GEORGIAN PARLIAMENT MAY RECOGNISE CIRCASSIAN "GENOCIDE"

Georgian Times
; newsid=21038
March 29 2010
Georgia

The Georgian Parliament will be asked to recognise the genocide
of the Circassian (‘Cherkess’) people committed by Russia in the
19th century. A document to this effect was adopted at a conference
held by the Jamestown Foundation in Tbilisi on March 21 and entitled
"Continuing Crime: Circassians and the Peoples of the North Caucasus
Past and Future."

The alleged Circassian genocide ostensibly happened during the
Russo-Circassian War, conducted in Circassia (present day Russia’s
Krasnodar Krai, republics of Adygea and Karachay-Cherkessia),
the northwestern part of the Caucasus. The war ended in 1864 with
annexation of these lands to the Russian Empire. During the 1860s much
of the Circassian population was expelled from their lands. Historians
site figures as large as 500,000 and greater. A large fraction of
them died in transit.This expulsion and other actions of the Russian
military has given rise to a movement for international recognition
of the alleged genocide.

Nugzar Tsiklauri, Chairman of the Georgian Parliament’s Committee on
Relations with the Diaspora, said that the document contains request
for the Parliament of Georgia to recognise the genocide of the
Circassian people by the Russian Empire, though it is not currently
recognised by any state. It is difficult at this point to talk about
whether MPs will support the appeal, however, he said.

Tsiklauri also said that Moscow might be irritated by this appeal
but it can also get upset over anything, including even the March 20
rugby match, which resulted in a Georgian victory.

The appeal will be officially delivered to the legislature at the end
of May. The Georgian Parliament is likely to recognize the genocide
because it can use the issue as a political weapon against Russia, said
journalist Fatima Tlisova, one of the leaders of the Circassian lobby.

Additionally, the move may elevate Georgia’s standing in the region.

"The fact that the Circassians have decided to have close relations
with the Georgian Parliament opens up a new perspective for us,"
Tsiklauri said. "Georgia can now become the regional centre which will
influence the processes developing in the North and South Caucasus,"

The appeal on the part of Circassians is not surprising and relies
on many similar precedents. "Such requests are numerous worldwide,"
said Mamuka Areshidze, Director of the Caucasus Institute of Strategic
Studies. "Armenia’s activity has provoked responses and the Parliaments
of France, Sweden and America have adopted resolutions about the
genocide of Armenians. Why is it not possible to do the same for the
Circassian people?"

Areshidze said that it will be salutary if Georgia stretches out a
hand to the Circassian people and attempts to discuss their tragedy
at a high political level. He also said that this will be unpleasant
for Russia and "no one in Moscow will be surprised."

However he said that official Tbilisi must not be led by emotion when
discussing this issue. In 1992-1993 Circassian people fought against
Georgians with the Russians and the Abkhaz separatists. During the
August war in 2008 Circassians also held support actions in favour
of Russia in front of Georgian Embassies worldwide.

Areshidze said that the Circassians thought that by showing this
support they would persuade Russia to agree to recognise the genocide
and not hold the Olympics in Sochi. However, "they did not gain
anything from these rallies," the expert said.

Iad Iugar, head of the Circassian Cultural Institute of New York, said
during the conference that currently the aims of Circassian movement
are to form their own State, to obtain recognition of the genocide and
prevent the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics taking place. The participants
of the conference said that the Olympic Charter directly prohibits
holding the Olympics in places where large numbers of people have been
killed and accordingly it is unacceptable to hold the games in Sochi.

According to Areshidze those Circassians attending the conference
in Tbilisi favoured Abkhazia’s independence from Georgia. "I think
the reason for this is that we have not had any contact with the
Circassian nation for a long time and no steps have been made towards
the North Caucasus peoples," he said. "In this period Russia has been
conducting an information war against Georgia."

Circassians’ support for Abkhazia notwithstanding, the de-facto
independent republic have not recognized the fact of genocide even
though Abkhazians are a kindred people of the Circassians.

Representatives of Circassian diasporas from different countries,
except Turkey, attended the conference. The Circassian diaspora in
Turkey refrained from attending the conference because it was afraid
of spoiling relations with Russia, said Glen Howard, President of
the Jamestown Foundation and one of its organisers.