Interview with Orfan Shouakar-Stash, chairperson and founding member of the CIRCASSIAN REPATRIATION ORGANIZATION [CRO]
Interview with Orfan Shouakar-Stash, chairperson and founding member of the CIRCASSIAN REPATRIATION ORGANIZATION [CRO]
Jinal Tamszuqo:
Thank you Mr. Stash, that you agreed to give me this interview. As usual, I would ask you, to first introduce yourself to our readers. Where are you live now in the Canada? When did you went there and why? What is your profession? And so on.
Orfan Shouakar-Stash:
Thanks Jinal. It is always a pleasure to meet you and thanks for the apportunity to meet with your readers.
My name is Orfan Shouakar-Stash. I am Circassian (Adygha). I currently live in Canada. I am originally from the Adygea Repuplic and to be precise I am from Ghoboqai, a village located north of Maykop. I have been living in Canada for almost 20 years. I came to Canada to pursue my higher education, where I achived both my MSc and PhD in Isotope Hydrogeochemistry. After I finished my doctorate degree, I was offered a position at the University of Waterloo where I work as an Assistant Professor. I am married and my wife and I have two boys.
J.T.:
You are one of the founding members of the CIRCASSIAN REPATRIATION ORGANIZATION [CRO]. What was the reason for you and the other founding members, to make this step and establish this organization? When was it established?
O.S-S.:
The critical need of such an organization is in fact the main reason behind establishing the CRO. Circassians live in over 50 countries and they do live under different circumstances that range from very prosperous to extremely miserable. However, regardless to the countries they live in or their living conditions, a large number of them share a common dream. That dream is to return to the Caucasus at some point. Usually, this dream gets intensified under certain calamities such as wars and the dream ends up being a necessity in order to save families and help them with a fresh start in a safe place. For the last 150 years Circassians have been through many tragedies and hardship and the most recent episode is the ongoing war in Syria. A large number of Circassians in Syria lost family member, properties, and jobs and large percent of them had to flee the country to surrounding countries. The outcome of the unrest in Syria had demonstrated in a very painful way how disorganized we are as Circassian and how unprepared we are for such circumstances. It is time for Circassians to recognize that we need to have an organization that can help Circassians during their hardships and unfortunate circumstances.
We believe that Circassians who desire to go back to their homeland should be allowed to go back and they should be assisted to settle down and supported to be integrated in the local communities in the North Caucasus. We do realize that this is not going to be an easy task and this is one of the reasons behind the establishment of the CRO, where the CRO can contribute in facilitating these needs and achieving these goals.
J.T.:
What are the main targets, you want to reach with the work of this organization and which stepstones are on the way to reach these targets?
O.S.-S.:
The detailed targets or goals can be found in our mission statement. However, I can summarize them to you in the following points:
– Providing support to all Circassians who seek to return to the North Caucasus.
– Establishing centers for aid to elevate stress for Circassians who are under diverse conditions and facilitate their transfer to safe environments.
– Promote awareness of Circassian issues.
– Provide necessities of life to victims of disasters.
– Develop programs to protect Circassian Heritage.
– To communicate with all appropriate governmental and international agencies to forward the needs of Circassians.
– To establish scholarship programs to support the education of Circassians and especially those who are under stress.
– To establish a fund to support Circassians start new lives in the North Caucasus.
The main method of achieving the organization’s objectives will be via the support of members and the donations. So we do encourage all Circassians help us achieve this necessary and noble cause.
J.T.:
What did the CIRCASSIAN REPATRIATION ORGANIZATION allready accomplished? What are the most important things, you allready reached? What makes you proud untill now?
O.S.-S.:
As you know the CRO is a new body that was just established. Over the last year, the forming members worked on forming and building the main organization for the CRO, which took a great effort. Prior to registering the CRO in Canada we consulted with many Circassian activists from several countries to determine the best place for hosting the CRO. Furthermore, the board worked on the constitution and bylaws of the CRO. We collaborated with professionals and companies in the field and other Circassian volunteers to build a website for the CRO supported with several languages. During this period we started contacting various Circassian groups to raise awareness about the CRO project and seek help and support. Now that the CRO is officially announced we are actively seeking supporters by encouraging people to become members of the CRO in order to start pursuing the CRO goals.
