I live in the Caucasus. The Caucasian region got its name from the mountain range of the same name, 5000 meters high. It is located between the Caspian and Black Seas, encompassing Russia in the north and Turkey and Iran in the south. I love the Caucasus. And I am proud of the Caucasus. Here, in the Caucasus, I like everything. For me, the Caucasus is a land with an amazing combination of different peoples, cultures, traditions and religions. It is the link between East and West. This is a wonderful, desirable, enchanting crossroads of cultures with magical beauty. The uniqueness of this multicultural region excites the imagination of all those who have ever been here.
Almost all Caucasians will agree with my statements. In theory, all Caucasians are in favor of the unity of the Caucasus. Nevertheless, the Caucasus is one of the most unstable regions in the world. The violence that began here simultaneously with the collapse of the USSR continues to this day.
I will not seek out the origins and point out the reasons for this instability. I will only say that here, in the Caucasus, many peoples are at enmity with each other. And this enmity has no end yet. Abkhazians and Georgians, Georgians and Ossetians, Ossetians and Ingushs are at enmity and hate each other. The Ingushs have conflicts with the Chechens, the Chechens have conflicts with the residents of Dagestan. At times, the relationship between Kabardians and Balkars, Karachais and Circassians is restless. Currently, there is a war between Armenians and Azerbaijanis over Karabakh.
I want with all my heart to break the chain of this hatred once and for all. I want to directly, openly, frankly, with a pain in my heart, with anxiety in my soul, to address all my readers and ask: "What should we do with all this?" We pass on the Caucasus to future generations of Caucasians with a bunch of problems. In fact, we are giving them the Caucasus without a future. And if we do not come to our senses, then a great humanitarian catastrophe awaits us in this future - stagnation, decay, endless conflict, violence and wars. Those who hate us with every fiber of their souls, rest assured, will provide us with weapons and ammunition, transport, black money and other opportunities to continue the conflict. And our relatives, friends or just acquaintances will sell their souls to the devil after that. Or maybe we will do the same, driven to frenzy and despair, having lost hope and faith.
For more than 30 years out of 52, I have been strengthening and deepening ethnocultural, informational, educational and humanitarian ties between various peoples of the Caucasus. Since 2002 I have been the head of the international project "Caucasus - Our Common Home". As part of this project, together with my friends from Karachay-Cherkessia, since 2006, I have been holding the annual International Festival of Restaurant Music "Dombai Nights", at the close of which we started holding a festival of popular music with the same name.
Until the age of 10, since 2002, I have been holding city (district), republican and international competitions on the history of Abkhazia and the fraternal peoples of the North Caucasus. During this time, I have held more than a hundred such competitions, in which Abkhaz schoolchildren studied the history of the peoples of the North Caucasus, and North Caucasian schoolchildren from Adygea, Karachay-Cherkessia, Kabardino-Balkaria and North Ossetia studied the history of Abkhazia.
From now on, our goal in this life should not be to strive to achieve prosperity for our people at the expense of other Caucasian peoples. Local patriotism is unacceptable for us. We do not need patriotism based on the love and superiority of one Caucasian people over another. The basis and the pinnacle of true Caucasian love, true courage and true patriotism from today until the end of centuries should be non-violence, since the courage of non-violence is immeasurably higher than the courage of violence. Nonviolence is a virtue of the brave. After all, cowards have no such virtue.
Believe it or not, there is not a single people in the Caucasus that I would not love, that I would not admire. I have no exceptions. I am madly in love with my Abkhaz people, like a brother, I love Abaza, Circassians and Ubykhs. With love and respect I treat Karachais, Balkars, Nogays, Ossetians, Ingushs, Chechens, Dagestanis, Georgians, Azerbaijanis and Armenians. I also treat the Russians with love and respect, who have been living in the Caucasus for a long time, who have, in a sense, even become Caucasians. Many of them are in no way inferior to the Caucasian peoples in hospitality and the ability to make friends. I believe that there are no bad peoples in the world, there are only bad people who sometimes come across as part of various peoples.
I wish all the peoples of the world great happiness. Peace, kindness and harmony in the life of every nation and every family.
