SHUSHA, Azerbaijan, July 6. A panel discussion
titled "Ethnic and Cultural Diversity as a Treasure of Humanity"
has been held in Shusha as part of the international conference
"Cultural and ethnic diversity: lessons from history, contemporary
challenges", Trend's correspondent reports from the event.


The panel moderator, researcher-journalist, analyst from
Türkiye, Nalan Yazgan Eris, said that it's very important to
conduct dialogue and find solutions to problems with the
participation of all interested parties. In this regard, the
tragedy faced by the Circassian people requires special
attention.


"The Russian-Circassian War of 1763–1864 was not an ordinary
military campaign. It was a policy aimed at the systematic
destruction of an entire people. One of the most famous figures of
the Russian occupation, General Grigory Zass, gained notoriety for
collecting Circassian skulls as booty. Even today, in some regions
of the North Caucasus, there are monuments erected in honor of
General Zass, and official events dedicated to his memory are held.
For the heirs of the victims of the genocide, such public eulogy is
a symbol not of reconciliation, but of the continuation of
historical violence," he said.


Eris noted that today, conditions are not created for peaceful
commemoration events related to the Circassians in Russia, and
participants in the silent memorial march held in the city of
Nalchik in 2025 were administratively arrested.


"The legal, political, and cultural consequences of the
Circassian genocide of 1864 continue to affect the lives of the
victims' descendants today," he pointed out.


Professor Cahit Aslan, a researcher at Çukurova University in
Türkiye, delivered a report on "Circassian national identity and
collective memory" at the panel. He said that millions of
Circassians currently living in different countries of the world
are trying to keep their collective memory alive through family
memories, cultural rituals, and memorial ceremonies.


"Circassian identity has been used in different ways throughout
history. Although it refers to the "Adyghe" in a narrow sense, it
is a super-identity that includes many indigenous peoples exiled
from the North Caucasus in a broad sense," he explained.


Aslan also listed the Kremlin's exiles against the peoples of
the North Caucasus, including the Karachays, Balkars, and Chechens
during the USSR, and said that these also left deep traces in
collective memory.


"Collective memory is not only a form of remembering the past,
but also the will to build the future. Identity is alive only when
there is memory, and memory is alive through the transmission of
cultural heritage. For this reason, Circassian national identity
should be evaluated as a dynamic process that is nourished by the
past but directed towards the future," he added.


Rustam Khuajev, a member of the Board of Directors of the League
of Free Nations, who joined the conference via video link from
Germany, spoke on the topic "Discrimination and the fight against
it". He described the situation in modern Russia.


"The state is trying to dictate to people how they should think,
what should be considered right, and who they should feel like.
This is where the most dangerous form of discrimination begins.
This is not only a political, but also a systemic discrimination
that has a cultural, social, and psychological character. The real
political representation of indigenous peoples is weakening, the
mechanisms for society to influence power are gradually being
eliminated, and the centralized system of governance, where
decisions are made without the participation of the people, is
being strengthened.


However, institutional discrimination is only one side of the
problem. There is another, more serious and dangerous side to it.
We are faced with cases of mass detention, arrest, and pressure on
young people and their families. The values ​​that people
internally experience cannot be changed by any decree or
administrative decision. When discrimination takes on a systemic
character, there is no chance for development," he mentioned.


Fatima Tlis, a representative of the World Circassian Agency
from the U.S., delivered a report entitled "Responding to the
challenges of the new era" via video link. She said that ensuring
historical justice is the most important challenge.


"If a people preserves its will for freedom and national
identity, attempts to erase it from the map of history or
assimilate it within artificial administrative borders are doomed
to failure. As long as the historical homeland of the Circassians
remains a territory of colonial oppression, where the study of
their native language is restricted, and the right of return is
blocked, and as long as the constitutions of the national republics
continue to be deprived of sovereign content, the Circassian issue
will remain an open problem and a source of tectonic political
change," she said.


The international conference will end with the adoption and
reading of the joint declaration of the participants of the
conference entitled "Cultural and ethnic diversity: lessons from
history, contemporary challenges".