History of Circassian self-determination advocacy

Sources for this page

Each number marks a specific claim. Notes give the source, its locator and how it relates to the claim.

1. 1.

   Claim: The Russian Empire's decades-long conquest of the Western Caucasus, escalating from 1763, culminated in the mass expulsion of the Circassian population and the Russian proclamation of victory on 21 May 1864 at Kbaada (now Krasnaya Polyana); estimates vary widely, but Ottoman archives recorded the intake of over 1 million Caucasian migrants by 1879, with a substantial additional number reported to have died during the exodus, and Russian records from 1900 documented only around 106,798 Circassians (with other estimates as low as 40,400-65,900) remaining in the Caucasus, against a pre-conflict population reported by some sources at over 4 million.

   • Circassian genocide (Wikipedia) link, Population and displacement figures section. Source record
2. 2.

   Claim: Many scholars and some governments and regional legislatures have characterized the 1860s events as genocide, including Georgia's parliament (2011) and Ukraine's parliament (2025), and, at a regional level within Russia, the Kabardino-Balkarian ASSR (1992) and the republics of Kabardino-Balkaria (1994) and Adygea (1996); the Russian federal government's official position rejects the term "genocide," describing the events instead as a mass migration ("muhajirism"). This bundle presents both positions without adjudicating which characterization is correct.

   • Circassian genocide (Wikipedia) link, Recognition status section. Source record
3. 3.

   Claim: On 20 May 2011, the Georgian parliament unanimously adopted a resolution characterizing the 1763-1864 events in the Western Caucasus as genocide by the Russian Empire against the Circassian people, and recognized the Circassian diaspora as refugees within the framework of the 1951 UN Refugee Convention.

   • Georgia Recognizes Circassian Genocide (Eurasianet) link, Resolution text section. Source record
4. 4.

   Claim: The modern Circassian movement has centered on three demands directed at Russia: recognition of the 1860s events as genocide, repatriation of the Circassian diaspora to the North Caucasus, and unification of the three Circassian-titled Russian republics (Adygea, Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay-Cherkessia) into a single entity.

   • Circassian Activism Encompasses More Countries as the Opportunities for Interaction Expand (Jamestown Foundation) link, Movement demands section. Source record
5. 5.

   Claim: Circassian activists, including a "No Sochi 2014" campaign launched in 2007, organized opposition to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, noting that the games coincided with the 150th anniversary of the Russian conquest of the area and were held on or near sites associated with 1860s-era mass graves and expulsions.

   • Circassian Activism Encompasses More Countries as the Opportunities for Interaction Expand (Jamestown Foundation) link, Sochi Olympics activism section. Source record
6. 6.

   Claim: Following the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011, several hundred Syrian Circassians fled to Kabardino-Balkaria and Adygea, and Circassian community groups sent repeated appeals to Russian authorities from December 2011 requesting expanded admission; Russian authorities ultimately admitted only a few hundred more (reported at around 500 to Kabardino-Balkaria and around 200 to Adygea) against thousands of applicants, citing residency and citizenship procedures and an overall North Caucasus migrant quota of around 3,000; Circassian community leaders reported that roughly 1,500 people had returned to the Caucasus in total by the time of reporting.

   • Circassians Flee Syria Strife for Russia Homeland (The Moscow Times) link, Repatriation figures section. Source record