Circassia the Day After: Future Circassia
By: Adel Bashqawi
August 2, 2023
Introduction
Although the title of my Paper is “Circassia the next day”, which is the time when dozens of peoples and nations will be able to recover their legitimate rights from the Russian state, it is appropriate to remember some of what happened in the past. However, the topic will not be complete if the truth about what has happened in the past is not touched upon briefly. This explains all the factors that led to the aggravation of the situation, which eventually reached this level.
Location and Background
Circassia is the cradle of an ancient civilization, located in the Caucasus region, has a rich and ancient history that dates back to the “…3rd millennium BC by the Kuban culture, which left its remains in many thousands of burial mounds, or kurgans, on the steppes of Ciscaucasia.”[1] Thus, “Circassia has a confirmed history of more than six thousand years, consistently and positively contributing to humanity. Circassian civilization and culture originated in northwestern Caucasus and has existed for a long time. Circassia is situated within the Caucasus Plateau and is considered a natural obstacle. It contains Mount Elbrus, the highest peak in Europe, with an elevation of 18,510 feet above sea level.”[2] The Circassian coast on the Black Sea extended approximately 300 km, from Anapa in the Northwest to Adler in the Southeast, which included cities like Tuapse, Sujuk-Kale and Sochi.
Conspiracy and Terrorism
The Russian Empire found ample time and loyal friends who filled its aspirations with capabilities that would help to acquire the lands and homelands of other peoples and nations according to imperial schemes, to promote colonialism and settlement for its citizens and mercenaries. The irony of fate made the subjugated peoples subordinate to an empire whose only obsession was to take over the homelands and capabilities of these peoples and nations, no matter what the cost.
“The Russian military occupation and annexation after May 21, 1864, was a prelude to delete Circassia from the map of the region. The Russian Empire wanted to take possession of Circassia without the Circassians. They exterminated or displaced the entire population, either to beyond the Kuban River (10% of the population) or to the Ottoman Empire (90% of them).”[3] Its documented that “The genocide committed against the Circassian nation by Czarist Russia in the 1800s was the biggest genocide of the nineteenth century.”[4]
Language and Culture
Due to the fact that the indigenous Circassians are dispersed in dozens of countries, and the reality that Circassians living in their original homeland, divided in several non-contiguous administrative entities, their language and survival are inevitably threatened with annihilation. In regard to the Circassian language and culture, “UNESCO has identified Circassian as one of the languages in the North Caucasus at risk of {completely disappearing in the next few decades} given the already low number of people who speak it in that region, the division of the community, and the absence of the use of Circassian in schools and other public spaces.”[5]
The Invasion of Ukraine Repeats the Usual Game
Phase 1 of war was initially waged in February 2014, just after the Sochi Winter Olympic Games were over, at a time Ukraine was not ready for war. Russia utilized a hybrid warfare with troops without any identifying markings. That falls within the scope of violating the known laws of warfare, as if it’s a gang war. Also, they implemented a well-thought-out annexation to Russia’s plan. Insurgency forces were developed and deployed in southeast Ukraine. The Russian backed rebels announced the establishment of two breakaway republics in Donetsk and Luhansk, followed by recognizing them by Russia as independent republics.
Russia’s sudden and unjustified invasion of Ukraine (phase 2), in February 2022 intended to occupy and annex parts of the sovereign state. The unjustified overrun is brutal, cruel, and characterized as a war of extermination. This is nothing but a repetition of what successive Russian regimes have done and are still doing since Ivan the Terrible to this day. In the nineteenth century, my original homeland Circassia, in addition to Chechnya, Dagestan, and other nations of the Caucasus and beyond, were invaded, occupied and annexed by the Russian Empire after long aggressive wars marked by oppression and extermination. This resulted in tragedies, atrocities, and repercussions of which they are still evident today. That was for purely colonial and imperial purposes, while religion has nothing to do with it.
The Dawn of Freedom will Rise Again
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the government of then, the young Soviet State endeavored to grant the various nationalities the right to self-determination; but that was overlooked. Their twinkling promises turned out to be {too good to be true}. “After Lenin’s death, with the consolidation of the Stalinist bureaucracy and the physical elimination of the opposition, the Soviet state returned to rigid nationalist politics that denied other nations the right to secession, exposing the complete rupture of the Stalinist bureaucracy with Marx, who measured the caliber of socialists in oppressor nations by their attitude towards oppressed nations.”[6] The regime was characterized by tyranny, dictatorship and even fascism, while citizens of peoples and nations remained, were considered second-class citizens.
Treaty of Adrianople (Edirne)
It was the platform on which the tools of evil have been unleashed right there and then, specifically after the signing and implementation of the infamous Treaty of Adrianople (Edirne) in 1829 between the Russian and Ottoman Empires. However, the Ottoman Empire or Turkey have never controlled Circassia, rather, Circassians were never been Turkish citizens. “Adrianople, (Sept. 14, 1829), pact concluding the Russo-Turkish War of 1828–29, signed at Edirne (ancient Adrianople), Tur.; it strengthened the Russian position in eastern Europe and weakened that of the Ottoman Empire. The treaty foreshadowed the Ottoman Empire’s future dependence on the European balance of power and also presaged the eventual dismemberment of its Balkan possessions.”[7]
They did not offer allegiance and obedience to the Sublime Porte, which, unfortunately, exploited the sympathy of the Circassians with him and with the Ottoman Empire to use them as bait or a commodity for exchange of interests. This gave the green light to eliminate the Circassians completely, by cooperating and conspiring with the Russian Empire that does not have any customary, cultural or other roots in Circassia or the Caucasus. That allowed Russia to gain access to the coast and territories of the Black Sea, which opened the door for the acquisition of Circassia and thus the entire Caucasus region.
Conclusion
Without a doubt, deprivation of liberty created oppression and restriction of rights. No matter how long the occupation, annexation, restriction of freedoms, arbitrary detention, and enforced disappearances last, the dawn of freedom will rise again. Future Circassia must be part of a pan Caucasus region to which it belongs. However, certain basic steps must be taken in order for this to become possible in accordance with international laws and norms. The most important of which is freedom, right to self-determination, independence and their freedom of choice.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bUycemH6NI
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References:
[1] https://www.britannica.com/topic/Kuban-culture
[2] Circassia: Born to be free, Adel Bashqawi
[3] Circassia: Born to be free, Adel Bashqawi
[4] http://users.jyu.fi/~aphamala/pe/issue2/circass.htm
[5] http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2016/12/can-circassian-language-and-people-who.html
[6] https://www.leftvoice.org/the-russian-revolution-and-national-self-determination/
[7] https://www.britannica.com/event/Treaty-of-Edirne
