The Long Story of the Circassian Repatriation Process to the Homeland

Year 2023, , 43 - 56, 31.05.2023

Ömer Aytek Kurmel

https://doi.org/10.21488/jocas.1220595

Abstract

Whereas the Circassian diaspora engaged in a self-centered debate around the idea of repatriation to the Caucasus in the mid-1960s, it was already an offical Soviet policy targeting the Soviet emigration in the West as early as 1943. Moscow was resolute about eliminating the threat which it believed emanated from the millions-strong body of former Soviet subjects who had remained abroad at the end of the war. Following Stalin’s death, Kremlin (re)formulated an emigration policy and came up with several categories that ranged from the ring leaders to the ordinary rank-and-file. The campaign to lure the emigration did not amount to much save a few hundred individuals, mostly from South America, but it succeeeded in sowing seeds of mistrust within emigré communities. As far as the Circassians were concerned, some communities were more responsive to the idea of repatriation than others, namely Turkish Circassians. Having been indoctrinated against communism in this NATO member country, many demonized rapatriation as a Soviet plot to paralyze the diaspora, which in fact was not a viable political force. Surely, failing to discuss the idea of repatriation in a rational manner was a missed opportunity for Turkish Circassians, for they lagged behind their brethren in Syria and Jordan, something that puts them at great disadvantage even today

Keywords

USSR, repatriation, Circassian diaspora, Soviet emigration, World War II, Cold War

Çerkeslerde Vatana Dönüş Sürecinin Uzun Öyküsü [The Long Story of the Circassian Repatriation Process to the Homeland]

Abstract

Sovyetler Birliğinin 1943 yılı gibi erken bir tarihte Batı’daki Sovyet muhaceretini geri getirmeyi resmi politika haline getirmiş olmasına karşın, Çerkes diasporası Kafkasya’ya dönüş düşüncesini ancak 1960’lı yılların ortasında, üstelik kendisini merkeze alarak tartışmaya başladı. Moskova, savaş sonunda Batı ülkelerinde kalan kalabalık Sovyet muhaceretini kendi güvenliği için bir tehdit olarak algılıyor ve geri getirmek istiyordu. Stalin’in ölümünden sonra ayrıntılı bir göçmen politikası oluşturan Kremlin, sorumluluğu farklı biçimde dağıtarak değişik göçmen kategorileri kurguladı. Dönüş kampanyası Güney Amerika’dan dönen birkaç yüz kişi dışında başarılı olmasa da göçmen toplulukları içinde güvensizlik tohumları ekmeyi başardı. Çerkesler düzleminde, Türkiye dışındaki ülkelerde yaşayan Çerkesler dönüş konusuna daha yapıcı yaklaştılar. NATO üyesi Türkiye’deki Çerkeslerin tutucu kesimleri dönüş kampanyasını Sovyet komplosu olarak şeytanlaştırdılar. Dönüş tezini soğukkanlılıkla tartışmayı beceremeyen Türkiye Çerkesleri, etkisi bugün bile hissedilecek biçimde Suriyeli ve Ürdünlü soydaşlarının gerisinde kaldılar

Keywords

Sovyetler Birliği, dönüş, Çerkes diasporası, Sovyet muhacereti, İkinci Dünya Savaşı, Soğuk Savaş, USSR, repatriation, Circassian diaspora, Soviet emigration, World War II, Cold War

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