Геноцид черкесов. Вопрос об исторической легитимности

Abstract

In recent years, due to some contemporary political influences in Russia, Circassian activists, and some foreign states have proposed that the Circassian exile (forced deportations) and Russian colonization in the 19th century, might be considered as an expression of the contemporary notion in philosophical politics of ethnic cleansing and the genocide by the Russian Empire. This campaign claims that according to the historical records during these colonization thousands upon thousands of humans were massacred. Hence, the formation of the Circassian Genocide as an international issue is begun to be internationalized, this paper tries to clarify the legitimacy question of the Circassian Genocide based on the ethical dimension and the meaning of genocide under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in 1948. We describe this view about moral epistemology elsewhere, but we will not elaborate on it in the present context.
Another important factor that we will survey in this study, is the recent activities of Circassians to recognize this historical event as a genocide. Nowadays we see a considerable sort of unification and symphonic movement has been developed in Circassian identity around the international recognition of the genocide. Due to a lot of historical information, the aim of this paper is not to demonstrate or to prove the ethnic cleansing and genocide, but is to discuss that it was a genocide or not, according to our knowledge in Eurasian contemporary politics.

Keywords

• circassian genocide
• sochi winter olympics
• history of circassia

Circassian Genocide: Historical Legitimacy Question [Çerkes Soykırımı: Tarihsel Meşruiyet Sorunu]

Abstract

Son yıllarda, Rusya'daki bazı çağdaş siyasi etkiler nedeniyle, Çerkes aktivistler ve bazı yabancı devletler, 19. yüzyılda Çerkes sürgününün (zorla yerinden edilmelerin) ve Rus kolonizasyonunun çağdaş siyaset felsefesindeki kavramlarla açıklandığında Rusya İmparatorluğu tarafından etnik temizlik ve soykırım yapıldığı şeklinde ifade edilebileceğini öne sürdüler. Çerkes soykırımı kampanyası, tarihsel kayıtlara göre bu kolonizasyon sırasında binlerce insanın katledildiğini iddia etmektedir. Böylelikle, Çerkes Soykırımı uluslararası bir mesele haline gelmeye başlamıştır. Bu makale Çerkes Soykırımı'nın meşruiyet sorununu, 1948 Soykırımın Önlenmesi ve Soykırım Suçlarının Cezalandırılması Sözleşmesindeki etik ve soykırım tanımına göre sorgulamaktadır. Başka bir yerde ahlaki epistemoloji bakışını tanımlıyoruz, ancak mevcut bağlamda bu konuyu detaylandırmayacağız.
Bu çalışmada inceleyeceğimiz bir diğer önemli faktör ise, Çerkeslerin bu tarihi olayı bir soykırım olarak tanımaya yönelik bugünkü faaliyetleridir. Bugün soykırımın uluslararası tanınması etrafında Çerkes kimliğinde önemli bir tür birleşme ve senfonik hareketin geliştiğini görüyoruz. Bu yazının amacı etnik temizlik ve soykırımı göstermek veya kanıtlamak değil, çağdaş Avrasya siyasetindeki bilgilerimize göre, pek çok tarihsel bilgiye dayanarak, bunun bir soykırım olup olmadığını tartışmaktır.

Keywords

• Çerkes Soykırımı
• Çerkes Sürgün
• Soçi Kış Olimpiyatları
• Çerkesya Tarihi

Circassian Genocide: Historical Legitimacy Question [Çerkes Soykırımı: Tarihsel Meşruiyet Sorunu]

Abstract

In recent years, due to some contemporary political influences in Russia, Circassian activists, and some foreign states have proposed that the Circassian exile (forced deportations) and Russian colonization in the 19th century, might be considered as an expression of the contemporary notion in philosophical politics of ethnic cleansing and the genocide by the Russian Empire. This campaign claims that according to the historical records during these colonization thousands upon thousands of humans were massacred. Hence, the formation of the Circassian Genocide as an international issue is begun to be internationalized, this paper tries to clarify the legitimacy question of the Circassian Genocide based on the ethical dimension and the meaning of genocide under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in 1948. We describe this view about moral epistemology elsewhere, but we will not elaborate on it in the present context.
Another important factor that we will survey in this study, is the recent activities of Circassians to recognize this historical event as a genocide. Nowadays we see a considerable sort of unification and symphonic movement has been developed in Circassian identity around the international recognition of the genocide. Due to a lot of historical information, the aim of this paper is not to demonstrate or to prove the ethnic cleansing and genocide, but is to discuss that it was a genocide or not, according to our knowledge in Eurasian contemporary politics.

Keywords

• Circassian Genocide
• Circassian Exile
• Winter Olympics of Sochi
• History of Circassia

Thanks

To Dr. Cemre Erciyes for introducing the journal.

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