I more or less write on a weekly basis on this blog, as time allows just that much. However, here is an irregular short post because I have dear friends who are Circassians and 21 May is Circassian Genocide Memorial Day. A letter written to Vladimir Putin on 1 May 2011 summarizes the Circassian Genocide as follows:

On May 21, 1864, Alexander II declared victory over Circassia and the Circassians after more than 100 years of fighting and approved plans to deport the entire Circassian nation through the port of   Sochi to the Ottoman Empire. In June 1864, the Russian Czar announced: “All the inhabitants of  Caucasus have to leave their houses and remove within a month, otherwise they will be considered  as traitors and will be dispatched to Siberia.” Thus began what many have called the first modern genocide and creating the model for ethnic cleansing elsewhere- We Circassians call it- The Circassian Genocide.

... In the 19th Century, Czarist Russia engaged in a genocidal war against the Circassian people that led to the murder of 1.5 million Circassians and the brutal ethnic cleansing of another 1.5 million Circassians.

 In the letter it is stated that only 700,000 Circassians remain living in their historical lands today and 5 million Circassians have scattered across 50 countries around the world.

My sympathies are with Circassians wishing that they can protect their language and culture. Their spectacular folk dances are fine examples of their culture which survive in exile.

I just wonder why Raphael Lemkin who was born in Imperial Russia and mastered ten languages including Russian has not referred to Circassian Genocide and ethnic cleansing when he created the term genocide and campaigned for its acceptance. I also wonder how thoroughly he had inquired the Armenian Question before he presented the tragic relocation of  1915 as a seminal example of genocide. It would probably be quite easy for him to discover the following telegram which was sent from Governor Varontsov-Dashkov of the Caucasus to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and can be found  in the Russian Archive:

“The representative of Zeytun Armenians has just come to the Caucasus Army Headquarters. The representative says that some 15.000 Armenians are ready to strike the Turkish transportation lines but that they do not have weapons and ammunition. Therefore, it is extremely vital to send sufficient amount of weapons and ammunition to Iskenderun due to particular importance of Zeytun located on the transportation lines of the Turkish army in Erzurum. (…) Since it is impossible for us to give the them directly, I believe that a contact should be established with the French and British administration concerning the sending of French or British made weapons and ammunition found on the French and British (war)ships to Iskenderun.”[1]

This telegram dated 7 February 1915 and numbered 1185 was appended to the telegraph dated 9 February 1915, numbered 708, and sent to Paris and London. All these happened 90 days prior to the declaration of the Law of Deportation of May 27, 1915 by the Ottoman Government. Professor Özdemir notes that "the relocation of civilian communities by the governments on grounds of security is the most frequently used method in wartime, and in the face of rebellions," and  gives several  examples at his web site.

[1] Özdemir, Hikmet. Issues missed in the 1915 Armenian debate : Frequently used measure. Armenian Genocide Facts web site. http://armeniangenocidefacts.com 

N.B. The term "deportation" changed to "relocation" in para 6. since Armenians were sent from one province to the other within the Empire to be settled, not abroad abandoned to their fate. However those who had means could go abroad on their own will to start a new life. - SA 18.05.2013


Armenian Holocaust:My Story blog by Selma Aslan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Gayriticari-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.