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THE MODERN ISSUES OF THE CIRCASSIANS IN TURKEY
Ruben Melkonyan
http://noravank.am/eng/articles/detail.php?ELEMENT_ID=5900
07.07.2011
The Ottoman Empire was multi-national and multi-ethnic state where,
however, non-Turk nations were obliged to renounce their identity and
to Turkishize. And the policy of Turkishizing regarded not only to
Christians; various methods were applied in respect of Muslim ethnic
groups and nations. The Turkish Republic not only inherited but also
attached new scope to this policy which in the 20th century has also
acquired new judicial formulations. Thus, in 1923, in accordance
with the Lausanne Treaty the Turkish Republic recognized only three
communities - Armenian, Greek and Jewish, meanwhile other ethnic
and ethno-religious groups such as Assyrians, Laz people, Kurds,
Circassians and others, which number was somewhere about 40, did not
acquire any rights.
Turkish policy of Turkishizing was implemented in regard to all the
Muslim peoples living on its territory, though in case with Kurds it
faced counteraction, which from time to time had been turning into
armed conflicts, like the Kurdish rebellions and disturbances in
the first half of the 20th century. It is known that official Turkey
at first did not recognize the existence of separate Kurdish ethnos
and identified them as "mountainous Turks". Today the Kurdish issue
has reached the level when Turkish state not only recognizes the
existence of the Kurd people but also grants them different rights
and some Kurdish regions more openly speak about autonomy.
After Turks, the biggest Muslim ethnic group in Turkey is the
Circassians. It is known that in the middle of the 19th century
peoples from the North Caucasus moved to the Ottoman Empire from
Russia, and they are called in Turkey Circassians. Accepting
Muslim Circassians the Ottoman authorities at once used them as a
means in their demographic policy and in repressions against the
Christian population. The Circassians were allocated territories
mainly populated by the Christians in order to change the demographic
picture in favour of the Muslim population. The Circassians played
important role in the military system of Turkey and one should not
also forget that the Circassians took active part in the perpetration
of the Armenian Genocide.
Today, according to different sources, the number of the Circassians
in Turkey varies from 3 to 5 million but according to the specialists
the most realistic number is 3 million. In the Republican Turkey the
Circassians are also involved in military and political spheres. There
are high-ranking militaries and state officials among them.
The issue of the identity, which is on the agenda in Turkey today, has
also touched the Circassians and there are some developments in this
direction. Thus, recently "The Circassian Initiative for Democracy"
NGO arranged a protest action in Ankara to voice the various problems
bothering the Circassians, among which the issue of preservation of
the Circassian identity was the topical. As an essential condition
for the preservation of their identity the Circassians mention the
issue of their mother tongue - the Circassian language, and there are
definite proposals made on it. Today only 10% of the Circassians,
mostly the older generation, speak Circassian. The slogans at the
protest action were: "We demand education in Circassian language",
"The one who loses his language will lose everything", and the
main slogan of the protest action was "Hail to our struggle to stay
Circassians". Among the demands of the Circassians the issue of the TV
channel and radio in Circassian, which in their opinion will promote
the preservation of their language, is also distinguished.
The member of the administrative board of "The Circassian Initiative
for Democracy" Kenan Kaplan stated: "We have been long waiting for the
days when in Turkey our history, culture, language will find place in
books, we will read books in our mother tongue". It is remarkable that
the Circassians, voicing their problems, clearly hint to the attention
of the Turkish government to the Kurdish issue, thus mentioning:
"In this country not only the rights of those who make much noise
but also the rights of other peoples must be taken into consideration".
As it was expected, in Turkey opposition was formed in regard to this
new issue put forward now by the Muslim national minority and a number
of figures deprecated "The Circassian Initiative for Democracy". In
particular, rather harsh statements were made by a well-known Turkish
publicist and researcher Murad Bardakci, who, by the way, is also
of Circassian decent: "Now the Circussian initiative is the least we
needed". While speaking about the migration of the Circassians from
Russia he mentioned that it happened in order "to escape Russian sword"
and unlike the Russians, Turks received them with open arms.
While enumerating the Circassians who took high-ranking posts in
different times, Bardakci called the attempts of the Circassians
directed to the preservation of their mother tongue "ingratitude
towards Turkey". According to Bardakci, the Circassians are to blame
themselves for the loss of the Circassian language, as they have
not managed to pass the language from generation to generation. It
is remarkable that Bardakci called discontented Circassians to claim
their rights from Russia. "The elder generation has a lot of memories
about "bloody tsar", "betrayer Moscow" and "wild Siberia". So if you
have guts go and claim your rights from Russia".
It is remarkable that this issue has already caused contradictions and
discussion among the Circassians and during this discussion rather
interesting facts are revealed. Particularly, Circassian publicists
Yasar Goven and Fuat Ugur replied to Bardakci's statements. Speaking
about the Circassians who occupied high-ranking positions in the
Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Turkey they said that those people
took the positions not as the Circassians but as Turks, i.e. the
Circassian identity was not taken into consideration at all, and the
Circassians had no rights with their real identity. "When we struggled
for the creation of this country, when we gave our blood and lives
we did not even spoke Turkish and now we forgot out mother tongue",
- said Fuat Ugur.
