Circassian Day in European Parliament, 30/11/2010

FEDERATION of EUROPEAN CIRCASSIANS : CIRCASSIAN DAY

Organizing a “Circassian Day” for four years in the European Parliament, Federation of European Circassians presents the 5th Circassian Day which will be regarding the process of integration in the European Union and democratization process in Turkey as well as discussion of the current situation of Circassians in Europe on the basis of the problems and demands articulated by Circassian people living in Turkey and Europe. We are expecting the participation of European Parliament members, experts and activists from Turkey and EU to our event which will be hosted by MEP Ismail Ertug (SPD- Germany).

Among the speakers will be Cem Özdemir, co-leader of Green Party from Germany ; Constitutional Court reporter, academician and writer Assoc. Prof Osman Can ; Prof. Dr. Ayhan Kaya, who is a professor at Bilgi University Political Science department and known for his studies on Circassian Diaspora in Turkey , and finally investigative author Yalçın Karadas, who is one of the publication board members of the newspaper Jineps, spokesmen for CID (Circassian Initiative for Democracy).

The event will take place on Tuesday, November 30, in the European Parliament and will last for three hours. The schedule of the event will be announced later with its details. The summary of the background of the topics that are going to be discussed can be found below.

As the event will include the presentations of the speakers and discussions of the participants, a limited number of participants will be attending to it.

Therefore we request the people who would like to be there to connect with us
immediately by providing the required information to be found below.

Regards,
Federation of European Circassians

Circassians standing between Integration and Assimilation : “Democratization Process in Turkey and an Outlook on the European Circassians”

Being one of the ancient indigenous people of the North Caucausus, Circassians have been dispersed over the world as a consequence of Russian occupation and colonization that occurred in 19th century. And with the end of Caucasian- Russian War in 1864, a great number of Circassians were exposed to massacre and exile as well as other indigeneous inhabitants of Caucasia.
Since then, Circassians have spread out to lots of regions other than their homelands such as Anatolia, Balkans, Syria, Jordan, Israel, Germany, USA, Netherlands and etc. The number of the current population of Circassians residing in Turkey is estimated to be between two and three million. Moreover a great number of Circassians are also settled in the Middle- East, Europe and America. As a result of the immigrations started in 1960s from Turkey to Germany, Germany now hosts the most crowded Circassian population all around Europe.

Social, political and academic realms not only in the Ottoman era but also in the republic period that came after. The first school taught in Circassian language was founded in Istanbul in 1918 and closed down in 1923 following the foundation of the Republic of Turkey. Since 1923, officially, any ethnic minorities other than non-Muslim minorities haven’t been accepted to be existing in Turkey. Although non-Muslim minorities have the right to be educated in their own languages, Muslim ethnic groups such as Circassians, Kurds, Lazs and their identities are not recognized officially by the state.

Anti-democratic practices existing nearly for more than a century in Turkey have intended to assimilate Muslim ethnic groups who are not originally Turkish instead of providing the grounds for integration into the larger society.

Despite the official policies, intellectuals have increasingly demanded more democracy. As a consequence, Turkey has entered a democratization process. And it would be relevant to think that such a process has come alive thanks to the requirements and criteria necessitated by the Turkey’s application for EU membership as well.

Integration is a widely discussed phenomenon both in Turkey and Europe. As for Circassians living in EU, they are experiencing another process of integration this time into a different society, other than Turkey. In this context, Circassian example has a comparative reflection in analyzing the stability of democracy in Europe, opportunities for improvement and democratic demands in Turkey.

Contact for participation: rsvp@euroxase.com

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