وإن كان ذلك لأسباب مختلفة للغاية، إلى اختزال دور الشركس بفضول إثنوغرافي (وصف الأعراق البشرية)، الذي يتصف افرادهم  بأنّهُم يحتفلون برقصاتهم التقليدية ومراسم زواجهم لكنهم يتخلّون عن لغتهم وهويّتِهِم المشتركة (oezdemir.de/2020/10/13/interview-mein-vater-war-ein-tscherkesse; in Russian at justicefornorthcaucasus.info/?p=1251682700). Read more →

Friday, October 23, 2020

Efforts by Moscow and Ankara to Exploit Circassians Make Role of Circassians Elsewhere More Critical, Ozdemir Says

Paul Goble

Staunton, October 21 – Cem Ozdemir, a Circassian who serves as a Green deputy in the German parliament, says Moscow and Ankara have adopted such an instrumental approach to the Circassians, with each using that nation for its own purposes, that the role of Circassians in other countries in ensuring the survival of that people is more critical.

The Russian and Turkish government, albeit for very different reasons, have sought to reduce the Circassians to an ethnographic curiosity, one where its members celebrate their traditional dances and marriage ceremonies but give up their language and collective identity (oezdemir.de/2020/10/13/interview-mein-vater-war-ein-tscherkesse; in Russian at justicefornorthcaucasus.info/?p=1251682700). Read more →