III Congress of the Nations of the North Caucasus

III Congress of the Nations of the North Caucasus

On November 8, 2023, the Congress of the Nations of the North Caucasus was held in the European Parliament

CONGRESS SPEAKERS

  • Anna Fotyga

    Member of the European Parliament. Poland

  • Iyad Youghar

    Chairman of the International Circassian Council. USA

  • Akhmed Zakaev

    Prime Minister of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria

  • Akhmad Akhmedov

    President of the All-Ukrainian Congress of the Peoples of Dagestan

  • Adel Bashqawi

    Representative of the Circassian People. Jordan

  • Shamil Albakov

    Ingush representative in the Committee for the Nations of the North Caucasus. France

  • Hakan Cinaz

    International Circassian Council. Turkey

  • Inal Sherip

    Ministre of Foreign Affairs of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. Belgium

  • Nusret Bas

    Representative of the Circassian People. Turkey

  • Raphaël Glucksmann

    Member of the European Parliament. France

  • Oleh Dunda

    Member of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine

  • Francesco Benedetti

    Honorary Consul of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. Italy

  • Michael Barsik

    Vice-Chairman of the International Circassian Council. USA

  • Rasa Jukneviciene

    Member of the European Parliament. Lithuania

  • Shaher Shabso

    Representative of the Circassian People. Israel

  • Murad Quandour

    International Circassian Council. USA

  • Ilia Ponomariov

    Leader of the political wing of the Freedom of Russia Legion. Ukraine

  • Juraj Mesik

    Honorary Consul of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. Slovakia

SPEECHES OF THE THIRD CONGRESS

Akhmed Zakaev

Prime Minister of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria

Akhmed Zakaev

November 8, 2023

The European Parliament, Brussels.

Dear friends, colleagues and like-minded individuals,

First and foremost, I want to draw your attention to the incredible strength of spirit and unwavering determination of Anna Fatyga, who played a vital role in organizing our conference. Her invaluable contribution and fearlessness in the fight for the liberation of enslaved peoples deserve our deepest gratitude. I am confident that Anna's name will forever be remembered in history as a symbol of unwavering faith in justice and freedom.

Today is a day that will be marked in history. For the first time at such a high level, here in the European Parliament, we are presenting the concept of uniting the Caucasus. This means that the peoples of the North Caucasus have gathered today to discuss their future and make important decisions independently, without the involvement of Russia, determining the path they want to take. The last time something similar happened was 105 years ago at the Second Congress of the Peoples of the North Caucasus.

There are different interpretations of our history and various views on the future. However, we must understand that only joint efforts and mutual understanding will allow us to move forward towards our common goal.

Our history is rich in a variety of events and twists, and the different peoples of the Caucasus may have different perspectives on the past. But even within this diversity, we find common traits: the desire to live in peace, security, and prosperity. This common aspiration unites us.

We may have different opinions on a range of issues, but despite that, consensus and cooperation must be our guiding principles. Only together can we overcome the challenges before us and move forward toward our shared goal of creating a better future for all the peoples of the Caucasus.

Let us unite our efforts to make the Caucasus a place where peace, justice, and prosperity prevail, where every people have the right to self-determination and freedom. This will be our contribution to the future that we all deserve.

We are bound to cooperate and jointly address all the issues of our region. We must act as equals and as brothers. Only through collective efforts, taking into account the interests of each people, can we move closer to the liberation of our land.

Today, our duty is to come together, reevaluate old disagreements, and build a future in which every people of the Caucasus will have the right to freedom and justice. Let this day be the starting point of our joint journey towards a brighter future for all of us.

The political process of unification in the Caucasus has its roots in the solidarity and unity of armed units that are currently fighting together on the frontlines in Ukraine. This unification process has already begun its course and is developing successfully; soon, we will see its fruits.

It is important to understand that historically, our peoples in the Caucasus have repeatedly demonstrated their ability to unite in times of trial. This unity of our brotherhood in the fight on the frontlines in Ukraine is becoming the foundation of our armed forces. It is this unified will and determination of our soldiers that will create a powerful and unwavering army capable of defending the interests of all the peoples of the North Caucasus.

Today, we see how military solidarity is shaping the future of our region. Let this military brotherhood become a strong foundation for our united aspiration for peace, freedom, and prosperity in the Caucasus.

We need to establish a unified coordination center that will be responsible for developing and implementing the common policies of our movement towards independence. This center should serve as a catalyst for our collective effort, shaping a shared vision for the future and setting the priorities for our path.

