Thursday,
February 6th, 2014 |
The
Sochi Genocide Olympics
Tomorrow, the winter Olympic games begin in Sochi. For most
sport fans worldwide, this event marks a celebratory moment of the world coming
together in the spirit of “excellence”, “friendship”; and “respect” — core
values of the Olympic Movement.
However, as this
symbolic beacon of togetherness travels to the Caucasian coastal city, another
flame is burning — that of a Diaspora community, the Circassians, who called
Sochi home before being ousted from it by Tsarist troops 150 years ago.
But who are
these people?
Well like many
Jordanians and other Middle Easterners of Circassian origin, they have neither
visited Sochi nor other parts of the Northwestern Caucuses, the motherland of
the Circassians. However, like other minorities across the region, they
associate with their ethnic identity and all it embodies in history and
culture.
Loyal to the
countries they have migrated to in the late 19th century (then the Ottoman
Empire), the Circassians have gently worked to preserve their cultural heritage
through the magical folkloric dance, music and to a much lesser extent the
language. In Jordan, for example, multiple Circassian cultural and charitable
organizations have been set up as early as 1932.
However, the Circassian
Diaspora have chosen to stay away from the convoluted politics of the Caucuses
and remained largely “invisible” and “quiescent” across time And with time,
Circassia’s tragic saga was rendered a missing chapter from world history.
History Untold
The ancestral
homeland of the Circassians is Northwest Caucasia (between the Black Sea to the
west, Caucasus Mountains to the south, Ukraine to the north and Chechnya to the
east).
Having lived in this
homeland for millennia, the Circassians encountered many peoples of different
cultures and ethnicities, maintaining relative quietude and peace from the
Middle Ages up to the 17th century.
Amjad Jaimoukha, a
Jordanian Circassian scholar notes that towards the end of the 16th century,
“Russia began to push south towards the northern steppes of the Caucasus in a
process of gradual encroachments,” until the first quarter of the 19th century
when Russian troops “embarked on a vicious war of attrition,” which the
Circassians resisted courageously for 35 years, despite their meager resources,
“until the last battle was fought and lost in 1864.”
More than 800,000
lost their lives and over a million were forced out of their homeland, making
this exodus “one of the greatest mass movements of population in modern
history” according to Paul Henz, American scholar and former diplomat.
Today, most
Circassians live outside of the Caucuses, in Jordan, Syria, Turkey, Israel,
some parts of Europe and the United States.
A Message From retired U.S. Army Special Forces Sgt. Ayman H. Hatkwa who served 2 Iraq Wars and is
ethnically Circassian
In the great Circassian spirit we welcome
the world to our homeland, we welcome the athletes and the tourists.What we are asking for is for them to be kind to our land, our homes and most importantly recognize that they are holding the Olympics on top of the graves our our forefathers that were killed during the great Russian expansion.
We wanted the Russians and Putin to be kind and ask us for permission and to ask for forgiveness for the atrocities committed by his people against ours.
Hope this will be a peaceful and successful Olympics.
Go USA
The Awakening
When in July 2007,
the International Olympic Committee (IOC) chose Sochi as the host city for the
2014 Winter Olympics, the Circassian core was awakened, worldwide, in
sentiments and in actions. Thanks to the Internet and social media in
particular, Circassians started to come together, united in their fury toward
the Games.
Choosing Sochi for
the games “could not have been better designed to bring these scattered peoples
together in outrage,” writes Colarusso.
“Sochi triggered
something in all of us. It was about identity, particularly for the youth, the
driving force behind the No Sochi movement,” recounts Tamara Barsik, a New
Jersey Circassian and founding member of the No Sochi Committee, during her
current Amman visit.
“Shortly after the
announcement, we started connecting with Circassian organizations in Turkey,
namely the Kafkas Forum, and organized our first demonstrations in Istanbul and
New York City to not only protest the games but also to raise awareness on the
Circassian tragedy,” she adds.
With time, other
Circassian communities and organizations in Jordan, Turkey, and elsewhere were
mobilizing their own peaceful protests and eventually led to the creation of
the No Sochi Committee in 2010 which then sent peaceful protesting delegations
to the Vancouver Winter Games and later to the 2011 London Olympics.
This Circassian
awakening or “Renaissance” as Tamara calls it, also included dynamic efforts to
connect and work with academia, human rights organizations, and the media to be
aware of and acknowledge the Circassian tragedy of 1864. Circassian delegations
began lobbying the U.S. Congress, Parliaments of the European Union, Canada,
Georgia, Latvia, Estonia and elsewhere to officially recognize the tragic
Circassians exodus.
But beyond the
political activism that Sochi set in motion is the rise of a strong sense of
solidarity amongst Circassians in different parts of the Diaspora. No Sochi
evolved into more than just a global protest of the Games.
As the conflict in
Syria escalated last year, the 25 Circassian organizations involved with No
Sochi shifted their resources, both human and financial, to protect and
repatriate the Circassians in Syria into Turkey and Jordan.
“This was our
humanitarian calling. We put the brakes on the Sochi issue and focused on the
now,” expressed Tamara. “The Syrian conflict set off another dimension of the
Circassian campaign, that as a minority our struggle continues, being displaced
yet once again. We have to work together,” she asserts.
Sochi Calling
Today, as the Sochi
Olympics approach, Circassians seem to be carrying their own torch — one that
symbolizes not only their ancestry’s “bitter” past, but also their “sweet” and
hopefully more promising future.
The IOC, keen on
safeguarding the universality of the Games have indicated in an email exchange
that it is their understanding that “elements of Circassian culture are already
part of Sochi’s 2014 cultural festival.” If that truly is the case, it is a
step forward.
This is far from
being recognition of the Circassian tragedy of 1864. It is also far from what
the Circassians deserve; the right of return or at the very least a recognition
of that right by Russia and the international community.
The Circassian
Renaissance has only just begun and will hopefully continue. We all have a
responsibility to uphold our identity and ensure, in spirit, words, and
peaceful actions that our past and present are recognized and respected.
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