Circassians Abroad to Follow Kayseri Khase in Breaking with Moscow-Controlled ICA, Kochesoko Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Jan. 17 – Earlier this month, the independent Circassian organization, Kayseri Khase, with drew from KAFFED, a Circassian group that is under the control of the International Circassian Association which in turn is under the control of the Russian security services (windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2024/01/independent-circassian-group-resigns.html).

            Because Kayseri Khase is one of the largest and most active of the 250 Circassian organization in Turkey, the country with the largest Circassian diaspora in the world, that represented a serious blow to Moscow’s efforts to geld the Circassian national movement and Ankara’s efforts to use Russian agents of influence against Circassian activists in Turkey.

            Now, Martin Kochesoko, a Circassian activist who was forced to flee from his homeland in 2019, says that the step Kayseri Khase has taken is likely to be followed by other Circassian groups in the diaspora whose members and especially the young are angry that the people who control their organizations are controlled by Moscow (kavkazr.com/a/ot-nyneshney-rossii-zhdatj-nechego-cherkesskiy-aktivist-o-borjbe-za-prava-naroda/32773765.html).

            He appealed to Western governments to pay more attention to the Circassians and to help those who seek to be free of Moscow’s influence to establish an organization where the pernicious influence of Moscow will be excluded.