The establishment of the Committee for the Independence of the Caucasus is an important step in this direction. Its task is to unite all forces striving for independence and become a true center of influence actively shaping the common agenda. We must work together, coordinate our actions, and stay true to the goal we aim to achieve.

The Committee should be the instrument of our success, and through it, we can better coordinate our efforts to achieve our shared dream – independence and freedom for our peoples. Let us work together to turn this dream into reality.

Adel Bashqawi

Representative of the Circassian People. Jordan

Adel Bashqawi

November 8, 2023

The European Parliament, Brussels.

Circassia will be a Cornerstone in a Prosperous North Caucasus

It’s not a secret that Circassians, whether the 10% who are still in their precious homeland in the North Caucasus under Russian rule since the odious occupation of 1864 or those other 90% who are spread out in a diaspora that consists of dozens of countries believe in the fact that “human being is free from cradle to grave.” The rights will not be restored and/or straightened before achieving freedom and independence of Circassia, according to the “Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” within its borders at the time of the Russian invasion and conquest.

I have no doubt that everyone in this blessed gathering at the European Parliament will support Circassians yearn to regain their legitimate rights guaranteed by international laws and norms.

The overwhelming majority of Circassians, who feel the pressure and obstacles of the Russian government and the governments of the countries in which they reside in, aspire to restore their legitimate rights, which are not subject to statute of limitations.

Recognizing the Circassian Genocide

The Circassians’ real issue is the recognition of the Circassian Genocide. Accordingly, the Russian state is obliged to:

• Apologize to the Circassian people.

• Pay appropriate compensation.

• Give way to apply the Right of Return with International protection.

• The Right to Self-determination.

In this legislative edifice, I would like to refer to a title I used five years ago in a Circassian conference in Europe, regarding the necessity of opening the European window on what really happened in the past and what should happen in the present and future. The title of the lecture was: “Europe’s Moral Role to Restore Circassian Legitimate Rights.”

Union is Strength

Peoples and nations of the North Caucasus deserve to be freed from the restrictions imposed by the Russian state on their homelands and their freedom to choose their own destiny. They are fed up with being nominally federal subjects, without their prior consent. Thus this style of forced unification without consulting the stakeholders will neither be feasible nor acceptable on the ground.

Getting rid of Russian hegemony will benefit everyone, and will pave the way for them to choose the nature of future participation in a unity, after these peoples gain their freedom, independence, and right to self-determination, after a decision is made through appropriate referendums. Otherwise, putting the cart before the horse will not be advisable.

Following the rules will lead to a situation that allows consent to establish a kind of unity between the peoples and nations of the Caucasus similar to the European Union, which could develop in the future to a Pan-Caucasus entity with the consent of the peoples.

Peoples of the North Caucasus are not ghosts, but citizens deprived of their will and rights in their original homelands. They are human beings that belong to indigenous peoples and nations, rooted in their original homelands for thousands of years. Although the divide and rule policy is imposed on members of the same people and/or between different peoples, this policy only succeeded with relatively few individuals.

Thus, legitimate rights will not be restored without the peoples and nations of the North Caucasus obtaining the right to self-determination, without any ambiguity or delay. “Self-determination has two aspects, internal and external. Internal self-determination is the right of the people of a state to govern themselves without outside interference. External self-determination is the right of peoples to determine their own political status and to be free of alien domination, including formation of their own independent state.”

Speaking of which

The following is borrowed from my article published in April 2023 regarding “legitimate Circassian demands that do not fall under the statute of limitations, according to international laws and norms. This falls under painful and illogical reality, in the face of unparalleled colonial stubbornness of ignoring the responsibility to return rights to their rightful owners. Circassians demand “Peace, Dignity and Equality in accordance with the basic rights of citizens that must be in line with”:

• The Declaration of Circassian Independence

• United Nations Charter

• Universal Declaration of Human Rights

• International Law and Justice

• Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide

• United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

• The Declaration on Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples

• UNESCO Language Rights as an Integral Part of Human Rights

• International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

• Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union

The Ukrainian Lesson

The Russian waged war in Ukraine since February 2022, expresses a relentless, devastating and heartless sweeping invasion against the independent and sovereign country of Ukraine. The Crimean Peninsula was occupied and annexed in 2014. Russian adventures that took place

since  Ivan the Terrible to the present, their goal was and still is to occupy the homelands of neighbors and beyond, annex them, and even annihilate their peoples.

