Speech by the Head of the Circassian Social and Political Organization “Habze” Martin Kochesoko at the Forum of Indigenous Peoples of the Black Sea Region on the Circassian Problematic.

Dear forum participants, ladies and gentlemen!

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

My name is Martin Kochesoko. I head the Circassian social and political organization “Habze”, established in 2018 in Nalchik, in the heart of historical Circassia. My participation in the Circassian national movement spans over twenty years. I was one of the founders of the network organization “Circassian Congress”, which operated in three Circassian republics — Kabardino-Balkaria, Adygea, and Karachay-Cherkessia.

Today, the Circassians in the North Caucasus are represented in three national republics (the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic, the Karachay-Cherkess Republic, and the Republic of Adygea), as well as in the Krasnodar Krai, which encompasses the Black Sea coast of the North Caucasus, the Stavropol Krai, and the Mozdok district of North Ossetia. And today Circassians live there, and we are an indigenous autochthonous people there. That is, the Circassians did not come there from somewhere, but formed there as a people over a thousand years of history, defended these lands, developed a rich culture, advanced social institutions, a system of interrelations and self-organization of the people, where honor, dignity, and humanity were the most important values.

Until the mid-19th century, the Circassians were the most numerous people of the North Caucasus, whose numbers exceeded the population of other indigenous neighboring peoples by manifold. At the same time, we found a common language, built relationships on mutual respect, and were at the forefront in defending not only our independence but that of the entire North Caucasus.

And today, the Circassians are the most numerous of the indigenous peoples of the North Caucasus, if one takes into account the multimillion Circassian diaspora.

Some, when counting the Circassians, take separately each republic or regions in the territory of historical Circassia, as well as the diaspora. But the Circassians are not only those 800 thousand who live in their homeland, divided among six administrative subjects. The Circassians are also those more than 8 million people who live in around 50 countries across the world.

The fact that the majority of our people are scattered across the globe does not mean that they do not exist. And the fact that Circassians do not currently populate the main part of our historical territories does not mean that we do not know for what lands our ancestors shed their blood for hundreds of years, defending their country — Adyge Kheku, Circassia.

Today, those who try to make us forget our history, our homeland, our language, our culture, and our values, are trying to pretend that we no longer exist. Therefore, from the very beginning, we clearly realized that the preservation and future development of the Circassian people are impossible without achieving three main goals: the right to return for millions of Circassians in exile; the restoration of the unity of our people on their native lands; and the return of Circassia to the status of a subject of international law.

Just slightly over 160 years ago, Circassia was clearly marked on all European maps. However, in 1864, after more than a century of resistance against Russian imperial expansion, our country was occupied, and the Circassian people were subjected to genocide: about 90% of the population was annihilated or exiled from their homeland.

Before these tragic events, Circassia was an active participant in international relations. From ancient times, our ancestors maintained political and cultural ties with the Roman Empire and Constantinople, and during the Renaissance, trading posts of Genoa and Venice operated on the Black Sea coast. Archival documents preserved in European cities confirm that the economy of Circassia was firmly integrated into the pan-European space.

Beginning in the 16th century, the Circassian elite built close military-political relations with Lithuania and Poland, seeking to preserve independence in the face of an increasingly aggressive Muscovy. These alliances, based on common interests, persisted until the end of the 18th century.

Historical Circassia to this day remains a region of exceptional geopolitical and economic significance. By occupying these lands and exiling the indigenous population, Russia gained control over the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus and a strategic outlet to the Black and Mediterranean Seas. Key energy routes, agricultural resources, and tourist corridors pass through these territories.

Today, only 13 Circassian villages (auls) remain on the Black Sea coast — as a fragile symbol that these lands are still the homeland of a multi-million people, the overwhelming majority of whom are deprived of the right to return. But even these surviving communities are under systemic pressure: the Shapsug National District was liquidated, historical monuments and cemeteries continue to be destroyed, while monuments to the Russian imperial generals who committed these atrocities now dominate the landscape of historical Circassia.

