Circassians in Syria

The fall of Damascus to the Allies, late June 1941. A car carrying the Free French commanders, General Georges Catroux and General Paul Louis Le Gentilhomme, enters the city. They are escorted by French Gardes Tcherkess (Circassian cavalry).

Circassians began a forced migration from their homeland in the Northwest Caucasus region to the Ottoman Empire following the Russian–Circassian War in 1864. While they originally settled in parts of Anatolia and the Balkans, they began emigrating to the empire's Syrian provinces (the Levant) in large numbers (about 70,000) after the Ottoman defeat in the Balkan War of 1877–78.[10] That group of Circassians was mostly resettled by the Ottoman authorities as part of an effort to counterbalance increasing dissent by the local population in Syria, far from the capital Istanbul, with more loyal subjects of the empire. Many Circassians subsequently concentrated their residence in the Golan Heights and Transjordan regions, both part of the Province of Damascus at the time.[2] At around this time, in the late 1870s, the influx of Circassians traveling through Damascus led to the establishment of a number of villages north of Homs and along the borders of the Syrian Desert, as well as in the area surrounding Damascus city itself, namely Marj al-Sultan and al-Dumayr. Circassians eventually abandoned the latter town.[11]

Nearly all of the Circassian villages founded in Ottoman Syria were located on known conflict fronts, mostly involving the Druze and Bedouin tribes, including the 'Annizah and Al Fadl. Since the Circassians were militarily able to resist the khuwwa ("unofficial 'protection' tax") demanded of the local peasantry by various Bedouin tribes—which came at the detriment of government tax collection—they managed to make agreements to mutually benefit the two factions.[12] Nonetheless, clashes still periodically occurred between the Circassians of the Golan and Ghouta (rural Damascus) regions and the Bedouin. The most severe local conflicts the Circassians engaged in at the time was with the often rebellious Druze, who dominated the area of Mount Hermon in the northern Golan Heights and the Jabal al-Druze region to the east. Historians have asserted that the Ottomans encouraged Circassian settlement in this particular region to serve as a pro-sultanate buffer between the two Druze-inhabited areas.[13] In addition, Circassians generally favored residence in the Golan as compared to the city quarters because the area resembled the Caucasian ancestral lands with its wooded mountains, heavy rainfall and snow.[14]

In the first decade of the 20th century the Ottoman government facilitated a wave of Circassian resettlement to the northern Euphrates River. They largely left the Caucasus on their own accord, fearing forcible conversion to the Russian Orthodox Church by Czarist forces. A Kabardian group initially settled in Raqqa, establishing their new settlement immediately west of the Arab-dominated town. Funds from the provincial treasury and local contributors enabled each immigrant family to own a plot of land, a two-room house, a horse stable, two oxen and five grain sacks. Talustan Anzor, the leader of this Kabardian faction, acquired prestige in the Raqqa District as a noted mediator of disputes. Together with Manbij and Khanasser, two other towns in the Euphrates valley, the Kabardian settlements were meant to serve as a strategic ring around Raqqa where the gendarmerie could be conveniently recruited.[15]

In Circassian narratives of these years, there were rarely any negative words against the local Arab population, which welcomed the Circassian immigrants.[16] Because of their Muslim religion, which was the dominant faith in Syria, and their arrival to the region well before the struggle for independence from the Ottomans and later the French, the Circassians played a role in the founding of the modern state of Syria and immediately became full citizens.[17] However, because of the integration of a number of Circassian cavalry units in the French Army of the Levant, and particularly due to their role in quelling the Druze forces of Sultan Pasha al-Atrash during the Great Syrian Revolt (1925–27), relations with the Arab majority became somewhat tense in the early years of the republic. A minority of Circassians in the Golan Heights petitioned for autonomy from Damascus during the French Mandatory years.[4][10]

Statue of Satanaya in the Circassian village of Beer Ajam, in the Golan Heights region of Syria

