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''It
was really the first intentional large-scale genocide of the modern times,
as well as the model case of the consequent tradition of ethnic cleansing.
It was also the largest single genocide of the 19th century.''
Anssi Kullberg, The Eurasian Politician - October
2003
“There are no words to describe the situation of the Mountaineers in those
days. Thousands of them died in the roads, thousands of them died due to
illness and hunger. The coastal regions were full with people who are dead
or on the verge of dying. The babies who are searching for milk in their
mother’s cold dead body, mothers who didn’t leave their kids from their laps
even they are already dead from cold, and people who are dead while they got
closer just to keep warm, are examples of the scenes that were normal in the
coasts of the Black Sea.”
Y. Abramov, ''Caucasian Mountaineers''
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May 21st, 2008 is the Day of Mourning for the
Circassian people. They commemorate the 144th anniversary of the forced migration and dispersion
of their grandfathers from their homeland and the imperilment of their
existence.
The
North Caucasus is the homeland of the Circassians. The
region stretches along the high peaks of the Caucasian mountain range at
the crossroads of Europe and Asia, bounded by Russia from the north and
the Islamic World from the south. Through the centuries great empires have
endeavored to cross this barrier between the Orient and the Occident and
conquer the lands beyond.
The
Caucasian war started
in 1763 and lasted for more than 100
years. The Russian Czarist Army outnumbered the national Circassian
resistance by more than 20 times!
On
21 May 1864, the Caucasian War ended with the occupation of Circassian
land. The Czar approved a decision to deport and exile the entire
Circassian people.
More
than 1.5 million Circassians were expelled; 90% of the total population at
the time! Most of them perished en route being victims of disease, hunger
and exhaustion.
They
were dispersed all over the world. Some traveled 3000 Km on foot or on
ox-carts. Some roamed for 25 years before settling
down.
Today
over 4 million Circassians live outside Homeland in over
40 countries across of the world.
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