Dear Mr. Sokht,

We are writing to respond to your recent interview with Regnum, in which you reaffirmed the ICA’s support for the planned 2014 Olympics in Sochi. The obscenity of supporting an event which is intended to permanently rewrite our history and completely degrades the dignity of our ancestors, is self-evident. Your, and the ICA’s, motivations are completely disconnected from such considerations, so it would be useless to try to convince you otherwise. Circassians will never again have such visibility to inform the world of the true history of our tragedy and to gain international support for restoring our rights. This is precisely the reason Russia is trying to destroy this movement. This is obvious and expected. Unfortunately, certain members of the ICA, whether forced by the authorities or simply for personal gain, are aiding Russia’s attempts to silence Circassians. Sadly, Circassians around the world have come to expect this as well.

Your letter has served an important purpose. You have proven beyond any doubt what many already knew and many more suspected; that the ICA no longer serves Circassians. It “manages” them on behalf of Russia, and increasingly to the detriment of Circassians themselves. Its only activities recently have been to attempt to silence and discredit activists who are trying to make progress. It fosters and exaggerates differences among Circassians in the Diaspora and the homeland. When thousands of Circassians around the world coordinate to oppose the Olympics and to demand recognition of our genocide, it can only say there is lack of agreement on the issue and the demonstrators represent a minority. Yet we are to believe Mr. Hafitse or Jilabi Kalmikov or Kazbek Yahogoyev are the true representatives of Circassians (90% of whom live in the diaspora)? You yourself must admit that this is absurd. These men who are busy attacking activists offer no alternative solutions, because they do not even acknowledge a problem. When the ICA was granted a meeting with the Russian State Duma, they came with no agenda, no requests, no plans. Now they distance themselves from the only individual who did anything meaningful at this meeting, as you made clear in your interview. We thank you for confirming these things in your interview.

We cannot, however, thank you for the other point you made in your interview. Specifically, the term you use to describe those opposed to the Sochi Olympics. Surely, you are aware that there is a war of narratives going on in the Caucasus. A large part of what activists are trying to achieve is international acceptance of the true narrative; that there is a peaceful and democratic movement by Circassians to save their culture, protect their history and dignity, and further advance human rights in their homeland. For the past decade, the narrative that Russia has been trying to impose is that all Caucasians are dangerous extremists and terrorists that must be contained with force. This strategy has been in place long before there was even any consideration of Sochi hosting the Olympics. And this is the narrative of our homeland that the world will accept if you are successful in silencing the activists. It should be clear to everyone the misery that Circassians in the homeland will suffer should this happen.

We are sure that you are aware of the recent changes to Russia’s extremism laws, which broaden the definition of the term and provide harsher punishment for such alleged acts. These laws are intended to limit civil dissent and public debate. You can visit the Amnesty International website to better understand how this legislation is being used to oppress people. These new laws will make it even more dangerous for Circassians in the homeland to speak for their rights, especially if Russia is successful in moving them into the “extremist” category. Rather than speaking on behalf of your Circassian brothers to protect them and make sure Russia does not lump them into this category, you are actually the one who is branding them as extremists.

You, Mr. Sokht, as well as the leading members of the ICA are silencing Circassian speech. You are helping to make Circassians in the homeland invisible. Worst of all, you are putting their safety in jeopardy. When peaceful Circassians are imprisoned, or worse, it will be because of you, not international activists.

In what civilized nation is peaceful protest of Olympic games “extremism”? When did seeking recognition of Genocide become “extremism”? What do you think happens when a legitimate grievance is silenced unjustly and brutally? Do you think treating peaceful people as extremists will produce more or less true extremists/terrorists? This is the game Russia has been playing in the Caucasus with devastating consequences, and now you and a few reckless Circassians are helping to bring it to our homeland. You know perfectly well that these Circassians are totally non-violent, yet you publicly brand them as extremists. This is why it is so disgraceful that a few Circassians are using this term against peaceful brothers and sisters. Again, perhaps there is tremendous pressure from the Russian authorities to act against fellow Circassians. To so faithfully support Russia’s misguided policy, to the detriment of your own people, is tragic. But to actually help to place your people in even greater danger for trying to help their nation is unforgivable. It is a new low that we hope will soon go out of fashion.

Caucasus Forum, Turkey
Caucasus House, Turkey
Circassian Association of California – Adyghe Khasa, USA
Circassian Cultural Institute, USA
Circassian Initiative for Democracy, Turkey
Initiative for Circassian Rights, Turkey
JINEPS (Newspaper), Turkey
Justice for Norht Caucasus Group
Nafna Association, Israel
Radio Adigha, Israel