KChR residents mark Revival Day of Karachay nation

On Saturday, May 3, the Karachay-Cherkessian Republic (KChR) held festive events dedicated to the 57th anniversary of the return of deported Karachay people to their historic homeland.

Towns and districts of the republic held solemn assemblies, concerts and sporting events. Ismail-Khadji Berdiev, Chairman of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims (SAM) of the KChR and of the Coordination Centre of North-Caucasian Muslims, performed the dua sermon to commemorate those who perished in the years of exile.

Ruslan Khabov, First Deputy Speaker of the KChR's Parliament and the chairman of the public organization "Karachay Alan Khalk", said that the 14-year-old exile claimed over 43,000 human lives; of them, about 22,000 were just kids. "The policy of genocide and repressions against its own nations has been recognized by the Russian state that had stepped on the democratic path of development as criminal. This gives a strong belief that the tragic mistakes of the past will be never made again," said Khabov.

Historians note that the deportation resulted in extinction of about a third of the Karachay nation. According to Professor Murat Karaketov, Doctor of History, if not for the 1943 deportation, the Karachay population in Russia would have been some 400-450 thousand – twice as many as now.