The president of "The Federation of the Caucasian Unions" Cihan
Candemir interfered in the mutual recriminations of the Circassians,
accepting that the migration of the Circassians to the Ottoman
Empire also was conditioned by anti-Christian demographic reasons. He
said that in Turkish reality a policy of Turkishizing, which had an
impact on Muslim national minorities either, has been implemented. In
particular, in consequence of this impact many Circassians have been
hiding their identity, stopped using Circassian names and speaking
Circassian language.
It is interesting that while discussing the Circassian issue direct
reference was made to the Armenian issues too; particularly to the
role of the Circassians in the Armenian Genocide. The aforementioned
Circussian intellectuals Fuat Ugur and Yasar Goven have joined "We
apologize to the Armenians" initiative. Accepting the participation
of the Circassians in the Armenian Genocide, they, at the same time,
make general statements and try to find "softening" circumstances
in the deeds of their forefathers: "Among the Circassians there are
also those who saved the Armenians from the massacres. In Cesaria and
surrounding villages Armenians who survived the Genocide in 1915,
found shelter and continued to live in the Circassian villages and
adopted Circassian identity". Of course this assertion is very weak
as here we speak mainly about those Armenian women who were captured
and forcedly Islamized by the Circassians and after that they were
obliged to live as Circassians, i.e. "the Armenians who adopted
Circassian identity" in reality were those Armenian women captured
by the Circassians during the Genocide.
Summarizing, we have to mention that process which has been initiated
among the Circassians and which still continues is remarkable in the
context of the development of the issue of the identity in Turkey
and it comes to prove that the idea of "homogeneous" Turkey created
by force, in its essence, has not fully succeeded. At the same time,
it can be supposed that the Turkish authorities have a concern that
in case of fulfilling the demands of the Circassians similar claims
may be put forward by the Laz people, Islamized Georgians (Gurji)
and other minorities.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Another materials of author
~UON THE MODERN TENDENCIES IN THE "ARMENIAN POLICY" OF TURKEY
[20.06.2011] ~UON TURKISH POLICY OF NEO-OTTOMANISM AND DEVELOPMENTS IN
THE ARAB WORLD[18.04.2011] ~UARMENIAN VARTO CLAN IN EUROPE [28.02.2011]
~UTURKEY: ROUND THE ISSUE OF ETHNIC IDENTITY[31.01.2011] ~U"THE NUMBER
OF THE RECLAIMED ARMENIANS GROWS" [27.12.2010]
Ruben Melkonyan
http://noravank.am/eng/articles/detail.php?ELEMENT_ID=5900
07.07.2011
The Ottoman Empire was multi-national and multi-ethnic state where,
however, non-Turk nations were obliged to renounce their identity and
to Turkishize. And the policy of Turkishizing regarded not only to
Christians; various methods were applied in respect of Muslim ethnic
groups and nations. The Turkish Republic not only inherited but also
attached new scope to this policy which in the 20th century has also
acquired new judicial formulations. Thus, in 1923, in accordance
with the Lausanne Treaty the Turkish Republic recognized only three
communities - Armenian, Greek and Jewish, meanwhile other ethnic
and ethno-religious groups such as Assyrians, Laz people, Kurds,
Circassians and others, which number was somewhere about 40, did not
acquire any rights.
Turkish policy of Turkishizing was implemented in regard to all the
Muslim peoples living on its territory, though in case with Kurds it
faced counteraction, which from time to time had been turning into
armed conflicts, like the Kurdish rebellions and disturbances in
the first half of the 20th century. It is known that official Turkey
at first did not recognize the existence of separate Kurdish ethnos
and identified them as "mountainous Turks". Today the Kurdish issue
has reached the level when Turkish state not only recognizes the
existence of the Kurd people but also grants them different rights
and some Kurdish regions more openly speak about autonomy.
After Turks, the biggest Muslim ethnic group in Turkey is the
Circassians. It is known that in the middle of the 19th century
peoples from the North Caucasus moved to the Ottoman Empire from
Russia, and they are called in Turkey Circassians. Accepting
Muslim Circassians the Ottoman authorities at once used them as a
means in their demographic policy and in repressions against the
Christian population. The Circassians were allocated territories
mainly populated by the Christians in order to change the demographic
picture in favour of the Muslim population. The Circassians played
important role in the military system of Turkey and one should not
also forget that the Circassians took active part in the perpetration
of the Armenian Genocide.
Today, according to different sources, the number of the Circassians
in Turkey varies from 3 to 5 million but according to the specialists
the most realistic number is 3 million. In the Republican Turkey the
Circassians are also involved in military and political spheres. There
are high-ranking militaries and state officials among them.