Victims of peoples and nations who were targeted by the successive Russian fascist regimes’ wars and aggressions in the past, specifically in the 19th century, understood and comprehended what the expansionists are after. Thanks God, Ukraine with the support of its friends was able to absorb, obstruct and even repel Russian forces at the gates of Europe.

Conclusion

It is suggested that this conference of the North Caucasus must declare that the North and Western Caucasus and the Black Sea region are in the European continent, and that Russia should be excluded from this area. The North and Western Caucasus see that the region is in the European Zone, and its future lies within Europe.

Shamil Albakov

Ingush representative in the Committee for the Nations of the North Caucasus. France

Albakov Shamil,

delegate from representatives of the Ingush people

November 8, 2023

The European Parliament, Brussels.

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Address at the III Congress of the Peoples of the Caucasus

Good afternoon, dear members of the European Parliament, dear deputies of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, all participants of this congress, dear delegates of the representatives of the fraternal Caucasian peoples assalamou aleikoum.

First of all, I express my thanks to the organizers of this conference, in particular Anna Fotyga and other members of the European Parliament, as well as deputies of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and, of course, the representatives of the government of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. Also special thanks to Raphael Glucksman who gently agreed to take part in this event.

This is a historical and significant event.

At the moment, there is the biggest war since the Second World War going on in Europe: the full-scale Russian agression against Ukraine, where ukrainian civilians and Ukrainian soldiers who defend their state sacrifice their lives every day.

At the same moment. Bloody hostilities have resumed in the Middle East, where more than 10 thousand people have already been killed in less than 20 days, including almost 5 thousand children.

We express our pain and compassion to the families and friends of all those who died and continue to die from injustice and brutal violence on the borh sides.

Thousands of rallies and protests are taking place all over the world, people are demanding effective solutions. The functioning of the UN Security Council is completely at a standstill. This body does not solve all these catastrophic and terrible situations and is not able to make the big countries to respect the basic human rights and its own resolutions. Small, defenseless peoples and countries are left without any help or support and are subject to persecution, genocide and eviction. All this should inevitably lead to changes in geopolitics. The President of Ukraine, V. Zelensky, spoke about this in one of his addresses.

In this context, our region must prepare for changes. The acquisition of independence and statehood by the peoples of the North Caucasus is a necessity for our self-preservation and, in fact, inevitable.

Therefore, right now we must think about tomorrow and convey our position to the world and strive to restore historical justice, which consists in:

- restoration of the Confederation of Peoples of the Caucasus,

- recognition of its legitimacy

- and all possible support for this project.

105 years ago, representatives of the peoples of the North Caucasus made that right decision. Through legitimate, democratic, electoral processes, they recorded the will of our peoples for independence and unity and achieved brilliant diplomatic results. And this is precisely what needs to be taken as legal basis today, and not all those artificial referendums and so called elections held at gunpoint and under the pressure of state terror, which Russia shows to the world as evidence of our supposed desire to live within it.

Since the Bolsheviks established control over the territory of the Mountain Republic in the beginning of the XX century, the peoples of the Caucasus have regularly been subjected to severe repression. In particular, the Ingush people went through unbearable and deadly trials. Being an extremely small people, all these repressions put the very existence of the Ingush under a clear threat. From the very beginning, from the 20s, the Ingush people felt all the horrors of the Red Terror. Dispossession, exile to Siberia, arrests and murders of religious figures, closure of mosques, persecution of political opposants.

Then came the repressions of the 30s. NKVD employees, under the control of the Stalinist regime, killed thousands of people without trial or investigation. And all of it culminated in the complete deportation of Chechens and Ingush to Siberia and Central Asia on 02/23/1944. For 13 years the people survived and trying to save themseves from complete extinction. And only after the death of the dictator and maniac Stalin, after the demands of the international community, our peoples were allowed to return to their homeland.

In the 90s everything started again.

In the fall of 1992, ethnic cleansing was carried out in the very cradle of the Ingush people, in the Prigorodny district. 70 thousand Ingush were forcibly expelled from their homes by Russian troops and local criminal gangs. Hundreds of people were killed, disappeared and tortured to death.

And then the two aggressions against the fraternal Chechen people and all the consequences of the so-called operations to restore the constitutional order and the so-called antiterrorist operations throughout the North Caucasus.

Thousands of Ingush killed in Chechnya itself, hundreds of detained, killed and missing, or, at best, sentenced to long prison terms.

