Treaty of Adrianople Between a Crumbling Empire and a Grasping One

By: Adel Bashqawi

V International Session

The Circassian Cultural Center, Tbilisi

24 December 2020

Abstract

The weakness and subsequent disintegration of the Ottoman Empire created favorable conditions for the Russian Empire to achieve its colonial goals. The Russian policies were aimed at controlling vast geographical areas in various regions such as the Caucasus, although some of these areas were not parts or colonies of the Ottoman Empire. That started with the hegemonic powers conspired to conclude treaties and agreements in the absence of the real stakeholders. Therefore, the Russian invaders caused multiple calamities to tens of  indigenous peoples and nations such as Circassian nation, which were exposed to the most unmatched oppressive conditions in the history of Mankind. Read more →

Monday, December 21, 2020

Defense Witnesses Again Show Falsity of Charges against Circassian Activist, Memorial Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, December 19 — At the latest session of the trial of Circassian activist Martin Kochesokov on drug charges two days ago, the Memorial Human Rights Organization says, five defense witnesses said officials in the North Caucasus had put pressure on him for political reasons and thus supported his insistence the authorities planted the drugs and he is innocent.

            The Memorial declaration is available at https://memohrc.org/ru/news_old/sud-v-kbr-doprosil-svideteley-zashchity-po-delu-martina-kochesokova and has been reposted by a KBR human rights portal (zapravakbr.ru/index.php/30-uncategorised/1613-sud-v-kbr-doprosil-svidetelej-zashchity-po-delu-martina-kochesokova). Read more →

Paul Goble’s 42 Windows on Eurasia for Dec. 15-20, 2020      

1.      Putin Health Care Cutbacks Continue Even During Pandemic

windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2020/12/putin-health-care-cutbacks-continue.html

2.      Russian Population Set to Decline by 600,000 or More This Year — and Not Primarily Because of Pandemic, Zhelenin Says

windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2020/12/russian-population-set-to-decline-by.html   

3.      Putin ‘Saving Pashinyan’ for Use in Renewed Great Game in the Caucasus, Tarasov Says

windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2020/12/putin-saving-pashinyan-for-use-in.html  Read more →

Суд в КБР допросил свидетелей защиты по делу Мартина Кочесокова

12/18/2020

They are sure that the case against the activist is revenge for his social activities

В Урванском районном суде Кабардино-Балкарской Республики продолжилось рассмотрение уголовного дела 31-летнего главы черкесской общественной организации «Хабзэ» Мартина Кочесокова, которого обвиняют в приобретении и хранении 263 граммов марихуаны (ч. 2 ст. 228 УК). Кочесоков утверждает, что невиновен и подписал признательные показания, потому что ему угрожали пытками. На заседании 17 декабря допросили пятерых свидетелей защиты. Они рассказали, что накануне задержания Кочесокова, представители власти оказывали на него давление из-за его активной гражданской позиции. Read more →

Paul Goble’s 42 Windows on Eurasia for Dec. 9-14, 2020    

1.      Moscow Seeks to Stop St. Petersburg Resistance to New Year’s Restrictions Before It Spreads

windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2020/12/moscow-seeks-to-end-st-petersburg.html   

2.      Ingush Protester has Three Questions for Putin

windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2020/12/ingush-protester-has-three-questions.html

3.      Only Way Armenia Can Take Revenge for Loss of Qarabagh is to Become Part of a Russian Union State, Latvian Analyst Says  Read more →

Wednesday, December 16, 2020

Moscow’s Organizations for Ties with Russian Speakers Abroad Part of FSB ‘Under Cover,’ Polyak Says

Paul Goble

Staunton, December 14 – From the very beginning of his time in power, Vladimir Putin has viewed the 30 million Russian speakers living abroad as key promoters of Moscow’s interests abroad. In that, Rimma Polyak says, he has followed the Soviet tradition of putting his intelligence agency, the FSB, in charge of dealing with them.

In a detailed article for Vestnik Civitas, an online project she heads, Polyak points out that in the ramified system of government and nominally private organizations, Rossotrudnichestvo, the Federal Agency for CIS and Compatriot Affairs and International Humanitarian Cooperation, is the most important (vestnikcivitas.ru/pbls/4248). Read more →

Sunday, December 13, 2020

Moscow’s Misrepresentations about Colonial War in Caucasus Set the Stage for New Violence, Khakuasheva Says

Paul Goble

Staunton, December 11 – George Santayana’s observation that those who forget the past are condemned to relive it is taking on new urgency in the Russian Federation where the lies some Russian leaders and media figures are telling about the tsarist colonial wars in the Caucasus are setting the stage for new violence, Madina Khakuasheva says.

The senior scholar at the Kabardino-Balkar Institute for Research on the Humanities argues that the increasing insistence by such Russians that the Circassians and other peoples of the region were exclusively to blame for Russian losses during the tsarist colonial advance rather than the regime that dispatched troops is backfiring (natpressru.info/index.php?newsid=12233). Read more →