Martin Kochesoko’s Speech on the Circassian Issue at the Parliament of Lithuania (Seimas). December 17, 2025

Dear honorable members of the Seimas, distinguished conference participants, ladies and gentlemen!

I sincerely thank you for the opportunity to speak at this important and meaningful event.

My name is Martin Kochesoko, and I lead the Circassian public organization “Khabze,” founded in 2018 in Nalchik, in the heart of historical Circassia. My involvement in the Circassian national movement spans more than two decades. I was among the founders of the network organization “Circassian Congress,” which operated across the three republics of historical Circassia — Kabardino-Balkaria, Adygea, and Karachay-Cherkessia.

From the very beginning, we clearly understood that the preservation and future development of the Circassian people are impossible without the right of return for the millions of Circassians living in exile; without restoring the unity of our people on their ancestral lands; and without re-establishing Circassia’s status as a subject of international law.

Just over 160 years ago, Circassia was clearly marked on every major European map. However, in 1864, after more than a century of resistance to Russian imperial expansion, our country was occupied, and the Circassian people were subjected to genocide: around 90 percent of the population was killed or expelled from their homeland.

Before these tragic events, Circassia was an active participant in international relations. Since antiquity, our ancestors maintained political and cultural ties with the Roman Empire and Constantinople. During the Renaissance, Genoese and Venetian trading posts operated along the Black Sea coast. Archival documents preserved in European cities confirm that Circassia’s economy was firmly integrated into the wider European space.

Starting in the 16th century, the Circassian elite cultivated close military-political relations with Lithuania and Poland, striving to preserve independence in the face of an increasingly aggressive Muscovy. These alliances, built on shared interests, endured into the late 18th century. In the final years of our struggle, Polish volunteers — unable to resist Russian aggression at home — fought alongside Circassians for our country’s freedom until 1864.

Today, Lithuania, Poland, and many other nations once occupied by Russia have regained their sovereignty and built independent states. Yet the threat from Moscow persists, as the ongoing war in Ukraine clearly demonstrates.

For peoples still under Russian domination — including the Circassians — the struggle for survival continues.

Historical Circassia remains a region of extraordinary geopolitical and economic significance today. Through occupation and the expulsion of the indigenous population, Russia secured control over the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus and strategic access to the Black and Mediterranean Seas. Key energy routes, agricultural resources, and tourism corridors pass through these territories.

Along the Black Sea coast today, only 13 Circassian villages remain — a fragile symbol that these lands are still the ancestral home of a people numbering in the millions, the vast majority of whom are denied the right to return. Even these surviving communities face systemic pressure: the Shapsug National District has been dissolved, historical monuments and cemeteries continue to be destroyed, while monuments honoring the Russian imperial generals who carried out these atrocities now dominate the landscape of historical Circassia.

And yet, the Circassians have not lost hope. We continue our struggle.

Beginning in the late 1980s, new national organizations emerged in Circassia, evolving in the early 1990s into a powerful socio-political movement supported by the global diaspora. The International Circassian Association (ICA) was established, bringing the Circassian question to the international arena for the first time.

During this period, the parliaments of Kabardino-Balkaria and Adygea officially recognized the genocide of the Circassian people. It was officially affirmed that Adygeans, Kabardians, Circassians of Karachay-Cherkessia, and Shapsugs constitute one people, united by the common self-designation “Adyge” and historically known as Circassians. Our 19th-century national flag once again became a symbol of unity, as well as the state flag of the Republic of Adygea.

Progress was also made toward repatriation. In 1998, a repatriation law allowed approximately 200 Circassians from Kosovo to resettle in Adygea, where they successfully integrated within just a single generation. This was clear proof that return is realistic and viable even 150 years after the exile began. Unfortunately, this law was repealed as early as 2004.

By the late 1990s, Moscow returned to a policy of strict centralization. The International Circassian Association was effectively seized by force, and leaders of the movement faced political repression. Although the formal structures of the political movement were crushed, the accumulated experience and ideas did not disappear. They laid the foundation for a new phase of national activism — one that developed through decentralized networks and global grassroots mobilization.

A turning point came with the resistance to the 2014 Sochi Olympics — an event staged on the very site where the final act of Circassia’s destruction took place on May 21, 1864. Global protests united Circassians from the homeland and the diaspora more strongly than ever before. It was during that time that Circassian organizations sent appeals to numerous countries, including Lithuania, urging the recognition of the Circassian genocide.

In 2019, a fabricated criminal case against me led to my imprisonment. Only the unprecedented solidarity of Circassians worldwide forced the authorities to release me. When I was compelled to leave my homeland, I did so with one single goal: to return — together with the hundreds of thousands and millions of Circassians who remain in exile.

Our aim is to ensure that the civilized world stands with us — on the side of justice, truth, and freedom. Today’s event in the Lithuanian Parliament, held together with our friends and supporters, is an important step on that path. Because this cause is not only Circassian; it is the cause of all who defend liberty, justice, and human rights.

Given the time constraints, I have greatly condensed my presentation, but I will gladly answer your questions.

I sincerely thank the organizers and all of you for your attention!