As part of the short-term study tours of young representatives of the political, social, scientific and business circles of foreign countries the representatives of the Circassian diaspora in Turkey, Syria and Jordan visited Russia. (See http://vestikavkaza.ru/articles/Integratsiya-bez-inkorporatsii.html). Rossotrudnichestvo wanted them to see"the real life of the North Caucasian republics, primarily, where the Adygo-Circassian peoples live, so that they could feel the pulse of the contemporary Russia and got aware of certain questions connected to the preservation of the national and cultural identity of these peoples".
"We have looked at our home country with our proper eyes, from which we were once exiled, and have seen how Russia is living in the contemporary world", Samer Samir, representative of Jordan Circassian Diaspora, says. As a member of ur students come to Russia, especially to Adygea and other Caucasian republics, to study. It confirms that Russian and Circassian people can live together. We are very happy
with this visit to Russia that introduced us to the culture of the country".
"We met numerous politicians and government authorities during the visit", Muhammed Adnan, representative of Syrian Circassian Diaspora, says. "We discussed the opportunities given to the students coming to study in Russian universities, the social, political, cultural life in Russian and the opportunities for people who would like to return and live in Russia. The most important, we managed to meet the representatives of Circassian diaspora from Turkey. It would not have happened it not for
the Rossotrudnichestvo. We got the impression that Russia indeed opens its doors to its compatriots living abroad".
"We, Circassian Diaspora, keep in our hearts the love for historical home country and all our compatriots scattered across the world. Therefore the condition of our compatriots in Syria is a key moment in our relations", Setenay Nil Dogan, representative of Turkish Circassian Diaspora, says. "We thank separately Russia and separately the republics of north Caucasus for their help and attention to our brothers and sisters and hope for the easing of the return process and for the quicker regulation of the conflict. We are interested in promoting the relations between diaspora and Russia. In this respect we believe that the joint educational programs, such as summer schools to study native language, or the exchange programs for students and teachers, will contribute to the consolidation of the Circassian people and the develop the relations between Russian and countries of diaspora. In addition, we believe that dual citizenship for the Diaspora is a key element to reinforce the connection between diaspora and historical home country. We believe that these issues are equally important for Russia under the process of democratization. I would like to finish my talk with an ancient Circassian proverb. It can be translated as "God give that all people be free and live in peace". We hope that our Lord will not forget us, Circassians".
