Forced Migration/Emigration of Abkhazians to Turkey: History, Adaptation, and Problems of Identity Preservation

Abstract

The article discusses and analyzes the causes of the forced migration (muhajirism) of Abkhazians, the historical and political contexts that led to their choice of the receiving country as the object of migration. In addition, attention is focused on cultural, social, and economic reasons that had a special impact on various aspects of the life of the emigrants.
The colonial interests of the Russian Empire in the Caucasus in the nineteenth century are discussed in detail, the goal of which was to make the Caucasus an organic and inseparable part of it. For this, a large-scale colonization of the Caucasus was necessary, which could not be implemented without a free land fund (without „unreliable and undesirable” settlers). This was one of the reasons for the expulsion of a number of ethnic groups in the Caucasus, including the Abkhazians, from their native places and their deportation to the Ottoman Empire.
Along with the historical context, the migration processes that were reflected in the processes of adaptation and identity preservation of migrants are analyzed.
As a result of the research (fieldwork, analysis of scientific literature), it was determined that despite the strict and consistent assimilation policy of the Turkish government over the years, the Abkhazians, through conservation in a foreign socio-political and cultural environment, have preserved not only their history, identity, moral and ethical code, language and its dialects, folklore, but also that part of traditional culture that has been forgotten in their historical homeland.