Anniversary of Karachay deportation recalls problem of rehabilitation of repressed peoples

Rehabilitation of Karachays deported 75 years ago to Central Asia and Kazakhstan did not provoke territorial conflicts, but it remained morally unfinished. Russia has not yet given a legal assessment of the Stalin's repressions against peoples, historians believe.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on November 2, residents of Karachaevsk held a march to pay tribute to the memory of relatives and friends who died in exile as a result of the deportation of the Karachay people in 1943.

The request to continue the rehabilitation of Karachays is still acute, although it does not raise the issue of territories, which remains painful for other repressed peoples, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told by Aliy Totorkulov, the chairman of the Russian Congress of Caucasian Peoples.

"To date, there are no territorial problems for Karachays, but there are problems with the authorities' non-compliance with the Law 'On the rehabilitation of repressed peoples' in terms of moral and material compensation," said Aliy Totorkulov.

Russia, being the successor of the USSR, has still not given a legal assessment of the Stalin's repressions, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told by Patimat Takhnaeva, a researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS).

"Deportations, collectivization and industrialization were lawlessness and arbitrariness. Unfortunately, the Russian state, being the successor of the USSR, did not begin to give a legal assessment of those actions. We never heard it," said Patimat Takhnaeva.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on November 6, 2018 at 03:48 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.