Adyghe people

Circassian protest on Times Square in 2011.

The day to remember the ‘forgotten genocide’

Culture

Between 5 million and 7 million Circassians live around the world, descendants of the native tribes expelled from the Caucasus in the 1860s by Russian Imperial forces. The recent Winter Olympics in their ancestral capital of Sochi angered Circassians, but it also brought them together. They aim to get Russia to recognize a right of return for Circassians. It’s a long shot, but these are not people known for giving up easily.

"Mountain people" from the 1860s. These warriors held off the Russian empire for 47 years. Many were ethnically cleansed after the Russian conquest in 1864.

Sochi has a long and difficult past, including a little-known genocide

Conflict & Justice

The Forgotten Circassian Nation

Arts, Culture & Media
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