The Yeşilköy Armistice Agreement was concluded between the Russian and the Ottoman empires.  Russia wanted it be endorsed by the European powers concerned.  Moreover; the governments of  Britain and Austria, and particularly Prince Bismarck of Germany were insistent on an all party Peace Conference in Berlin to review the terms of the agreement.

                The Berlin Peace Conference¹  was attended by the representatives of Britain. Germany, France, Austria, Italy, Greece, the Ottoman Empire and Russia.

                The Ottoman delegation was composed of Mehmet Ali Paşa, Kara Todori Paşa, and Sadullah Bey.  The latter was then the Ottoman Ambassador in London.

                Normally the Ottoman Foreign Minister Nazim Saffet Paşa should have represented his Government at the Peace Conference.  In the event, however, Mehmet Ali Paşa, a German turned Ottoman, was assigned to head the Ottoman delegation, hoping woo the host State.

                The plan, however, did not work.  Far from being obliged, Bismarck continually belittled the “German turned Ottoman” all along the conference.

                In fact the European powers were present at the conference with the object to dictate their respective terms to the Ottoman Government, rather than reviewing the terms of the Armistice.  had there been no clash of interests between them, they were likely to pester the Ottoman delegation further.  Each tried to achieve maximum advantage at the expense of the withering Ottoman Empire, depending on how far the powers could mutually agree.

                As a result, Romania and the Principality of Karadağ or Montenegro were declared  sovereign states, Serbia expanded to the east,  Dobruca was ceded to Romania, and Russian got Bissarabia. On the Anatolian sector; Kars, Ardahan and Batum; areas seized by the Russian army, were ceded to Russia.  Britain, in exchange of the services she had rendered, got the Cyprus Island.

                Bulgaria was divided in three sectors.  The Northern Sector,  was declared an Ottoman Protectorate Bulgar Principality. Sector Number Two, was to remain a part of the Ottoman Empire, merged with Macedonian, to be called the “Eastern Rumalia”, subject to political reforms being instituted.

                In addition to the war reparation and similar other sanctions, the Ottoman Government was forced to undertake a series of other treaty obligations.

                The displaced Turks were entitled to return to their home.  No Circassian was to be allowed to stay in the European sector.  The Armenians in the eastern Anatolia were to be protected.  Administrative safeguards were to be instituted to ensure their safety against possible Kurdish and Circassian high-handedness.

                There had remained certain Circassian groups in the Danube Basin in the regions of Dobruca and Şumnu. They had managed to sustain by joining forces with the local Turks.

                 Pursuant to the terms of the Berlin Peace Treaty the Circassians were deported from the region.  Only a few Circassian villages in eastern Serbia in Niş, kosova, Priştina and Prizen were able to exist.

                Hence migrations continued during the years 1879 and 1880 also.  The Circassian deportees were mainly moved to   Syria and Palestine by sea; only a fraction being allowed to move to Anatolia.

                The refugee groups moved to Syria and Jordan, were rehabilitated in the neighborhood of such towns as Hama, Homes, Damascus, Kunytr and Amman.  They suffered heavy losses in human life  due to the climatic conditions to which the Circassians were not accustomed, and because of the clashes with the local Druzi, Turkmen and  the Arab nomads.

                At the Belfa Region, in particular, the Circassian refugees had to fight a virtually pitched battle with the local Arab tribes.

                The expunge of the Circassians from Eastern Europe in 1877 through 1880 had been as devastating as their exodus from Caucasia in 1864-1865.  Thousands of the refugees were perished by starvation and diseases.  A sizable number of them, who were carried to the British and French colonial territories, where never heard of again .2

                                                      O0O
 

                Yeftale Hamız had turned mad, when at the Tekirdağ harbor,  Havuduko Bislan and Sinan Naur and their group were not allowed to board the ship.  He protested and told the crew that his party would like to get out of the vessel rather than traveling without them.  The crew could not understand what he meant, and cold-shouldered him.

                The vessel was boarded by a few Turkish officials and passengers as well.  They tried to calm down the nervous C,rcassian in vain.

                Not long before Yaftale Hamız found out where from the ship was being run.  He went up to the Bridge.  By gesticulations he tried to express that he wanted to get out of the ship.  A steward got hold of his upper arm, and turned him to the direction of the harbor to show him that it was impossible.  The ship had already left the harbor.

                Yeftale Hamız was so  mad that he senselessly drew out his dagger.  Had Bjafe Musa and Koce Neov not withheld him, he would  have struck either the British captain or the steward.

                Musa and Neov were on guard with him lest he commit a nonsense.  They dragged him down to the deck.

                Hamız was completely out of self-control.  He called names left and right in Adğe, his mouth foaming.

                It took almost one hour before he calmed down, and sat down exhausted.  His looks were fixed.  He sighed.  He soon passed away to  sleep.

                In effect he was in a state of trance, rather them sleep.  Occasionally he woke up and uttered words unintelligible, or called names. He went on repeating such phrases as  “Mean fellows!”, and  “We are cheated!”...

