In Krasnodar, Adygs to take part in opening of monument to WW I heroes

In Krasnodar, the ceremony of opening of the monument to the heroes of World War I will be attended by delegates of the "Adyge Khase" for the Krasnodar Territory. This was announced by Asker Sokht, the chairman of the organization. The monument to a Cossack and a mountaineer is the first in Krasnodar, notes an official from the Department for the Krasnodar Territory of the State Service for preservation of objects of cultural heritage.

The initiative to erect a monument was voiced in 2014, in the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of World War I, which involved Cossacks and mountaineers, who voluntarily joined the "Wild Division". The monument was created by sculptors Alan Kornaev and Valery Pchelin, reports the press service of the Legislative Assembly of the Krasnodar Territory.

Asker Sokht, the chairman of the "Adyge Khase" for the Krasnodar Territory, has noted that "it is a part of our history, and it is worth being remembered by people." "The monument is a way to preserve the memory on the role of Circassians in World War I," Asker Sokht stated.

Arambiy Khapai, the former leader of the "Adyge Khase-Circassian Parliament", has criticized the monument.

"I treat it as a fact that the leaders of the Krasnodar Territory and of the whole region want to silence the period most terrible for our people," he said.

In Krasnodar, such a monument to Cossack-mountaineer unity is the first of the kind. This was told to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by officials from the Department for the Krasnodar Territory of the State Service for preservation of objects of cultural heritage.

To ensure accuracy, the sculptural composition should have also included the soldiers who fought in World War I, suggests Oleg Matveev, Professor of the department of pre-revolutionary Russian history at the Kuban State University.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.