Ruzanna Tuko is criticized for breaking Circassian traditions

After the scandal with the receipt of a school gold medal, the mother-official and her daughter-graduate had to leave the village of Takhtamukai, their relative has stated on air of a talk show on the federal TV channel. In the opinion of Naima Neflyasheva and Asker Sokht, Ruzanna Tuko, a medallist, who took part in the talk show, violated Circassian traditions and behaved unworthily.

On June 27, Ruzanna Tuko and her father took part in the talk show "Live on Air" at Russia-1 TV channel; the record of the programme later was posted on the channel's website.

In the course of the talk show, the graduate "looked a boorish, self-confident and narcissistic girl, far from the behaviour norms usual for the Circassian society," said Naima Neflyasheva, a senior researcher at the Centre for Civilization and Regional Studies of the Africa Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) and the author of her personal blog on the "Caucasian Knot" named "Northern Caucasus through the Centuries".

"Everything began on a high note – under the motive of fighting injustice; and the end was a typical marketplace quarrel. This story reflects the deepest crisis of the Circassian culture," Ms Neflyasheva has concluded.

Teachers and parents failed to teach the graduate the main thing – humanity, an educator from Nalchik said in her turn.

"You shouldn't trample other people into the dirt in this way. The graduate appeared on the podium, told about the problem – they should have stopped on that. However, she continued performing publicly, including on television," the educator has noted.

Asker Sokht, the deputy head of the public organization "Adyge-Khase" of the Krasnodar Territory, has stated his categorical disagreement with the position of Ruzanna Tuko and her father. According to his version, they "speak out at a talk show and, thus, launch a real harassment of the Ruzanna Tuko's classmate."

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.