The issue of the identity, which is on the agenda in Turkey today, has
also touched the Circassians and there are some developments in this
direction. Thus, recently "The Circassian Initiative for Democracy"
NGO arranged a protest action in Ankara to voice the various problems
bothering the Circassians, among which the issue of preservation of
the Circassian identity was the topical. As an essential condition
for the preservation of their identity the Circassians mention the
issue of their mother tongue - the Circassian language, and there are
definite proposals made on it. Today only 10% of the Circassians,
mostly the older generation, speak Circassian. The slogans at the
protest action were: "We demand education in Circassian language",
"The one who loses his language will lose everything", and the
main slogan of the protest action was "Hail to our struggle to stay
Circassians". Among the demands of the Circassians the issue of the TV
channel and radio in Circassian, which in their opinion will promote
the preservation of their language, is also distinguished.
The member of the administrative board of "The Circassian Initiative
for Democracy" Kenan Kaplan stated: "We have been long waiting for the
days when in Turkey our history, culture, language will find place in
books, we will read books in our mother tongue". It is remarkable that
the Circassians, voicing their problems, clearly hint to the attention
of the Turkish government to the Kurdish issue, thus mentioning:
"In this country not only the rights of those who make much noise
but also the rights of other peoples must be taken into consideration".
As it was expected, in Turkey opposition was formed in regard to this
new issue put forward now by the Muslim national minority and a number
of figures deprecated "The Circassian Initiative for Democracy". In
particular, rather harsh statements were made by a well-known Turkish
publicist and researcher Murad Bardakci, who, by the way, is also
of Circassian decent: "Now the Circussian initiative is the least we
needed". While speaking about the migration of the Circassians from
Russia he mentioned that it happened in order "to escape Russian sword"
and unlike the Russians, Turks received them with open arms.
While enumerating the Circassians who took high-ranking posts in
different times, Bardakci called the attempts of the Circassians
directed to the preservation of their mother tongue "ingratitude
towards Turkey". According to Bardakci, the Circassians are to blame
themselves for the loss of the Circassian language, as they have
not managed to pass the language from generation to generation. It
is remarkable that Bardakci called discontented Circassians to claim
their rights from Russia. "The elder generation has a lot of memories
about "bloody tsar", "betrayer Moscow" and "wild Siberia". So if you
have guts go and claim your rights from Russia".
It is remarkable that this issue has already caused contradictions and
discussion among the Circassians and during this discussion rather
interesting facts are revealed. Particularly, Circassian publicists
Yasar Goven and Fuat Ugur replied to Bardakci's statements. Speaking
about the Circassians who occupied high-ranking positions in the
Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Turkey they said that those people
took the positions not as the Circassians but as Turks, i.e. the
Circassian identity was not taken into consideration at all, and the
Circassians had no rights with their real identity. "When we struggled
for the creation of this country, when we gave our blood and lives
we did not even spoke Turkish and now we forgot out mother tongue",
- said Fuat Ugur.
The president of "The Federation of the Caucasian Unions" Cihan
Candemir interfered in the mutual recriminations of the Circassians,
accepting that the migration of the Circassians to the Ottoman
Empire also was conditioned by anti-Christian demographic reasons. He
said that in Turkish reality a policy of Turkishizing, which had an
impact on Muslim national minorities either, has been implemented. In
particular, in consequence of this impact many Circassians have been
hiding their identity, stopped using Circassian names and speaking
Circassian language.
It is interesting that while discussing the Circassian issue direct
reference was made to the Armenian issues too; particularly to the
role of the Circassians in the Armenian Genocide. The aforementioned
Circussian intellectuals Fuat Ugur and Yasar Goven have joined "We
apologize to the Armenians" initiative. Accepting the participation
of the Circassians in the Armenian Genocide, they, at the same time,
make general statements and try to find "softening" circumstances
in the deeds of their forefathers: "Among the Circassians there are
also those who saved the Armenians from the massacres. In Cesaria and
surrounding villages Armenians who survived the Genocide in 1915,
found shelter and continued to live in the Circassian villages and
adopted Circassian identity". Of course this assertion is very weak
as here we speak mainly about those Armenian women who were captured
and forcedly Islamized by the Circassians and after that they were
obliged to live as Circassians, i.e. "the Armenians who adopted
Circassian identity" in reality were those Armenian women captured
by the Circassians during the Genocide.
Summarizing, we have to mention that process which has been initiated
among the Circassians and which still continues is remarkable in the
context of the development of the issue of the identity in Turkey
and it comes to prove that the idea of "homogeneous" Turkey created
by force, in its essence, has not fully succeeded. At the same time,
it can be supposed that the Turkish authorities have a concern that
in case of fulfilling the demands of the Circassians similar claims
may be put forward by the Laz people, Islamized Georgians (Gurji)
and other minorities.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Another materials of author
~UON THE MODERN TENDENCIES IN THE "ARMENIAN POLICY" OF TURKEY
[20.06.2011] ~UON TURKISH POLICY OF NEO-OTTOMANISM AND DEVELOPMENTS IN
THE ARAB WORLD[18.04.2011] ~UARMENIAN VARTO CLAN IN EUROPE [28.02.2011]
~UTURKEY: ROUND THE ISSUE OF ETHNIC IDENTITY[31.01.2011] ~U"THE NUMBER
OF THE RECLAIMED ARMENIANS GROWS" [27.12.2010]