CIRCASSIANS and ABKHAZ-ABAZAS in METROPOLITAN AREAS: THE CASE of ISTANBUL and ANKARA

From the 1850s onwards, the Circassians, settled within the Ottoman borders in the Balkans, Anatolia, and the Middle East, found themselves within different states following the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire. [...] The publication of alphabets in the Yamçı magazine by the Ankara Caucasian Association in 1978 was the first step taken on the subject of the language after a long hiatus. [...] Both in the Caucasus and in the diaspora, due to their coexistence, the Abazas share similarities with the Circassians in terms of culture, traditions, and customs. [...] In this manner, until the Republic was established in 1923, while the Circassian and Abkhaz-Abaza elites (mostly nobles) were placed in the palace circles, the army, and the bureaucracy in Istanbul, the majority of the population lived a rather secluded life in villages. [...] With the establishment of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, the new government implemented several methods to distribute the population across specific regions, with the goal of addressing the demographic deficit and creating a source of population that would be the force of development.