INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON NORTH CAUCASUS ISSUES
The Messenger, Georgia
March 25 2010
Some days ago an international conference was held in Tbilisi
dedicated to the problems in the North Caucasus. The major outcome
of the conference was that Circassian representatives asked the
Georgian Government to recognise the Circassian genocide carried
out by Russians in the 19th century, when they claim two million
Circassians were exterminated in what is now the Krasnodar region
of the Russian Federation, which until the 19th century had been a
Circassian homeland. About 1 million Circassians were forced to leave
Russia and emigrated to Turkey.
One of the last battles between the Russian regular forces and
Circassian troops took place at the site where the 2014 Sochi Winter
Olympics are due to be held. The Circassian delegation is preparing
an application to the Georgian Parliament asking it to recognise the
genocide of the Circassian people. Georgian analysts and specialists
in Caucasus issues think that discussing Circassian problems is very
important for Georgia for a variety of reasons. The Circassians are
a related people to the Abkhaz and are very influential in Abkhazia,
as Circassians even participated in the military operations against
Georgia. Current Georgian-Circassian relations can also be addressed
within the context of the present confrontation between Georgia and
Russia. For this reason Circassian national movement leader Patima
Tlisova thinks that there is a quite substantial probability that
the Georgian Parliament will recognise the Circassian genocide as
Georgia could use this as a political tool against Russia.
MP Nugzar Tsiklauri has stated that the Georgian Parliament will by
all means consider the Circassian people’s request but this could be a
very long process. The situation is quite complicated. Acknowledging
this genocide will irritate Russia, and analyst Mamuka Areshidze
thinks that Armenia will then demand that Georgia also recognise
the Armenian genocide. Any kind of decision should be taken only in
Georgia’s interests.
Chairman of the Caucasus People’s Confederation Zaal Kasrelishvili
thinks it unlikely that Parliament will recognise the genocide,
however he considers that more attention should be paid to the problems
of the North Caucasus people. If we dig deeper into this issue we
might discover that the Russians have committed acts of genocide
against several North Caucasus peoples, such as the Circassians,
Abkhaz, Chechens, Dagestanis and Muslim Ossetians, at different
times. Several hundred thousand Chechens were killed during the two
Chechen wars conducted by Russia against one of its regions at the
end of the last century, and Chechen nationalists insist that this
is another unrecognised genocide.
There are certain issues, in particular ones involving Russia, to
which the international community turns a blind eye. Things like
genocide are only taken seriously when they receive wider resonance,
as we can see from the international reactions to the Nazi holocaust
and the documented genocides in Rwanda, Darfur, Cambodia and various
other places. Here we may have another reason why Russia is determined
to put itself on one side of the fence and Europe on the other.