Vancouver’s Trip To Protest Holding
Sochi Winter Olympic Games In 2014
February 10th, 2010
marked the beginning of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. Members of the NO SOCHI 2014 COMMITTEE were
present in Vancouver to commemorate the commencement of the global Circassian
movement that has been mobilized against the Sochi Winter Games; ‘No
Sochi 2014’. Along with other
groups, the Committee raised awareness of the crimes committed by the I.O.C.
(International Olympic Committee), its sponsors and supporters. The following
will document the group’s itinerary throughout their trip in Vancouver.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nosochi2014
During the first day, the
Committee members met with their supporters in Vancouver. This included representatives from the First
Nation, the indigenous peoples of Canada, as well as environmentalists and
anti-Olympic groups. The primary
objective was to detail the atrocities committed against the Circassians by the
Russian government, past and present.
They were able to find many similarities with the problems the
indigenous of Canada are facing; including human rights abuses, rapid assimilation,
language loss, and non-recognition of indigenous status, as well as the
economic disadvantages the indigenous people suffered as a direct result of the
Vancouver Olympics.
http://www.youtube. com/watch?
v=27pymdndcL4
The second day started with a
tour of Sochi House, the official site where Russia will accept Sochi as the
host of the next Winter Olympic Games. A
small model of the Olympic venue could be seen with Krasnaya Polyana (The Red
hill) leading into an airport and finally into the site of the stadiums along
the Black Sea coast. The entire
exhibition did not mention Circassians as indigenous people of Sochi. Instead ancient Greeks were mentioned as the
original inhabitants of the area.
The remainder of the day
consisted of an anti-Olympic parade through the streets of Downtown
Vancouver. Five thousand protesters
congregated at the Vancouver Arts Center, where several media outlets including
CNN interviewed members of the No Sochi 2014 Committee. The members proceeded to walk through the
streets engaging many supporters for the Circassian cause.
http://www.youtube. com/user/
NoSochi2014# p/a/u/1/TrBi0w0B QTI
The protest outside of Sochi
House occurred during the members’ third day.
The location of the protest was directly outside of the entrance where
many people were lining up to enter the building. The Committee members along with their
supporters chanted and held up signs demanding the recognition of the
Circassian Genocide, responsibility from the I.O.C and its sponsors for
allowing the Games to be held in Sochi, and for the complete indiscretion of
Russia concerning Circassians and their issues.
Workers of the Sochi House were confrontational with the protestors,
however Canadian police were very neutral and allowed the protest to continue
as planned.
In the evening, the delegation
made their way to the Kruzenshtern, the Russian tall ship that is docked at the
Vancouver Games. The Kruzenshtern is a replica of the ships that would fire
canons on Circassian villages in Sochi and all along Circassia’s Black Sea
coast. It is a symbol of the cruelty and
oppression inflicted by the Russians on the Circassians. The members held a candle light vigil in
commemoration of their ancestors and the strength and pride they upheld during
the intentional destruction of their nation perpetrated by Russia.
http://www.youtube.
com/watch? v=Bg9mRerDMD8
http://www.youtube.com/user/NoSochi2014#p/a/u/2/pd3ljer0w50
Overall, the activities that
took place during the No Sochi 2014 Committee’s visit to Vancouver were
instrumental in delivering the message to the world that Sochi is the
Circassian Land of Genocide.
NO SOCHI 2014 COMMITTEE
10, 11, 12, February, 2010
