On November 7th the European Parliament discussed the problems of the Cherkess community. The Cherkess are in origin a North Caucasian ethnic group, comprising the Kabardyn, the Adyghe, the Shapsug, the Ubykh, the Abazin, and, the Cherkess of the Karachay-Cherkess republic. During the 19th century the Cherkess used to be in opposition to Russia. When the war ended, some of the Cherkess remained in Russia, while the rest fled to Turkey, Syria, Egypt, Libya, the US and Europe.
The West has been urging Cherkess organizations abroad to submit such demands to Moscow which would signal the beginning of a large-scale information warfare against Russia… The meeting at the European Parliament brought together members of the Cherkess organizations from the US, Israel, Turkey, Europe… The meeting was advertised by the western analytical centers, including the Jamestown Foundation (US) which has long been watching the situation in the Karachay-Cherkess republic. The foundation was established in 1984 by William Casey, the CIA director at the time. Today, the Jamestown Foundation board includes, among others, Zbignew Brzezinski and one more ex-CIA chief, James Woolsey. This is where plans to accuse Russia of the genocide against the Cherkess people are being discussed. And this is where they work out a plan to establish 'Great Cherkessiya' which would comprise parts of the present-day Adygeya, Kabardino-Balkariya, Karachay-Cherkess republic, and parts of the Krasnodar and Stavropol regions. Those who are supposed to rule the future 'great Cherkess state' are being trained now, during the meeting between the Cherkess leaders, the members of the European Parliament and American experts.
Here are some of the claims submitted to Moscow by Cherkess activists:
1) Why the 33d motorized infantry brigade is located in Maykop (Adygea)? It was moved from Dagestan`s Botlikh as part of the program to create the 49th North Caucasus army with the headquarters in Stavropol.
2) Why the construction of a training camp for mountain brigades of the Russian army is planned in Terskol (Kabardino-Balkariya)?
3) Why the Kremlin ignores the Cherkess organizations`s demand to cancel the Winter Olympics in Sochi in 2014 in spite of the fact that bloody fights between insurgents and the Russian army had taken place outside Sochi during the Caucasus War.
But all these questions may be answered in one way: because the Cherkess issue was added to the international agenda not by the Cherkess people but the Western strategists, who are more interested in the 33d motorized infantry brigade in Maikop and a training camp in Terskol rather than all the Cherkess people altogether. This is also the reason to explain why the Jamestown Foundation pays so much attention to Russian governmental programs aimed to boost the return of the Russian-speaking population to the North Caucasus. The foundation claims (quoting Russian sources) that by 2025 the Russian population will remain only in Kabardino-Balkariya, the Karachay-Cherkess republic and North Ossetia. Dagestan, Ingushetia and Chechnya are not included in the list. As of today, the number of Russians in Chechnya not exceeds 2500, while in Dagestan they did not make more than 5% of the local population in 2002.
In view of this, the Jamestown Foundation advises the Russian government not to return Russians to the Caucasus and not employ natives of the Caucasian republics in central Russia but let them settle in the Stavropol, the Krasnodar regions, as well as in Kalmykiya an Astrakhan.
The list of Russian regions Mr. Casey and his team have composed proves that they are quite well aware of the situation. Just have a brief look at this map to see what it is about: Astrakhan is a port city in th Caspian Sea, located opposite to the Black Sea resort city of Sochi. The area between these two destinations includes Stavropol, Krasnodar and Kalmykia. The Caspian-Black Sea 'corridor' borders the Karachay-Cherkess republic, Kabardino-Balkariya, North Ossetiya and republics from where the Russian-speaking population has been almost completely expelled – by Ingushetia, Chechnya and Dagestan. These republics border Saakashvili`s Georgia, which has officially recognized 'the genocide of the Cherkess', and with Azerbaijan, which has strained relations with Moscow from time to time. If the US geopolitical dreams come true and Russians are completely expelled from the North Caucasus and the nearby territories, a 'land bridge' between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea will turn into chaos, separating Russia from Rostov and Volgograd, and from the two seas.
The entire 'Cherkess issue' ideology is full of lies and things which are true but only partly.
There is no use asking the US about the tragic fate of millions of indigenous peoples of North America. Neither it is sensible to ask the European Parliament why there are no more Bretons, Occitans in France. And where are Luzhits Serbs and Frisians? The former have almost completely disappeared, while the latter are rapidly turning into Germans. Meanwhile, the Cherkess in Russia have manage to preserve their language and culture, while most of their fellow countrymen who emigrated to Syria, Turkey, Belgium, US, Jordan and even Australia can hardly speak their mother tongue.
To be and remain a Cherkess, one has to live in Russia. It was Russia where in 1840, Kabardinian historian and officer Shora Bekmurzin Nogmov wrote 'The Elementary Course of the Adyghe Grammar'- the first grammar manual in the Adyghe history. Kazi Atazhukin, a teacher who described himself as Konstantin Ushinksy`s follower, used to live and work in Russia. He invented the Kabardinian alphabet. Cherkess writer Magomet Dyshekov and poet Khusin Gashokov also worked in Russia.
Turning a blind eye to these facts, the western media deprive the Cherkess from learning about true – strategic- reasons for the West being so interested in the Cherkess territories. In the 17th century the area attracted France and Sweden. In the 19th it was visited and explored by England (British diplomat David Urkwart designed the Adyghe flag). In the 21st century Cherkessiya attracts Washington and Brussels.
I am sure that the number of so-called 'genocides' the West is going to blame Russia for, will be only increasing. But no country will ever be accused of the genocide against Russians. Moscow will be a victim in the information warfare. It must be stressed, however, that those who invented the 'Great Cherkessiya' plan, won`t have mercy on the Cherkess people, who will be used just as a card in a big game against Russia.
