Circassians demand cancellation of Olympics in Russian-occupied Sochi

23 March 2010

The chairman of the Circassian Cultural Institute in New Jersey, Iyad Yogar, speaking in Tbilisi at the conference "Hidden Nations, Enduring Crimes: The Circassians & the Peoples of the North Caucasus Between the and the Future", said that the Circassian movement has three tasks -

creation of their own state,

recognition of genocide by the Russians

and cancellation of so-called Olympic Games in Sochi.

The conference was organized by the Jamestown Foundation and the International School for Caucasus Studies attached to the Ilia Chavchavadze State University in Georgia.

The conference adopted a resolution and an appeal to the Georgian Parliament to recognize as genocide the massacre and deportations of Circassians by the Russia Empire in the XIX century.

One of Georgian participants who took part in the discussions reminded that the Olympic Charter, which contains the rules for the Olympics, prohibits organizing such games in the areas of mass killings, and said that the recognition by the Georgian Parliament of the genocide could be major reason for the abolition of the Olympic Games in Sochi.

According to the Georgian participant, the Olympic Committee will have to take such decision.

The journalist Fatima Tlisova said in her turn that the prospects for such recognition are high, because Georgia can now use the recognition of the Circassian genocide as a political weapon against Russia which illegally captured and continues to keep by military force one-third of the Georgian territory.

It is to be mentioned that that the territory of Sochi, as well as the entire territory of the Caucasus Emirate, is a war zone for the Caucasian Mujahideen fighting against Russian invaders, and the leadership of the Mujahideen warned the participants of these illegal games that military operations in the region will be held regardless of the Olympics.

In this regard, it is obvious that the lives of athletes, who nevertheless risk to come to Sochi, may be seriously endangered.

The Charter of Olympic Committee prohibits conducting games on occupied territories of other countries and in areas that are dangerous for athletes and organizers.

Department of Monitoring,
Kavkaz Center

Source: Kavkaz Center.
Link: http://kavkazcenter.com/eng/content/2010/03/23/11696.shtml.