President of Türkiye, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has commemorated the expulsion of Circassians from the Caucasus, marking the anniversary of one of the darkest chapters in 19th-century history.

“On the anniversary of the unjust, unlawful, and inhumane exile of our Circassian brothers from their homeland in the Caucasus, I pray for God’s mercy on those who lost their lives and sincerely share the indescribable pain experienced,” Erdogan said on Wednesday in a post on X.

21 May marked the 161st anniversary of the Circassian Exile, which occurred at the conclusion of the Russo-Circassian War.

Under the orders of the Russian Empire, hundreds of thousands of Circassians were forcibly removed from the North Caucasus, with the majority exiled to the Ottoman Empire.

The expulsion, carried out in violent and inhumane conditions, led to mass deaths and is widely recognised as one of the largest ethnic cleansings of the 19th century.

The Circassian Exile refers to the forced displacement of Circassians from their ancestral homeland in the North Caucasus by the Russian Empire in 1864, after the Russo-Circassian War.

Between 800,000 and 1.5 million Circassians were removed, with most sent to the Ottoman Empire. The deportations were marked by long marches, overcrowded ships, famine, and disease, leading to tens of thousands of deaths.

Today, many Circassian descendants live in Türkiye, Syria, Jordan, and elsewhere in the Middle East. The tragedy is commemorated annually on 21 May by Circassian communities worldwide.