PSCRP-BESA Reports No 70 (July 21, 2024)
The constant attacks by the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) on Sevastopol and other Russian naval bases in Crimea have forced the Russians to move their ships to Novorossiysk and other ports on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus, that is, to internationally recognized Russian territory and even to Russian-occupied Abkhazia. However, as calls for the decolonization of Russia gradually cease to be a marginal phenomenon, the legitimacy of the Russian presence on the Black Sea coast from the Taman Peninsula in the north to the Georgian-Abkhazian border in the south (i.e., the entire internationally recognized Russian access to the Black Sea) is being questioned. This territory is claimed by the Circassian (aka Adyghe; in the European languages the terms “Circassians” and “Adyghe” are used interchangeably by supporters of the Circassian national movement) national movement. On the eve and during the Sochi 2014 Olympics it loudly announced itself, reminding the whole world about the genocide and deportation of the Circassian people by Russian conquerors as a result of the Caucasian War, which lasted more than 100 years and ended in 1864, i.e., exactly 150 years before said Olympics.
Today, only a small part of Circassians (Adyghes) live in their historical homeland. Despite the fact that they consider themselves a single people, official Russian statistics refers them to four different peoples: Kabardians, Circassians, Adyghes and Shapsugs[1], whose total number in the Russian Federation, according to the census of 2021, is 751,487 people. Circassians (Adyghes) are the titular people in three constituent entities of the Federation – Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia and Adygea, but only in Kabardino-Balkaria they constitute the absolute majority of the population (58.5%). In Karachaevo-Cherkessia Circassians numerically predominate only in Khabezsky (95.35% + 1.36% — related Abazins, many of whom speak the Circassian language) and Adyge-Khablsky districts (42.22% + 30.57% — Abazins). In one more district – Abazinsky district — the overwhelming majority (87.6%) are Abazins, and Circassians make up 4.4% of the population. In the republic as a whole Circassians account for 12.53% + 8.02% of Abazins. Karachay-Cherkessia’s power structures are unambiguously dominated by Karachais and Russians, which causes protest on the part of the Circassian and Abazin population. In Adygea, Adyghes are in the majority only in three districts — Teuchezhsky (65.82 % and further — 2010 census data), Shovgenovsky (62.88 %) and Koshekhablsky (51.9 %), as well as in the urban district of Adygeysk (79.93 %). The majority of residents of the Republic of Adygea are Russians (57,91 %), Adyghes comprise only 23%. The idea of uniting the Adyghe inhabited territories into a single subject of the federation — with the Cherkessky and Abazinsky districts seceding from Karachaevo-Cherkessia — is discussed by the public, but at the official level it is only about trilateral cooperation between Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachaevo-Cherkessia and Adygeya in the sphere of economy and culture.
In the 1990s, during the “parade of sovereignties”, the authorities of Kabardino-Balkaria and Adygea, who considered themselves political representatives of the Circassian people, unsuccessfully tried to get the Russian authorities to recognize the fact of genocide and deportation of the Circassian people. On February 7, 1992 the Supreme Council of Kabardino-Balkaria adopted a resolution “On condemnation of the genocide of Adyghes (Circassians) during the Russian-Caucasian war” and proclaimed May 21 “The Day of Memory of Adyghes (Circassians) — victims of the Russian-Caucasian war”. On May 12, 1994, a resolution of the Parliament of the Kabardino-Balkar Republic was adopted on appealing to the State Duma of the Russian Federation to recognize the Circassian genocide. On April 29, 1996, a similar resolution was adopted by the State Council of the Republic of Adygea. The Russian authorities avoided accepting these demands during the presidency of Boris Yeltsin. After Vladimir Putin came to power, the official authorities of the mentioned subjects of the federation did not raise this inconvenient issue anymore. However, public organizations at the beginning of his rule still tried to actualize it at the highest level. Thus, on October 2, 2005 the public organization from Karachay-Cherkessia “Circassian Congress” officially appealed to the Chairman of the State Duma of the Russian Federation Boris Gryzlov, and on October 28, 2005 — to the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin. These appeals were ignored, and subsequently severe restrictions were imposed on the activities of Circassian public organizations in the Russian Federation. After that, the initiative began to pass to the Circassian diaspora.
The number of Circassians living in the diaspora cannot be accurately determined for two main reasons:
- There is no ethnic registration of Muslims in Turkey, where the majority of the descendants of Circassians expelled by the Russians in the 19th century are concentrated.
