09:41, 22 May 2014

Residents of Southern Russia and Southern Caucasus mark 150 years of end of Caucasian War (+video)

Participants of the commemorative events on the 150th anniversary of the end of the Caucasian War with a Circassian flag. Adygea, Maikop, May 21, 2014. Photo by Oleg Chaly for the "Caucasian Knot"

On May 20 and 21, the southern regions of Russia, Abkhazia and Georgia, and Moscow hosted events dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the end of the Caucasian War. The events included rallies, marches, artistic exhibitions and book presentations. The participants of the actions commemorated the casualties with a minute of silence and lit candles.

On May 21, the city of Cherkessk, the capital of the Karachay-Cherkessian Republic (KChR), held a ceremony of laying the memorial stone for the future monument to the victims of the Caucasian War.

At the solemn sitting in the KChR, Circassian activists called on the republic's leadership to assist in the resettlement of Syrian Circassians and set up a committee for compatriots' matters.

On May 20, the North-Caucasian Branch of the State Museum of Oriental Arts in Maikop opened the exhibition "Caucasus in Eyes of 19th Century Painters", dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the end of the Caucasian War.

The commemorative events on the 150th anniversary of the end of the Caucasian War took place in Moscow and were attended by more than 200 ethnic Caucasians from Kabardino-Balkaria, Adygea, Abkhazia, Karachay-Cherkessia and Syria.