Last night, I spoke to the GB-Russia Society, and talked again about one of my favourite nations. I don’t remember when I first discovered the Circassians, but it was probably some time in 2007. It was a revelation. Here was a European nation whose history had been completely forgotten. That transfixed me. How often do you stumble across a historical scoop?

For people who haven’t read my book, the Circassians are one of the peoples I focus on in telling the history of the North Caucasus. In the 19th century, they were famous: the Libyan rebels of their day. Their battles against the Russians, who were determined to conquer their homeland, made front-page news. But their defeat in 1864 was total. A third of them died, a tiny rump population stayed on in their homeland. The rest was scattered across the Middle East, and vanished out of popular knowledge.

Of course ...

Kate McClymont

February 13, 2012

HIS royal highness Prince Alan Djamirze of Circassia is not amused.

A NSW tribunal ruled last week that Mr Djamirze, 40, failed to prove that he was of royal lineage and therefore could not use the business name ”HRH Prince Alan Djamirze.”

Mr Djamirze, who resides in a less-than-palatial abode in Sydney’s Hills district, says the proof to his princely entitlement is contained in his name.

He told The Sydney Morning Herald he was born into the Circassian Royal House of Dja Mirze and that ”Mirze” means ”Prince of the blood royal”.

In finding against Mr Djamirze, the Administrative Decisions Tribunal said people could not register ”a business name if the name suggests a connection with a member of a royal family” where no such connection existed.

Representing himself at the tribunal, Mr Djamirze denied that it was a ”created” ...

The revolutions in the Arab states were focused several times on the Circassian People in those countries and as a result they had brought back again the Circassian issue to the international level.

First it was the revolution in Libya that brought the Circassians to news, when Gaddafi's regime tried to influence the Circassian community in Jordan to persuade their brothers in Libya to switch sides and support him. An attempt that was nothing more than a miserable failure (www.circassianews.com ).

Meanwhile Russia saw an opportunity and made her move, using pro-Russian Circassian, but Russia’s intentions were kristal clear and it was obvious who was behind that initiative (http://www.jamestown.org/single/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=37779).  

Lately, the "hot spot” is in Syria and we have read about the call of few Circassians from Syria for help with the intention to leave Syria and return to the motherland (http://justicefornorthcaucasus.info/?p=1251659075 ).

Unlike other cases, the situation of the Circassian Diaspora living ...