- The degree of assimilation of the Circassian diaspora in Turkey is high, so it is appropriate to speak about the presence of a) an “ethnic core” that retains a clear ethnic self-identification and basic linguistic and cultural signs of belonging to the Circassians, and b) an “extended Circassian population” that situationally manifests its Circassian identity.
Accordingly, estimates of the number of Circassians in Turkey vary from one and a half to three million people. At the same time, this number often includes the related Abkhazians and Abazins, whose number in Turkey amounts to several tens of thousands of people. The only reliable statistical source is the 1965 Turkish census, when language proficiency (but not ethnic self-identification) was taken into account. According to its data, 58,339 residents of Turkey named Circassian as their mother tongue, of which 6,409 were monoglots. Another 48,621 claimed to be fluent in Circassian as a second language. The largest concentration of Circassian language speakers (3.2% of the total population) is in the Kayseri province in Central Anatolia. In recent years, with the intensification of the Circassian national movement, the popularity of learning their national language has been growing among young Turkish Circassians.
According to various estimates, between 90,000 and 120,000 Circassians lived in Syria prior to the civil war. Some of them retained their native language, helped by the fact that there were mono-ethnic Circassian villages in the Golan Heights prior to the 1967 Six-Day War. During the civil war, the number of Circassians in Syria decreased significantly. A considerable part of them emigrated to Turkey and EU countries. Attempts were made, primarily by the authorities of Kabardino-Balkaria and Adygea, as well as the Kabardinian public organization “Perit”, to organize mass repatriation of Syrian Circassians to the North Caucasus, but these attempts were suppressed by the central Russian authorities.
Jordan has a significant Circassian diaspora — various estimates range from 100,000 to 170,000 people. Circassians occupy a high position in Jordanian society, in particular in the security forces and public administration. The fact is that Jordanian legislation singles them out as a special group – three seats in the Jordanian parliament are reserved for Circassians and a smaller number of Chechens in Jordan. Festivals of Circassian song and dance folklore are regularly held in Jordan. However, most Jordanian Circassians speak Arabic at home. According to a recent estimate, only 17% of Jordanian Circassians speak Circassian.
The small population of the Circassians in Israel (about 5,000 people) is characterized by an exceptionally high, almost universal level of preservation of their native language and culture, which is also recognized in their historical homeland[2]. Three main factors contribute to the preservation of the identity and language of the Israeli Circassians:
- The vast majority of them live in the predominantly Circassian-populated villages of Kfar Kama and Rehaniya.
- Unlike Muslim Arabs, Circassians, like Jews and Druze, are subject to mandatory conscription into the Israeli army.
- Since the mid-1980s, educational institutions in Kfar Kama and Rehaniya have been working according to a special program that provides for the study of the Circassian language and culture, as well as the use of the Circassian language in extracurricular activities.
Despite the strong national consciousness of Israeli Circassians, they have no desire to repatriate to their historical homeland, primarily because of the extremely low standard of living in the North Caucasus compared to Israel.
Kosovo is home to several hundred Circassians (gradually assimilated by Albanians), some of whom still retain their native language. In 1998–1999, during the war between Serbia and Albanian separatists, a part of Kosovo Circassians (49 families) managed to repatriate to the North Caucasus. They settled in the new settlement of Mafekhabl, specially built for them, not far from the capital of Adygea, the city of Maykop. In connection with this event, the government of the Republic of Adygea introduced a special holiday — Repatriate’s Day, which is celebrated on August 1. However, the repatriation of Kosovo Circassians turned out to be a unique case. The Russian authorities no longer allowed organized repatriation of Circassians to the North Caucasus.
In addition to the listed Circassian diaspora communities living in the countries that were formerly part of the Ottoman Empire, there are also relatively new emigrant Circassian communities in Western countries.
After the beginning of large-scale Russian aggression against Ukraine, Russian propaganda began to openly accuse the Circassian national movement of Russophobia and separatism, one of the tools of which is the repatriation of foreign Circassians to their historical homeland. Here is a quote from the pro-government Russian blog “Kavkaz Segodnya” (Caucasus Today): “For a certain group of people, the topic of repatriation is just a fertile ground for splitting our society on the ‘us versus them’ principle. Simply put — for inciting interethnic discord in certain regions of Russia where Circassians live. First of all, we are talking about nationalist agents provocateurs infected with Russophobia and the idea of separatism in the ranks of leaders of the so-called “Circassian movement”. There are also blind people who piously believe in good causes, who do not realize that they are being used in a big game, the stake in which is the collapse of Russia. They take too close to their hearts a simple narrative imposed on them from the outside: “bad Russians” do not let the descendants of Circassians, who in the 19th (!) century had ended up on the territory of the former Ottoman Empire, into the country. And yes, the events of more than 150 years ago still worry our enemies so fiercely that it is in them that they are looking for numerous reasons to incite hatred against everything Russian both in the 1990s and now, in the 21st century. They do it so obsessively and systematically that newly converted fanatics such as M. Kochesokov [Martin Kochesokov — resident of Nalchik, founder and head of the public organization “Khabze”, co-chairman of the Democratic Congress of Peoples of Russia, was arrested by Russian authorities in 2019. — Author], I. Yaganov [Ibragim Yaganov — resident of Nalchik, head of the public organization “Khase”, one of the leaders of the Coordination Council of Circassian public activists, has been declared a foreign agent and is in exile. — Author] and the like appear in the ranks of Circassians every now and then, claiming genocide, or building an “independent Circassia”, or seriously claiming that Adyghes in Russia are allegedly still being persecuted”.
