‘Recognize Circassian Genocide, grant Circassians their rights’
* Photo: Hikmet Adal - bianet archive
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Political parties have made statements about the genocide of Circassian people who were exiled from their homeland following the occupation of the Tsarist Russia 157 years ago and were subjected to genocide.
Tülay Hatimoğulları, the Vice Chair of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Responsible for the Peoples and Faiths Commission, has released a written statement and underlined that Circassians' demands for rights cannot be overlooked. Labor Party (EMEP) Chair Ercüment Akdeniz has also expressed their demands for education in mother language and passports.
'They must be granted linguistic, cultural rights'
HDP's statement briefly reads as follows:
"We consider the Circassian people's struggle for a free, equal and democratic life with mother language, culture and faith to be our own struggle. We make a call to accept their requests for democratic rights and freedoms to keep their identity, language and culture alive.
"The Circassian genocide must be recognized; only in this way can this grave crime against humanity be faced.
"The Circassians living in Turkey must be granted their rights of name-surname, language and culture, the names of the villages that were renamed must be reinstated and their return to their homeland must be supported materially and emotionally without any conditions."
'Gates must be opened, requests fulfilled'
The EMEP has said:
"The state of Russia must face the truths and the genocide. The gates must be opened for the ones who want to return to their homeland.
"Nearly 6 million Circassians living in Turkey have been expressing their demands for the right to education in their mother language, changing their surnames, going to their homeland and having dual citizenship. These requests deferred for centuries must be heard and fulfilled."
What happened in the Circassian Genocide?The then Tsarist Russia in 1864 organized a set of attacks to conquer the Caucasus and encountered with a resistance from both Circassians and Chechens. Later on, Tsarist Russia forcefully exiled the people in the region. Through the population policy of the Tsarist Russia, around 1.5 million Circassian were gathered in the port cities such Tuapse, Sochi and Sukhumi, and exiled to the Ottoman territories such as Varna, Samsun, Sinop and Trabzon. However, according to the unofficial numbers, around 400-500 thousand Circassians died because of the difficult circumstances on the road, epidemic diseases and hunger. Circassians who were exiled mostly to the Anatolian and Rumelia territories migrated to the regions such as Syria and Jordan. |
(AS/SD)