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| Purpose | Advocate for the legal rights of Circassians, and the Independence of Circassia |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | New Jersey |
Official language | Adyghe |
Chairman | Iyad Youghar |
| Affiliations | Congress of the Peoples of the North Caucasus |
The International Circassian Council (ICC) is a political organization that represents Circassian peoples across the world, and seeks an independent Circassia from Russia.
The ICC is based in New Jersey which has the highest concentration of Circassian diaspora in the United States. [1] The council promotes good relations with the governments of Israel and Georgia for their support of Circassian organizations, and the taking in of Circassian refugees. [1]
The ICC heavily protested the 2014 Winter Olympics due to its skiing event being held on Krasnaya Polyana, the site of a massacre of Circassians during the Circassian genocide. [2] [3] [4]
Iyad Youghar has served as the chairman of the ICC, speaking at the Estonian parliament in 2015 that the cause of Baltic independence is the same as Circassian independence. [5] [6]
Russian authorities have been hostile to the ICC and the idea of a Circassian rebirth, claiming that a unified Circassian community does not exist in a political sense. [5]
The ICC is a member of the Congress of the Peoples of the North Caucasus with Iyad Youghar being elected the congress' chairman. [7] As a participant in the Congress, the council was a member of a meeting with the European Parliament about the future of the North Caucuses on 8 November 2023. [8] The congress advocates secession from Russia, with the ICC acting as their Circassian delegation to lead a prospective Independent Circassia. [9]
Sochi is the largest resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi River, along the Black Sea in the North Caucasus of Southern Russia, with a population of 466,078 residents, and up to 600,000 residents in the urban area. The city covers an area of 176.77 square kilometers (68.25 sq mi), while the Greater Sochi Area covers over 3,502 square kilometers (1,352 sq mi). Sochi stretches across 145 kilometers (90 mi), and is the longest city in Europe, the fifth-largest city in the Southern Federal District, the second-largest city in Krasnodar Krai, and the sixth-largest city on the Black Sea.
Circassia, also known as Zichia, was a country and a historical region in Eastern Europe. It spanned the western coastal portions of the North Caucasus, along the northeastern shore of the Black Sea. Circassia was conquered by the Russian Empire during the Russo-Circassian War (1763–1864), after which approximately 99.5–99.8% of the Circassian people were either exiled or massacred in the Circassian genocide.
The Circassians or Circassian people, also called Cherkess or Adyghe are a Northwest Caucasian ethnic group and nation who originated in Circassia, a region and former country in the North Caucasus.
The Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus (MRNC), also referred to as the United Republics of the North Caucasus, Mountain Republic, or the Republic of the Mountaineers, was a short-lived state in Eurasia. It encompassed the easternmost portions of the North Caucasus and emerged during the Russian Civil War and existed from 1917 to 1919. It formed as a consolidation of various Caucasian ethnic groups, including the Abazins, Circassians, Chechens, Karachays, Ossetians, Balkars, Ingush, and Dagestanis.
The Circassian genocide, or Tsitsekun, was the systematic mass killing, ethnic cleansing, and expulsion of between 95% and 97% of the Circassian people during the final stages of the Russian invasion of Circassia in the 19th century. It resulted in the deaths of between 625,000 and 1.5 million and the destruction of Circassia, which was then annexed by the Russian Empire. Those planned for extermination were mainly the Circassians, who are predominantly Muslims, but other Muslim Caucasian peoples were also affected, as part of the Caucasian War. Notable killing methods used by the Imperial Russian Army in Circassia included impalement and tearing open the bellies of pregnant women in order to intimidate the Circassians and devastate their morale. Many Russian generals, such as the ethnically Baltic German Grigory Zass, described the Circassians as "subhuman filth" and a "lowly race" to justify and glorify their wholesale slaughter and their use as human test subjects in unethical scientific experiments. Russian soldiers were also permitted to rape Circassian women.
The Circassian flag is the national flag of the Circassians. It consists of a green field charged with twelve gold stars, nine forming an arc resembling a bow and three horizontal, also charged with three crossed arrows in the center. Seferbiy Zaneqo, a Circassian diplomat, is the designer of the flag. Every year, April 25 is celebrated as the Circassian flag day by Circassians. Another version of the flag is currently officially used by the Republic of Adygea of the Russian Federation as its national flag.
