22:06, 20 September 2017

KBR residents call Adygs Day a unifying holiday

Circassian flag. Nalchik, September 25, 2013. Photo by Luiza Orazaeva for "Caucasian Knot"

Today, the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR) has marked the Adygs Day for the fourth time. Nalchik townspeople treat it as a unifying holiday, but saw some opposition to the Revival Day of Balkar Nation in it.

The Adygs Day was established on August 12, 2014, by a decree of Yuri Kokov, the KBR leader.

The Nalchik residents, interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, view the idea of the Adygs Day as people’s unification.

"Balkars mark Deportation Day on March 8 and Revival Day on March 28. Adygs have Remembrance Day on May 21 of those killed in the Caucasian War, but they had no other public holiday," said Aslan Tapov, a local resident.

The ethnic community of Adygs includes Circassians, Adygeis, Kabardians and Shapsugs. In Russia, they mostly live in Adygea, KBR, Karachaevo-Cherkessia and the Krasnodar Territory.

Aslan Tapov has noted that not all Adygs welcomed the new holiday, not understanding "what to celebrate."

"I think this holiday should be filled in with cultural content; they should more actively organize concerts, festivals, exhibitions and contests. It should become a pan-Adygeic one with involvement movement of creative teams from other Adyg republics and even from abroad," he said.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.

Author: Lyudmila Maratova

Source: CK correspondent