394 Chapter 29 Demographic Development and Some Cultural Characteristics of Anatolian Circassians Nurettin ÖZGEN INTRODUCTION Turkey is the country which represents ancient and historic cultural heritage of the archaic Anatolian peninsula. Throughout history, it had allowed immigration from and immigrated to all regions. In this peninsula, where three continents intersect, many empires (Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk, Ottoman, etc.) and states have reigned, different beliefs and ethnic structures have sheltered and formed a rich cultural texture reaching to the present day (Özgen, 2010:226). With influence of historical and geographical location of Turkey, these cultural treasures (especially faith, ethnicity and folkloric properties) reflect almost a mosaic form or marbling pattern. The linguistic, spiritual and ethnic identities especially like Abkhaz, Arab, Alevi, Albanian, Bektashi, Circassian, Armenian, Ezidi, Georgian, Kurdish, Laz, Nestorian, Nusayri, Pomak, Roman, Assyrian, Tatar, Terekeme, Turkish, Zaza are the main patterns of this wealth. Such different linguistic, ethnical, folkloric, and spiritual communities have proven their "cohabitation skills"' under the roof of Anatolia. Although there were various wars, slaughter and exiles, which shadowed this union and hampered cohabitation of different groups in some periods, Anatolian lands have grown up this variety so to say with "the sensitivity of a mum" and hosted the refugees, asylum seekers and people in exile. For instance, just like the Circassian people, who were forced to migrate/exile from in Caucasus and found asylum in Anatolia, the refugees escaping from slaughter and brutal war environment of the current civil war in Syria, have come to Turkey as a shelter (Özgen, 2014a). The term "Circassian" was used first in the 13 th century. Although it was used for Adyghea people at the beginning (Avagyan, 2004: 20), since the 17 th century, it has included all the Muslims living in Caucasus like Karachay, Kabardino-Balkaria, Daghestan, Adyghea, and Abkhaz regardless of their ethnicity (Kaya, 2005). Even in 1404, the Archbishop Johannes de Galonifontibus in Caucasus uttered the Karachay, which is a Turani tribe, as "The Black Circassians" (Tavkul, 1993:17). According to another view, the word Jarkaz which means cultivator has evolved to the word "Çerkez (Circassian)" in Turkish (Avagyan, 2004:17). But Avagyan asserts that the term "Çerkez (Circassian)" corresponds to the Turkish word Çeri-kes, which means cengaver (hero) in Turkish. However, Circassian people have called themselves Adyghea, which means fellow townsman and someone belong to the sun (İpek, 2013). On the other hand, even though Plano Carpini, was known to utter the name "Circassian" for first time in 1215, Ernest Chanter claims that Circassian is an ancient nation which had appeared in 500 BC (Luxembourg, 1998:77). And according to the Ottoman sources, beginning from the 13th century Adygheas of the Caucasus peoples