Here is the whole history of the Ingush people over the past 105 years. It is unthinkable to even suppose that continuing to live within the Russian Federation is a voluntary choice of the people who have experienced all this.

On the contrary, exactly what we are voicing here today is the aspiration and desire of our people throughout its history. Ask those who died in deportation to Siberia, the tortured women, the parents of murdered children in the Prigorodny region, the relatives of missing people. We speak precisely on their behalf. Today we are obliged to do everything to prepare the political basis for the restoration of the statehood of the peoples of the Caucasus.

Today many representatives of our peoples, Chechens and Ingush, live in different countries, in East and in West, and show the highest ability to adapt to any type of society. They study in the best educational institutions and secular sciences and also the sciences of religion. We are confident that this potential and this experience will help us in the development of our states and our region. The most necessary resource of any state are it’s people. And our peoples, hardened by all repression and persecution, having gone through all the difficulties of exile, surely have enormous potential and motivation for the development of their countries if they are given such an opportunity and provided with security and minimal support.

All peoples of the Caucasus must realize that only in the union do they have a future. Having equal rights for everyone and their own sovereignty, the peoples of the Caucasus must create favorable conditions for everyone.

Today Ingushetia is the most densely populated region after Moscow and St. Petersburg. But in all respects it is the most backward in Russia: unemployment, interruptions in electricity and water, lack of infrastructure, low standard of living. There is almost no industrial development at all. The region is completely dependent on state subsidies of Moscow. The republic does not have its own constitution working, elections for the head of the republic have been cancelled, and the head of the republic is appointed from Moscow.

We call on all the forces of our peoples, in particular everyone in the diaspora, Ingush and Chechens, Circasssians, and other Caucasians to realize the need for the political platform of the Confederation of Peoples of the North Caucasus, to take part by all available, legal methods in the restoration of our statehood and preparations for the liberation of our region.

We also call on all our partners and allies, in Ukraine and in the other Western countries, to support this project and provide it with all possible assistance

Ingushetia, the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria and the entire Caucasus will be free. They will be as prosperous pearls among two seas, with the permission of the Almighty, who has gifted us with a beautiful land and an incredible human potential.

Thank you for your attention.

Francesco Benedetti

Honorary Consul of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. Italy

Francesco Benedetti

November 8, 2023

The European Parliament, Brussels.

Good evening to all present

Thank you, Chairman Zakayev, Thank you, Minister.

Over the past decade, a series of political and military crises have crossed the world. Visualizing them on the map, we can identify a "line of friction" that starting from Finland runs from North to South through Eastern Europe, reaches the Caucasus, crosses the Middle East and then wedges into Africa, cutting it from East to West. If the hot spots on this front are currently Ukraine, Nagorno Karabakh, Syria and Palestine, no less concern is aroused by its secondary segments, such as the Russian Federation, Belarus, Georgia, Iraq, Libya and the West African Republics. The Caucasus is one of the pieces of this front.

The war unleashed by Putin in February 2022 against Ukraine has exposed the Russian Federation to the risk of a collapse. This would give the North Caucasus republics an opportunity to reassess their position in a regional association along the lines of the North Caucasus Mountain Republic. Similar projects, after all, were theorized as early as the late 1980s and early 1990s, notably by Dzhokhar Dudaev and Zviad Gamsakhurdia, and with them a vast movement of opinion that had animated debates, discussions, and projects. I can try to make a modest contribution by bringing to your attention my own experience as a citizen of a member state of a supranational union, at whose main institution, the European Parliament, we find ourselves right now.

European Union has been established, given itself a Parliament, created legislative, governing and supervisory bodies, procedures and regulations of all kinds, social, economic and cultural projects of the highest order. However, at this very moment, when a solid and strong Europe, capable of influencing the course of world events and protecting the interests of European citizens would be needed more than ever, the Union is revealing some difficulties.

Personally, I believe that the problem lies mainly in the fact that even today, seventy-four years after the establishment of the Council of Europe, the European Union does not have a "Mission." European citizens feel part of a larger community than that of the nation to which they belong, but they do not know how to recognize its "depth," so they call themselves first "French" "Spanish" "German," then "European." Precisely from this problem I try to translate the discussion to the North Caucasus.

A union of North - Caucasian republics can be a viable curb on the imperial pretensions of neighboring powers, and Russia in particular. Moreover, it could grant the republics that would compose it greater specific weight in international fora, and start a process of building a Caucasian identity that, as an outside observer, I trace already exists in a rather pronounced way. A defensive purpose, however, cannot be a sufficient "mission."