Despite the inclusion of the Shapsug Circassians in the federal register of indigenous minority peoples, the authorities of the Krasnodar Krai refuse to pass a regional law to protect them. The regional legislation explicitly states that the region is the ancestral place of residence of Russians and Cossacks, completely ignoring the existence of the autochthonous Circassian population. The lack of a legal status leads to the systematic infringement of the rights of the Shapsugs and the suppression of their traditional culture. A striking example of this discrimination was the prosecution of Circassian elder Ruslan Gvashev, who was fined for holding a traditional prayer by a sacred tree on the Day of Remembrance for those who fell for the freedom of Circassia in the hundred-year Russian-Circassian war. Meanwhile, the historical Circassian ports of Novorossiysk and Tuapse now handle up to a third of Russia’s seaborne oil exports, but the indigenous population is absolutely excluded from the management of their land.

In addition to the lack of basic legal status and non-recognition at the regional level, the 13 remaining Shapsug villages (located predominantly in the Tuapse and Lazarevskoye districts) face a whole complex of acute land, economic, and historical problems. A historically significant pain point is the abolition of autonomy. In 1924, the Soviet government made temporary concessions by creating the Shapsug National District with its center in Tuapse (later in the village of Krasnoaleksandrovskoye and Lazarevskoye). However, in May 1945, immediately after the end of the war, the district was demonstratively liquidated, and the territory was renamed in honor of Admiral Mikhail Lazarev — one of the leaders of the Russian Empire’s military campaign against the Circassians on the Black Sea. An attempt to restore autonomy at the First Congress of the Black Sea Shapsugs in 1990 was completely ignored by the state, which Circassians regard as a deliberate policy of assimilation. Today, a fundamental problem for the residents of the villages is physical restriction of access to their ancestral lands. The territories of traditional Shapsug residence have been swallowed up by federal lands, primarily the Sochi National Park. The management of the national park installs boom barriers and checkpoints, blocking local residents from passing through to their own agricultural lands and apiaries. This directly leads to the impossibility of maintaining a traditional economy (in particular, beekeeping), which ensured the survival of the Circassians in these mountains for centuries.

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

Ever since the late 1980s, new national organizations began to emerge in Circassia, which by the early 1990s had grown into a powerful socio-political movement, supported by the global diaspora. The International Circassian Association (ICA) was created, bringing the Circassian issue 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 consolidated that the Adygeans, Kabardians, the Circassians of Karachay-Cherkessia, and the Shapsugs are 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 on the issue of repatriation. In 1998, a law was passed that allowed the resettlement of about 200 Circassians from Kosovo to Adygea, where they successfully integrated in just one generation. This served as clear proof that return is realistic and viable even 150 years after the beginning of the exile. Unfortunately, this law was repealed as early as 2004.

By the late 1990s, Moscow returned to a policy of rigid centralization. The International Circassian Association was essentially taken over by force, and the leaders of the movement were subjected to political repression. Although the formal structures of the political movement were suppressed, the accumulated experience and ideas did not disappear anywhere. They laid the foundation for a new phase of national activism — developing through decentralized networks and global mobilization.

Through the active work of various representatives and organizations of the Circassian national movement and the establishment of contacts with the leadership of then-Georgia, many scientific conferences and meetings on the Circassian issue were organized, resulting in the official recognition of the Circassian genocide by Russia during the century-long Russian-Caucasian War of 1763–1864. In fact, Georgia became the first UN member state to recognize the Circassian genocide.

Another important milestone was the resistance against the 2014 Olympics in Sochi — an event organized on the very site where the final act of the destruction of Circassia took place on May 21, 1864. Global protests united the Circassians of the homeland and the diaspora more strongly than ever before. It was precisely at that time that Circassian organizations sent appeals to many countries, urging them to recognize the Circassian genocide.

In 2019, a fabricated criminal case against me led to my imprisonment. And it was only the unprecedented solidarity of Circassians around the world that forced the authorities to release me. When I was forced to leave my homeland, I did so with a single purpose: to return — along with the hundreds of thousands and millions of Circassians still in exile. It is also important to note that as a result of the active efforts of representatives of the Circassian diaspora and Circassian activists who were recently forced to leave their homeland, in 2025 the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine also recognized the genocide of the Circassians committed by Russia.

Our goal is for the civilized world to stand right alongside us on the side of justice, truth, and freedom. And my participation in today’s event, standing here together with our friends and supporters, is a step on this path. Because for us, our cause is not merely a Circassian one; it is the cause of all who defend freedom, justice, and human rights.

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

April 10, 2026