Kyiv Independent: Circassian Genocide Enters Its 162nd Year Still Awaiting International Recognition

Jack Gill, Co-Founder and Director of the European Nations and Regions Organization (EUNRO), has published an op-ed in the Kyiv Independent marking the 162nd anniversary of the Circassian Genocide, arguing that the mass deportation and killing of Circassians by the Russian Empire in 1864 remains one of the least recognized genocides in modern history.

Writing on May 21 — the date Circassians worldwide observe as their day of mourning — Gill notes that between 95 and 97% of all Circassians were either killed or deported under inhumane conditions to the Ottoman Empire, and that up to and perhaps more than one million Circassians, Ubykhs, and Abazas are estimated to have been removed from their homeland.

Gill also discusses the fate of closely related peoples, noting that the Ubykh were deported in their entirety, and that the last speaker of their language — remarkable for having more consonants than any other known human tongue — died in Turkish exile in the 1970s.

On the question of formal recognition, Gill acknowledges that while Georgia and Ukraine have recognized the event as a genocide, its status remains widely disputed, lacking according to some experts the UN's definitional criteria of the "destruction" of a people.

The article also addresses the long-term consequences of Russian and Soviet nationality policy, arguing that despite sharing a common language, religion, and endonym, the Russian Empire and later the Soviet Union prevented the unification of Circassians as a single nation, instead assigning them distinct ethnonyms and merging their communities into separate multi-ethnic territorial units.

Looking at the present day, Gill raises alarm over the Kremlin's November 2025 "State National Policy Strategy," which sets a goal of having at least 95% of Russia's population identify with a singular all-Russian civic identity by 2036 — a development he interprets as an attempt to transition Russia from a formally multinational federation into a culturally and linguistically homogeneous state.

Gill concludes by calling on Europeans to reflect on the condition of non-Russian peoples inside Russia, arguing that they have been largely powerless against successive Russian tsars, Bolsheviks, and presidents for over 150 years, and may only tepidly express their national identity under the watchful eye of Russian authorities.

source: https://kyivindependent.com/the-anniversary-of-russias-long-forgotten-genocide