                Musa and Neov kept guard on Hamız by turn the whole night.  His sons avoided getting involved.

                The giant size Yeftale Hamiz came to his senses the next day.  He seemed as if he had grown old by ten years in one night.  He stared his surroundings with meaningless eyes for a good length of time.  Then he got up and walked towards the bulwark.

                His hunch on the back was conspicuous more than ever before.  He had taken no food for the last twenty-four hours. He was not steady.  He garbed the bulwark.  His eyes were fixed on to the blue horizon.

                Hamız, otherwise was the most wise person of the group.  He was conscious of the hazardous situation they were in.

                No sooner he felt himself recovered,  spotted the Turkish officials, and tried to find out the destination of the ship.

                It was bound to the port of Lazkiye, Syria.

                Hamız had no idea of where Syria or Lazkiye were.  What concerned him was to reunite with his relatives.  It bothered him if they were getting further away.

                One of the Turks was an official of the Immigration Commission, in charge of organizing the rehabilitation of the refugees moved to Syria.  He was on his way to take over the assignment there.

                Yeftale Hamız had a long chat with the official in his poor Turkish.  He was informed as to the location of Syria and what nationalities resided there.

                In the end he leaned to the official, and said:

            -  Listen to me carefully!   I don’t know exacctly how many Circassians are there in this ship; but I have got one hundred armed men over here.  Go and tell the captain of the ship to leave us at the nearest port.  Otherwise I am going to kill all the British on board.

                The ship had already passed through the Strait of Dardeanaelles, and was on the Aegean waters.

                The British captain was a old hand in navigation.  He replied the Turkish official, in a mood apparently ignoring the latter’s suggestion:

                -  I have my orders to take the passengers to Lazkiye!  You don’t worry.  I will  render the crazy Circassian harmless.  I will have him arrested and confined to a hole, not later than tonight.

                The Turkish official interjected, raising his right hand,

              -  It seems you don’t know the Circassians well enough!  Should you do what you design, they would burn your ship.

                The captain and the Turkish official discussed for some time. Finally they decided to land Hamız and his party in Izmir.

                Hamız was relieved somewhat as the Turkish official conveyed him the news. Nevertheless he took the required precautions to ward against facing an undesirable accomplished fact.  He alerted the members of  his party  against any mischief, and told them to keep their guns loaded and ready to use.

                He did not suffice with that.  Along with his men he kept   watch on the Bridge to indicate his determination, as if he were  aware of  the hostile intention of the captain.

                Hamız had been acting not deliberately, but by intuition.  Consequently his daring move helped his party to disembark at   the Port of Izmir.

                Since 1864 many Circassian refugees had come to Izmir by sea.  The authorities of the city had been already familiar with the problem.

                The Governor and other officials took good care of Hamız and his relatives.  They provided them with food and a temporary dwelling.

                Bjafe Musa and Koce Neov were calm and sensible persons.  Serkuse Hüseyin was no less amenable.  The three had been closely associated with Basti Osman, hence had been deeply influenced by his character.  Unlike  Osman they were not, however,  men of initiative.

                Haşik Hasan was literate and knowledgeable in matters of religion.  He had been trained in Bulgaria by Hun Şeril.  His two brothers, Ismail and Sarı Osman, were courageous boys.  They were the lieutenants of Yeftale Hamiz all along the adventurous travel.

                It was out of question for them to stay in the Izmir area.  It had been made clear to them right in the beginning.  The officials had told them that there were suitable places for them to rehabilitate in the south-east.

                Nevertheless they were not in a rush to hit the road.  For it took them time to acquire means of transportation-   carriages and horses.  Though supported by the government, yet they spent their last dime in Izmir.  It was mid-summer.  They had to find a place to settle down before the winter season set in.  So they left Izmir.

                They moved through the lowland plains along the road leading to Aydin.  At nights they camped either by the side of a running water or in the ourtskits of a habitation.

                Distressing incidents began to take place as they entered the Menderes Valley.

                There had emerged numerous bandits on the Aegean highlands at that period.  They were so-called virile persons, who had rebelled against the government and the local big land-lords. They challenged the rich and protected the poor.  The people called the him “Efe” or “Zeybek”.

                Some of them were indeed fair minded.  Mostly, however, they were typical bandits, coveting the property, life and chastity of the innocent travelers.  They victimized the poor villagers, rather than the rich landlords.

                It was in the vicinity of Sultanhisar, where Yeftale Hamız’s group encoutered the bandits of this sort.

                They had camped outside Sultanhisar.  Hamız had taken the usual measures to ensure the security of the camp.  The carriages were parked to form a circle,  with all the persons and the animals kept inside, as they used to do while in Bulgaria. Sentries were posted to watch all directions.

                It was a beautiful summer evening; with the sky moonless, but full of twinkling stars.  The caravan was asleep rather too early due to excessive fatigue.

                One of the sentries on duty was Zekeriya, the elder son of Yeftale Hamız.  He detected a horse borne group approaching the camp. It worried Zekeria, who was sitting on one of the carriages.  He jumped down to wake up his father.  But in the meantime two of the bandits blasted their gun.  It resounded far and wide in the silence of the night.

