Pandemic changes format of Remembrance Day of Caucasian War victims in KBR

By the Remembrance Day of Caucasian War victims, Circassian activists have posted thematic videos in social networks, urging residents of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR) to pay tribute to victims at home. For the Circassians, the problems of repatriation, cultural integration and preservation of the mother tongue are relevant, scientists believe.

On May 21, the actions commemorating the victims of the Caucasian War will take place on the Internet because of coronavirus, said Aslan Beshto, the head of the "Kabardian Congress" public movement.

According to his story, traditionally, Circassians in Russia and Turkey are most actively marking the Remembrance Day.

"We should look into the future, develop our culture, preserve our language and educate young people in the spirit of respect for the 'Adyge Khabze' (Adyg ethics, – note of the "Caucasian Knot")," said Abubekir Murzakanov, the head of the NGO "Adyge Kheku Cherkessia".

The acutest problem of the Circassian ethnos is Circassians' repatriation, Madina Khakuasheva, a philologist, believes. "The Syrian Circassians, who have returned to their historical homeland, live in cramped conditions; they are mainly helped by public organizations, while there's no help from the state," she has explained, adding that the second problem is the cultural integration and the creation of a unified methodology for studying the mother tongue for all Circassians.