Following Syria's independence from French control in 1946, Circassian-dominated military units were disbanded. During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, a few were hastily reassembled as part of the Syrian Army and put under the command of Jawad Anzor. About 200 soldiers from this unit, including Anzor, were killed during the war.[10] After the Syrian defeat in the 1967 Six-Day War, the Circassian population largely fled the Golan Heights region, which was occupied by the Israeli Army. Most relocated to the cities of Damascus and Aleppo, while many later moved to the United States (particularly Paterson, New Jersey, New York City and Orange County, California),[1] Canada, Germany, Austria and the Netherlands. Some Circassians returned to villages east of the ceasefire line with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, namely Beer Ajam and Bariqa after the 1973 Yom Kippur War.[10]

Circassians have generally stayed neutral during the ongoing Syrian Civil War between the government and anti-government rebels, which began in March 2011. However, a significant number serve in the security apparatus,[3] including the military, while a number have either defected,[10] or have joined rebel ranks.[3] At least 35 Circassians have been reported killed during the conflict, and clashes between the rebels and the Syrian Army have occurred in both Beer Ajam and Bariqa as well as in Marj Sultan near Damascus, all three being Circassian villages. According to journalist Fahim Tastakin, writing in the Turkish newspaper Radikal, as of November 2012, 250 Circassians have fled to Turkey, while 5,000 "want to come."[3] The Anadolu Agency reported in late January 2013, that the number of Syrian Circassians who have sought asylum in Turkey was 700.[18] The majority reside with family members instead of camps hosting Syrian refugees. Another common destination is Jordan, south of Syria, where some Circassian families have relatives.[5] Many Circassians are actively seeking repatriation in the various Caucasus republics and oblasts of Russia. About 400 have resettled in Kabardino-Balkaria, 220 in Adygea and 40 in Karachay-Cherkessia.[18] Tastikin writes a total of 1,200 have left for Russia.[3]

Prior to the 1967 War, about half of the Circassian population lived in the Quneitra Governorate, inhabiting 11 villages and the major town of Quneitra. The latter, which had a significant Circassian population, was depopulated during the war and although it is under Syrian control, it has not been resettled. Circassian-dominated villages included Jawziah, Khishniyyah, Ayn Ziwan, Salmaniyah, Mumsiyah, Mansura, Faham, Mudariyah, Ramthaniya, Bariqa and Beer Ajam. Only the latter two have been repopulated, most of the remainder are located in the Israeli-occupied part of the territory.[10] Displaced Circassians continue to claim their lands and homes in the Golan Heights.[10]

Many Circassians have relocated to Damascus after being displaced from the Golan in the 1967 War.[1][4][10] Most settled in the Rukn al-Din district of the city, where they form the majority of the residents.[5] The main Circassian population center in the area outside Damascus is the village of Marj al-Sultan, 15 kilometers to the city's east. But all Circassians had to leave this village during the Syrian civil war as it was totally destroyed in 2016.[10] Others had previously moved to the Caucasus after the fall of the Soviet Union.[20]

Aleppo city is another major center, in addition to the nearby town of Khanasir from which many of Aleppo's Circassians had emigrated from.[10] Manbij, northeast of Aleppo, also contains a significant Circassian community. In 1970 the Circassian population in Khanasir and Manbij was 2,500 and 1,500, respectively.[21] Khanasir had been reestablished by Circassian immigrants from Manbij at the turn of the 20th century.[22][23]

Circassians also reside in seven villages in the Homs Governorate and two in the Hama Governorate in addition to the city of Homs itself. These villages are mostly situated north or east of Homs along the edge of the Syrian Desert and along the eastern banks of the Orontes River.[10] They are Deir Ful, Ayn al-Niser, Abu Hamama, Murayj al-Durr, Asilah, Anzat, Tell Amri, Tell Sinan, Tell Ady and Telil. The last village is located west of Homs, near Houla.[10]

Notable Syrian citizens of either full or partial Circassian ancestry include:

• Bassam Abdel Majeed – former Syrian interior minister and director of the military police.[24]
• Najdat Anzour – Syrian television and film director.[25][26]
• Jawdat Said – a prominent Islamic scholar and nonviolence advocate.
• Feras Esmaeel – footballer
• Yanal Abaza – footballer
• Tamer Haj Mohamad – footballer
• Husam Tahsin Bek – actor and singer
• Nadine Tahsin Bek – actress
• Ali Mamlouk – Director of national security and general security
• Tulin Mustafa – anchorwoman