Israel's president visits village of Circassian community in Kfar Kama

JERUSALEM (AA) – Israel’s President Isaac Herzog visited the Circassian village of Kfar Kama in the country’s northern Galilee region on Friday.

Herzog and his accompanying delegation were welcomed by Zekeriya Lapsu, head of Kfar Kama’s local council, according to the Israeli presidency.

“I would like to thank the Circassians for their great contributions to Israeli society and for the beautiful color they have added to the whole world, and especially Israel,” said Herzog, who attended the opening of a new cultural center in the village.

Lapsu hailed Herzog’s visit as a significant moment, saying it was closely followed by all Circassians living in over 40 countries around the globe.

The Circassians, a predominantly Muslim people, suffered greatly under Czarist Russia and were subjected to ethnic cleansing.

A war in 1864 near the Black Sea port city of Sochi resulted in defeat for the Circassians and saw the Russian Empire invade all of Caucasia, a region extending from the eastern Black Sea to the Caspian Sea.

In a plight similar to that of the Crimean Tatars, nearly 1.5 million Circassians were expelled from the region to east of the Black Sea when it was overrun by Russia in 1864. Up to half a million are believed to have died.

Most of the Circassian exiles were absorbed into the Ottoman Empire, settling as far away as present-day Jordan.

Kfar Kama is home to some 4,000 Circassians, with another 1,500 settled a little further north in Rehaniya.

* Ikram Imane Kouachi contributed to this report