The Russo-Circassian War, also known as the Russian invasion of Circassia, was the 101-year-long invasion of Circassia by the Russian Empire. The conflict started in 1763 (O.S.) with Russia assuming authority in Circassia, followed by Circassian refusal, and ended with the last army of Circassia defeated on 21 May 1864 (O.S.). It was exhausting and casualty-heavy for both sides. The Russo-Circassian War was the longest war both Russia and Circassia have ever fought and the longest war in the Caucasus region.
Krasnaya Polyana is an urban locality in Krasnopolyansky Settlement Okrug, which is under the administrative jurisdiction of Adlersky City District of the City of Sochi in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. Population: 4,598 (2010 Census); 3,969 (2002 Census); 3,300 (1989 Soviet census).
The Circassian Day of Mourning is observed by the Circassian diaspora every year on 21 May to commemorate all those who were killed in and displaced by the Circassian genocide, which took place in the final stages of the Russian invasion of Circassia. It is known in Russia as the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Caucasus War, owing to the fact that the Russian government does not recognize the events as a genocide. On 21 May 1864, the Russian general Pavel Grabbe held a military parade in what is now Krasnaya Polyana following his troops' victory in the Battle of Qbaada; it was also on this day that Circassia was annexed by the Russian Empire, which then launched a campaign to empty the region of the native Circassian people.
Circassian nationalism is the desire among Circassians worldwide to preserve their genes, heritage and culture, save their language from extinction, raise awareness about the Circassian genocide, return to Circassia and establish a completely autonomous or independent Circassian state in its pre-Russian invasion borders.
Amjad M. Jaimoukha was a Jordanian Circassian writer, publicist, and historian, who wrote several books on North Caucasian – specifically Circassian and Chechen – culture and folklore.
Hidden Nations, Enduring Crimes was a Circassian congress or conference held March 20, 2010, in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, funded in part by the Circassian members of the Western political analysis center, the Jamestown Foundation and the Ilia State University's International School for Caucasus Studies in Georgia.
Balkar and Karachay nationalism is the national sentiment among the Balkars and Karachai. It generally manifests itself in:
The Shapsug national district or Shapsug national raion was a district that was established in 1924 as a national district (raion) for the Circassian Shapsugs tribe of the Black Sea Circassians within the Krasnodar Krai in the Soviet Union, now Russia. It was abolished after the end of the Second World War in 1945.
The Circassian Parliament or the Circassian Majlis was the legislature of Circassia officialized in 1861 after a meeting in Sochi attended by leaders of several Circassian provinces. A tribal confederation had existed before the parliament's establishment, but a centralized government was achieved only after it was built.
The Circassian diaspora are ethnic Circassians around the world who were driven from Circassia during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. From 1763 to 1864, the Circassians fought against the Russian Empire in the Russian-Circassian War which ended in a genocide campaign initiated between 1862 and 1864.Large numbers of Circassians were exiled and deported to the Ottoman Empire and nearby regions; others were resettled in Russia far from their homeland. Circassians live in more than fifty countries, besides the Republic of Adygea. Total population estimates differ: according to some sources, some two million Circassians live in Turkey, Jordan, Syria, and Iraq; other sources say between one and four million live in Turkey alone.
There were many controversies and concerns affecting the 2014 Winter Olympics. There were disputes with Circassians, who demanded the events be cancelled or moved unless Russia apologized for the 19th century Circassian genocide, environmental and economic issues, lack of political stability and governance, and the safety and human rights of LGBT athletes and journalists, in light of Russia's "gay propaganda" laws, which sparked Olympic-focused protests. However, all of these events were overshadowed by the massive Russian state-sponsored doping program uncovered in the aftermath of the Games.
Religion in Circassia refers to religious presence in historical Circassia and modern-day Adygea, Kabardino-Balkaria, Krasnodar Krai and Karachai-Cherkessia. The majority of ethnic Circassians today are Muslim while a minority retain Orthodox Christian or pagan beliefs.
Adyghe Hase or Circassian Khase is a political party active in the Russian republics of Adygea, Kabardino-Balkaria, and Karachay-Cherkessia, as well as in the former Shapsug national district in Krasnodar Krai. Popular among ethnic Circassians during the 1990s, it called for the unification of the three republics and the district into a single federal state.
The Congress of the Peoples of the North Caucasus is the governing body of the Committee for the Restoration of the Statehood of the Peoples of the North Caucasus, an organization consisting of separatist movements in Chechnya, Dagestan, Circassia, and Ingushetia to better coordinate and promote their causes, and to lay the ground work for inter-governmental relations, should the respective movements succeed in achieving independence.
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