189
secede from the Soviet Union.”
478
This was the Assemblies main concern and was
the basis of its Second Congress held in Nalchik on 13-14 October 1990. In this
Second Congress, events taking place in the entire Soviet Union, and possible
repercussions for the North Caucasus, and specifically for the Assembly, in the
near future, were taken into account. At the end of the Congress it was announced
that a period of practical work to implement a program for a new state structure for
the North Caucasus and Abkhazia was under way. Moreover, for the first time,
special attention was to be given to the unity of the North Caucasian Mountaineers,
put into effect on 11 May 1918 by the proclamation of the North Caucasian
Republic. After almost seventy years, the North Caucasians remembered their ideal
of a unified North Caucasian State and decided to follow in the footsteps of their
ancestors.
Nevertheless, in contrast to the lack of national consciousness encountered
during the early period, the Soviet regime deliberately created new nationalities
with their own agendas. Therefore, in order to free itself from these particular
national movements’ effects, the Assembly decided to strengthen its hand by
establishing its own permanent organizational structure, free from national front
movements and parties. To accomplish this, the member peoples were asked to
organize regional conferences and elect their plenipotentiary representatives to the
next congress. By so doing, the Assembly probably aimed for a legal basis and
effectiveness for the decisions, which would be adopted in the next congress.
479
478
Chervonnaya The Russian Shadow 87-8 and for the Declaration issued at the end of the Congress
see Kafkasya Gerçeği, January 1991, 3: 6-7.
190
4- From Assembly to the Confederation:
With the participation of the representatives of the 13 peoples of the North
Caucasus,
480
the Assembly organized the Third Congress of the National
Democratic Movements and the Parties of the North Caucasus on 1-2 November
1991, in Sukhum Drama theatre.
481
In this Congress, the Assembly evolved into the Confederation of the
Mountain Peoples of the Caucasus (CMPC) declaring itself to be the legitimate heir
of the North Caucasian (Mountain) Republic that was established on 11 May 1918,
with Sukhum as its capital. This was, according to the Treaty, the start of the
process of restoring the sovereign statehood of the Mountain peoples of the
Caucasus.
482
According to Shanibov, realization of the idea of the Confederation was the
result of the long and detailed work of special committees of the Assembly on
integration.
483
This newly established Confederation consisted of the peoples of the
member nationalities, not their existing official state structures. The delegates, as
479
In fact there is no concrete information concerning the election processes, electorates and the
candidates. In a personal contact with Shanibov I could not get any information on this issue.
480
Abazin, Abkhaz, Avar, Adyge, Auxov-Chechen, Dargwa, Kabardian, Lak, North, and South
Osetian, Cherkess, Chechen, and Shapsug delegates attended the congress.
481
In an interview with Zarema Khadartseva published in Severnyi Kavkaz, No.41 (44), November
1991, Shanibov pointed out that this Congress was regarded as the continuation of the first of 1917
and the second of 1918. The 3
rd
, 4
th
and 5
th
congresses were not taken into account because the
Bolsheviks convened them. But as it was discussed in Chapter II, the Second Congress was also
held in September 1917 and there was no connection between the Bolshevik Congresses and the
1917 congresses of Mountaineers. For this interview’s translation to Turkish see, “Kafkasya Dağlı
Halkları Konfederasyonu Başkanı Şanibe Açıkladı: ‘Dağlıların Yüzyıllar Boyu Arzu Ettikleri
Birliği Gerçekleştiriyoruz’,” Kafkasya Gerçeği, (Samsun), January 1992, 7: 2-4.
482
Article 1 of “the Treaty on the Confederative Union of the Mountain Peoples of the Caucasus”,
dated 2 November 1991. In order to see the English text of this Treaty, B. G. Hewitt, 1993.
“Abkhazia: A Problem of Identity and Ownership” Central Asian Survey, 12(3): 267-323: Appendix
4: 304-309. Article No.19 stressed that “the parties to the Treaty have chosen as place of residence
for the leading organs (headquarters) of the CMPC the city of Sukhum, capital of the Abkhaz
Republic.” With that, Shanibov stressed, the participating parties were intended to show Georgia
that the Abkhaz were the inseparable part of the North Caucasian unity.
483
Şenıbe, Birliğin Zaferi, 40 and “Kafkasya Dağlı Halkları” January 1992. Kafkasya Gerçeği, 7: 3.
191
proposed in the Second Congress in October 1990, were chosen by the national
conferences of each member peoples. In the framework of the process of over-
arching integration, the Assembly aimed at evolution from separate national-
democratic front movements to the union of the Mountaineers that had for centuries
been the dream of the peoples of the Caucasus.
484
During the Congress, the basic documents –the Declaration on the Alliance
of the Caucasian Mountaineer Peoples, the Agreement on the Confederative Union
of the Caucasian Peoples and the Treaty on the Confederative Union of the
Mountain Peoples of the Caucasus- were prepared and ratified.
In the Treaty, on the Confederative Union of the Mountain Peoples of the
Caucasus:
“the participating peoples declared that they would act in the spirit of
fraternity, friendship and cooperation, with the aims of further developing
and strengthening political, socio-economic and cultural ties between the
Mountaineers of the Caucasus, following the principles of respect for state-
sovereignty, cooperation, mutual help and non-interference in the internal
affairs of the republics which they represent.”
485
The Treaty built the organs of the Confederation in compliance with the
principle of the division of powers between the legislative, the executive, and the
judiciary. Each was to function in accordance with the “Statute concerning the
leading organs of the CMPC”, ratified during the Congress and with regard to the
laws of the republics of the region.
486
Article 7 envisaged the President, Presidential Council, and Chairman of
the Court of Arbitration, the Caucasian Parliament or the Caucasian Assembly, the
484
Article No.2.
485
Article No.3.
486
Article No.8.
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