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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. 

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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. 

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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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