No Sochi 2014

Exposing the truth about Sochi, the Land of the Circassian Genocide

We, the members of the Organization Committee of No Sochi 2014 Olympics Campaign, strongly condemn 2014 Winter Olympic Games which will take place in Sochi. We ask the world and the IOC to strip Russia of the Sochi Olympics based on it being the location of the Circassian Genocide

Before International Olympic Committee (IOC) made its decision, every effort was made to inform the IOC of our concerns about the prospective socio-political and environmental consequences of the selection of Sochi as a host city and, in this regard, we requested them to act responsibly and decline any decisions which would cause an irreparable damage not only to the environment and human rights but also to the public image of the entire Olympic Movement.

However:

Through the misleading information on the official website of Russian Olympics Organization, Sochi is trying to be detached from its history. It is not possible for the North Caucasus which is home to the Circassian civilization and for Sochi which is the last capital to the independent Circassia, to gain a worldwide reputation by lies and embellished discourses.

While trying to understand the rationale behind the IOCs decision to select Sochi, furthermore, we could not help asking what if one of the candidates to host the Olympic Games had been Auschwitz. Would it be of conscience and acceptable to select Auschwitz, where 1.5 million people were systematically starved, tortured and murdered, as the Olympic host? In a similar vein, we ask how we are supposed to accept the Olympic Games to be played in Sochi and its surroundings which became a cemetery for Circassians as a result of the Russian invasion of Circassia during the Russo-Caucasian war in the 18th and 19th centuries. For Circassians, the wound inflicted by the Russia will never heal. Our number is too small: 1.5 million Circassians killed was half of all Circassians alive in the entire world at that time. Nearly 90% of the remaining Circassian population lives outside their homeland, which make it the largest Diaspora proportionally of any nation in the world.

Regarding Sochi, moderate demands of the social organization of Circassians, who are forced to live in separate administrative districts, are even ignored. Today in the North Caucasus, there are people and groups who, in spite of Russias disinformation on history and imperious political attitude, using their rights for civilian opp