J.T.:
How do you see the position of this organization in relation to other circassian organizations, like the ICA, KAF-FED, organizations in homeland, the two circassian headorganizations in europe, and so on? Was there a gap, you want to fill with the new organization?
O.S.-S.:
Our vision is to build bridges with all Circassian Associations and initiate collaboration efforts. Although we acknowledge the great efforts that are being accomplished by many individuals, groups or Circassian Association, we strongly believe that what we are missing is an organization that can be global and have a wider outreach, which can complement the efforts of all other organizations. The aim is to build an organized and unified Circassian front that can carry on the big tasks and overcome the huge challenges.
J.T.:
What are the most important issues for the future for the Circassian people and how can we encounter them?
O.S.-S.:
One of the most important issues is to recognize our weaknesses, investigate the proper ways to overcome our weaknesses and start implanting the solutions. It is not enough to be active when we are in hardship, it is important to learn how to be proactive and be ready for the future and its surprises. It is important to learn that if we want to survive as Circassians and protect our cultural identity we need to work together and help each other.
J.T.:
A lot political movements among us Circassians took place in the last years. There was the Sochi Olympics and all the demonstrations around this issue. We got much more publicity for our topics. What do you think about this? Is it important from your point of view, that we keep on our public relation work?
O.S.-S.:
The CRO was not around during the Sochi Olympics so there was no position for the CRO that I can present here. However, I am sure, that the Sochi Olympics was a good opportunity to publicize Circassian folklore, traditions, history and affairs but I am not sure how successful it was. Regarding the public relation work, of course it is important to continue the public relation work in order to raise awareness about the Circassians and their needs.
J.T.:
We met in april 2014 on the annual gathering of Circassians in europe, in Berlin, germany. There, you presented the ideas of your organization. A chairperson of the International Circassian Association attended your speech and afterwards you spoke with this person. One of the important issues of the ICA is, to support the repatriation. What attitude would you say has the ICA towards your organization, which is supporting one of the main targets of the ICA?”
O.S-S.:
One of the main strategies of the CRO is to initiate dialogues with the main Circassian Associations in the world including the ICA. The objectives of these dialogues are to collaborate in our core goal which is helping repatriating Circassians from anywhere in the world. In doing so we will introduce the CRO and its goals, seek advice and collaboration from the already established associations, discuss the current situations of Circassians in the world and finally put in place solid plans to implement real steps on the ground to achieve the core goal. This vision was passed to the ICA chairperson and the discussion was focused on the challenges that the ICA faced over the years. Over all, the discussion was enlightening and very helpful. The CRO’s founding board realizes the magnitude of the objectives that they committed to address, and they are aware of the difficulties and challenges that they might face. Therefore, the CRO is committed to establish communications and to exchange ideas with other associations and activists and seek their help, advice and consequently collaborate with them in order to achieve the goals which are sacred to all Circassians in the world. In general, ICA’s attitude toward the CRO was encouraging and the Board is looking forward to start official dialogues with the ICA and other Associations.
J.T.:
Is there something you want to add and to tell our readers?
O.S.-S.:
I would like to encourage everyone one of your reader to visit our website www.circassianrepatriation.com , be active and hopefully become a member of the CRO. We need everybody’s help and support and we’d love to hear everybody’s opinions to help us enrich our organization and achieve its objectives. We need the moral support as well as active volunteers in the organization and we need to find ways to accumulate the resources needed to help our Circassian families returning to the homeland. Financial aid is key to helping the CRO achieve its objectives. It is important to realize that any help the Circassian community will provide will be for the wellbeing of all Circassians and continuity of our identity. The Syrian crises is still ongoing and is getting worse every day and our priority should be to help our people find their way to the Caucasus where they can start their future in a safe and stable place and among their relatives and on their historical land.
J.T.:
Thank you very much, that you gave our readers these informations. And I wish you a big success for the CIRCASSIAN REPATRIATION ORGANIZATION.
O.S.-S.:
Thanks you very much for the opportunity to introduce the CRO to your readers. We all hope that the CRO will make a difference and it will be able to serve the Circassian cause in the best way. May God bless you, your readers and all Circassian everywhere.
