A RESEARCH STUDY ON THE CASE OF THE RETURNING KOSOVAN CIRCASSIANS IN CAUCASUS: MAFEHABLE

North Caucasus has been one of the most complex-structured regions of the world with many ethnic and socio-cultural structures that cannot be explored at a glance; and has been a frequent destination for many civilizations throughout history and has preserved the cultural heritage of many nations that have transformed the region into a political influence area, and has been inhabited by more than forty ethnic group who speak different languages. The Circassians (Adygeans) are one of the autochthonous people of the North Caucasus Mountains; and until the 1864 exile, they lived in the north-western part of the region called Kuban. This research makes geographical, ethnic and linguistic definitions regarding the Caucasus; and deals with the stories of Adygeans4 who had settled in Kosovo in the Balkans after the great exile, returning to their homeland and the problems they have encountered. This study and its consequences worth noting in terms of the sustainability of the return; and may become an inspiration for these people, majority of whom live in the ex-Ottoman geography. Those returning from Kosovo and their experience in Mafahable where they settled down, in fact, have shown that the descendants of the departers are no longer the same as the descendants of those that stayed, except for their ethnicity. There also encounter cultural problems as well as administrative and political problems.