After the beginning of full-scale Russian aggression against Ukraine, the Circassian national movement outside Russia began to openly proclaim its goal of establishing an independent Circassian state on the entire territory of historical Circassia. On August 5, 2023, the first International Conference on the Independence of Circassia was held in Istanbul. This was followed by a demonstrative withdrawal of the largest Circassian organization in Turkey “Kayseri Khase” from the Russian-controlled International Circassian Association “Adyghe Khase”.
There is a certain contradiction between the Circassian national movement and the pro-Ukrainian Kuban movement in connection with the rather widely discussed topic of Kuban being part of the Ukrainian ethnic territories. It should be noted that Ukrainian-speaking Black Sea Cossacks, descendants of the Zaporozhians who moved to the North Caucasus in the late 18th century, numerically dominated the Taman Peninsula and the right bank of the Kuban, i.e., the north-west and north of the present-day Krasnodar Krai of the Russian Federation. Before the arrival of the Ukrainian Cossacks, these territories were inhabited not by Circassians, but by Nogais. During the suppression of the Kuban Nogai uprising in 1883, Russian troops under the command of Alexander Suvorov organized a true genocide of the Nogai population and deported the survivors to the Ottoman Empire[3]. Historic Circassia was located on the left bank of the Kuban River, where Ukrainians were never a majority. The problem is that modern Kuban political movements claiming continuity with the Kuban People’s Republic, which existed in 1918–1920. The problem is that modern Kuban political movements claiming continuity with the Kuban People’s Republic, which existed in 1918–1920, understand Kuban as the entire territory of Krasnodar Krai (and sometimes also Stavropol Krai and the Republic of Adygea). This is characteristic of both pro-governmental, i.e., pro-Moscow, movements and the pro-Ukrainian opposition. Recently, efforts have been made to overcome the contradictions between the Circassian and pro-Ukrainian Kuban movements.
Going back to the beginning of the article, i.e., to the issue of Russia’s access to the Black Sea, it should be emphasized that if earlier the Circassian national movement claimed to repatriate a certain number of diaspora Circassians to landlocked Kabardino-Balkaria and Adygea, now it openly declares its claims to the entire historical Circassia, i.e. to the Black Sea coast of Krasnodar Krai. After the deportation of the indigenous population, these territories – the current Tuapse district and the urban districts of Sochi, Gelendzhik, Novorossiysk and Anapa – were settled by Russians, who today account for 81.75% of the population in the Tuapse district (hereinafter – according to 2020 data), 67.69% in Sochi, 87.12% in Gelendzhik, 86.95% in Novorossiysk and 87.71% in Anapa. Armenians are the second largest ethnicity throughout. Only in the Tuapse district (3.28%) and in the bordering Lazarevsky district of Sochi (4.8%) are there significant groups of indigenous population. Thus, the realization of the demands of the Circassian national movement in a peaceful way seems extremely unlikely. However, in recent years we have witnessed too many military conflicts accompanied by mass displacements of population to assert that mass repatriation of Circassians to the Black Sea coast of the North Caucasus will remain only a subject of abstract discussions at a random conference.
[1] There are two literary norms of the Adyghe language, Kabardino-Cherkessian and Adygean, which are usually considered as two separate languages in Russia. See, for example: M.A. Kumakhov, “Adyghe languages”, Languages of the World. Caucasian Languages, Academia, Moscow, 2001, p. 87.
[2] See, for example: A.V.Kushkhabiev, Sketches of the History of the Foreign Circassian Diaspora, “El Fa”, Nalchik, 2007, pp. 180 – 183.
[3] For more details on this see: V.A. Soloviev, Suvorov in Kuban, 1778–1793, Krasnodar, 1986.