I believe that the project of a unification of the North Caucasus, fascinating and potentially successful in itself, must be accompanied by deep reflection regarding what its "mission" in history should be. If until a few decades ago new states arose out of opportunity, embodying the national ambitions of peoples, today we are witnessing the emergence of new states out of necessity. The end of the U.S.-led unipolar world, the rise of new world powers, and the agglomeration of economic power and demographic weight makes the "small homelands" so irrelevant that they are forced to consort if they want to avoid becoming pawns in the great international power games.

What need, then, should guide the creation of a Confederation of the Peoples of the North Caucasus? What historical mission should it set itself? What added value should it bring to the Caucasian community, and to the human community at large? On what distinctive features should it be articulated? To put it even more simply: how will a citizen of Dzhokhar, Magas, or Machackala feel honored to be a Citizen of the Caucasus? I believe that the ability of the peoples of the North Caucasus to erect a solid institution, capable of guaranteeing them a future of freedom and prosperity, will depend on the attention paid to these questions.

My time is up, thank you for your attention.

Akhmad Akhmedov

President of the All-Ukrainian Congress of the Peoples of Dagestan

Akhmad Akhmedov

November 8, 2023

The European Parliament, Brussels.

Dear assembly,

The Ukrainian war could well be the last war in the history of Russia. The enormous monster that has poisoned the lives of dozens of nations, erasing the very possibility of their peaceful and free development, is slowly expelling its noxious spirit under the blows of the Ukrainian army. For generations, the peoples of the Caucasus have dreamt of the day they would be freed from Kremlin rule. For generations, they have remembered with sadness the days when they lived without fear, worked without fear, and raised their children without fear. For generations, they lived with the spirit of freedom, a flame that was consistently extinguished by the imperial boot, and anyone who tried to preserve it was labeled a bandit and a terrorist. And now, we see how the dreams of our ancestors are coming to life. We see that all the peoples, under the threat of death, herded into a "fraternal union," are beginning to raise their heads and look around. Because the sun of freedom is rising. It rises, illuminating what the state - the gendarme - hid under the facade of state secrets and interests, which have always been understood solely as the interests of the Kremlin slave owners.

Today, in Dagestan, a classic set of problems from a totalitarian society persists. The impunity of the security forces, sometimes leading to the killing of civilians without trial or investigation, often right in police stations, corruption, and a crumbling economy. If Russian authorities managed to quell pockets of resistance, it does not mean that separatist tendencies have disappeared. On the contrary, they are pushed deep into the public consciousness to resurface at the first favorable opportunity.

Our people have everything they need for free development, yet they experience daily power outages, water shortages, a lack of basic living conditions in cities, a lack of necessary infrastructure in mountainous areas, and the dilapidation of social facilities. All of this suggests that Dagestan, which some call the "Switzerland of the Caucasus," is intentionally being driven into a state of depression.

The problem of the impunity of the security forces remains relevant, systematic abduction of people maintains an atmosphere of fear and oppressive unfreedom, where people have no right to protest, no right to their own opinions, and expressing their own views is equated with extremism.

Corruption and the lack of prospects are driving our youth to the war in Ukraine because involvement in criminal adventures offers a weak but guaranteed path to advancement on the career ladder and social guarantees from Russia. However, despite decades of dehumanizing the mindset, they are the absolute minority.

And now, all the peoples of the Caucasus are faced with the question: What's next? How do we continue to build our home? How do we build relationships with the world? Will it accept us as we are? We do not want to be accepted condescendingly, as runaway slaves ready to pay any price for joining the ranks of free peoples. We are who we are.

Historically, we have lived considering every person as an equal. We have always lived in an atmosphere of equality, and among us, there were no individuals to whom their origin gave the right to indulge and oppress their neighbor. Yes, our mentality is not an exact copy of the European one, but that's how the free world differs from the totalitarian one: peoples of different faiths and cultures can have equal conversations, build mutually beneficial and respectful relationships.

From the very beginning of this disgraceful war, a large part of Dagestan's population realized its criminal nature, as evidenced by the rallies and pickets that took place in Dagestan. Our people have shown that they do not want to be fuel for this war.

The imminent defeat in the Ukrainian war reinforces the understanding that Russia, whose strength is dwindling every day, will not be able to hold onto the Caucasus. Therefore, our peoples have no other option but to prepare for such a scenario.

Europe should also prepare for the fact that we, the free peoples of the Caucasus, aspire to dialogue based on mutual respect and trust.