Identity transformation of X and Y generation Circassion women: Ankara case

The purpose of this research is to understand the identity transformations of Gen X and Gen Y Circassian women who migrated to Ankara and the internal and external factors that cause this transformation, together with the concept of symbolic ethnicity. Although there is no significant difference in terms of the time they lived, these two successive generations have significant differences in the definition of their ethnic identities and their perspectives on Circassian cultural values, which also contains some clues about the future of Circassian ethnic identity. Circassian women play an important role in the transmission of Circassian culture. Therefore, it has important answers in understanding the continuation and sustainability of Circassian culture. In this direction, in this study issues about how the Gen Y Circassian woman defines her identity differently from the Gen X Circassian woman, the aspects in which she maintains the khabze (Circassian customary law), her religious attitude, her ability to speak and understand the Circassian language, her standpoint on marriage with someone from different ethnic origins, their practices of the Circassian life in the village and the city, their membership in any Circassian association or formation, their perception of the homeland, their thoughts on the image of Circassian women and their ideas about the points where they are positioned have been examined. In addition to these, the perspectives of the first Circassian women's movement, Almasti, which brought the discussion of khabze rules to the agenda and questioned the Circassian women's identity have been evaluated. In the study, in-depth interview technique has been used to understand the transformation and practices experienced by Gen X and Gen Y Circassian women within the framework of identity. Semi-structured interviews have been conducted face-to-face and via the internet with a total of twenty people, ten interviewees from both generations. Snowball and chain sampling technique has been used when selecting both generations of interviewees participating in the research, and the number of those who are members of associations, those who go regularly and those who do not belong to associations is kept equal. As a result of the study, it has been revealed that the interest in ethnic symbols that emerged within the framework of the concept of symbolic ethnicity has been noticed more in Gen Y Circassian women. It has been observed that the Gen Y has grew up in very different groups in city life by becoming distant from the village, they moved away from the Circassian identity and culture due to reasons such as the opportunities that the generation have and modernization; they maintain this identity within the Circassian groups, by drawing their own boundaries, with a nostalgic allegiance.