Led by Prince Ghazanfar Ali Khan and Princess Rani Atika, the delegation will see Macedonia’s Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and Archbishop Stefan from the Macedonian Orthodox Church upon their arrival.

The local NGO, Macedonian Institute for Strategic Research 16.9, on whose invitation they are arriving, argues that the Hunza people have much in common with today’s Macedonians as they derive from the same origin.

The delegation includes a historian from the Hunza people who will travel across Macedonia to get acquainted with Macedonia’s culture and tradition. They will also “visit the archaeological sites and see the artefacts dug from Macedonia,” Marina Dojcinovska from the institute told media on Thursday.

However there is no agreement on the ethnic origin of this people. The Burushaski language that the Hunza people use is not proven to be related to any known language so far.

The Institute said that according to the local linguist Ilija Casule, the language has some similarities to the Macedonian language. “Casule spent 12 years on this research,” the institute said.

According to a local Hunza legend they originate from the soldiers of Alexander the Great. Historians believe that during his reign from 336 to 323 BC Alexander’s kingdom reached far to the east covering the parts of today’s Pakistan under the Himalaya Mountains where the Hunza people live.

The ethnic origin of Alexander who is also referred to as Alexander of Macedon is also a matter of dispute between some Greek and Macedonian historians. The country where he was born lies in both today’s Greece and Macedonia.

This visit comes during an ongoing row between neighboring Skopje and Athens regarding Macedonia’s name.

Athens argues that Skopje’s use of the name Macedonia might imply territorial claims towards Greece’s own northern province with the same name. An ongoing solution finding talks are being held under the auspices of the United Nations. Read more: http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/11709/