                The males instantly jumped up with the guns in their hands.  The females and children got up, curiously  searching around to find out what had happened.  A few of the children began to cry.  The elders  tried to appease them.

                Zekeriya pointed at the bandits as his father approached him.  Hamız counted the dark shadows lined up in  single file. He could sight twenty-two.  Some of them rested over the mane of their horses, surveying the camp.

                One spurred his horse and came forward.  “Hay Circassians!” he accosted, and went on,

            -  They say you have got nice  women and girls.  We want to have a few most tender amongst them, not less then ten of them.  Do you hear me?  We are too many,  you see!

                To the right of Hamız there stood Zekeriya and to his left Haşik Ismail and Sarı Osman.  The rest of the males were ready, shielding behind the vehicles.

                Sarı Osman:

            - What do the guys say?

                Hamız in a subdued voice advised him men  not to rush.  He stepped over the suspension of the carriage in front of him, raised up to have a better view of the bandits.  He responded:

            -  We wouldn’t give girls to one whose face we haven’t seen. Go away now, and come back after sunrise!

                Hamız was playing for time.  But the bandit insisted:

            - We are Efe! Do you know what Efe means?  We instantly take whatever we want to.  Don’t make us nervous any more, and do as we say!

                Hamız lost his patience.  “The mean fellows want to have our women and daughters.  Kill them!”, he commanded, and hit the one in the forefront.  Others followed the him.

                The intensive shooting scared the bandits’ horses.  Not only the ones hit, but also some ones caught by surprise, fell off their horses with the sudden jerk by the animal, as the hoses turned volte-face.

                The bandits were taken by total surprise, for they never anticipated a response so violent.  They run away as they had been given to when faced with a superior force. The ones who dropped down, were dragged away by their horses, and disappeared.

                All the audelts, particularly, Hamız, were seriously perturbed.  Expecting another assault, they stayed at alert till the day break, watchin to all directions.  Most of the females also passed the night sleepless.

                At dawn they sighted five bodies laying about fifty meters away from the camp.  A little further there stood eight saddled horses, grazing, and occasionally lightly neighing; without any attendant around.

                A team led by Sarı Osman went out of the camp, and brought in the horses left behind by the bandits.  In the mean time they dragged  the five bodies to a ditch surroundws by over-grown bushes.

                Hamız was very much uneasy.  He saw to it that the group hit the road before sunrise.  He presumed that the danger would be over once the area was left behind.

                He was mistaken.  The bandits were up to avenge their dead. The bandits, together with whatever  self-styled efes available in the neighborhood, followed the refugees.

                They watched the refugees from a distance in day light, and opened harassment fire at nigh time; but at no time dared to come near to the refugees’ camp.

                The Bandits followed the refugees as far as Sarayköy.  Thence onwards their numbers dwindled by day, and finally all of them disappeared.

                Hamız  called on the local government authorities at Sarayköy,  Nazilli and Kuyucak; to seek their assistance in finding a place to settle down.  He was advised to go further to the east; because all useful land in the neighborhood had been owned.

                After Denizli, they turned towards Çal.

                By the time they reached Çivril, they had been completely exhausted.  They were not in a condition to move any further.

                Koce Neov, had taken ill.  He went into coma.  Three days later he passed away.

                The elders of the Emircik Village  pointing  at the skirts of the Akdağ Mountains from a distance, told them:  “There is a wide space of land free to be occupied over there!”

                Helpless as they had been, again hit the road.  Three families, including the Hahurs, chose to stay at the Emircik Village.  It was the first instance of break up in this convoy.

                Hamız, distressed having lost one of his brothers-in-law, was walking in the forefront.  Basti Osman had stayed back in Eski Zağra, and  Koce Neov had died at Emircik.  But yet there were things that consoled him.  His third brother-in-law, Bjafe Musa was alive and healthy.  Neov’s sons, Bekir and Hasan were old enough to take care of their mother.

                They passed through partially marshy plains Işıklı.  Then they reached the river Menderes. There were three villages, about eight kilometers apart.

                Hamız appointed a team, composed  of young men led by Heşik Sarı Osman, to explore the area across the river.

                The team rode off early in the early hours of the morning, and returned just before sunset, bearing very good news.

                There was a Nogay village at the skirt of the mountain. The level ground below  belonged to no one.  The left side of the river Menderes was as green and marshy as the right bank.

                The terrain was lightly graded for some distance, and suddenly turned to precipices.  The skirts of the mountain were covered with holly oak.  Further up to the peak there were   juniper and pine forests.

                Hamız and his group crossed to the right bank of the River Menderes.  He halted at a meadow with a few interspersed  water fountains.   “It is Okay here!” he exclaimed, and added:

              -  No need to go any further.  We will settle down there.

                It was the first week of October.  The leaves of the willows, which completely bordered around the meadow,  had begun to yellow.  They called the meadow as “Şuvaj”.³

                Each family got mobilized to build a barrack for itself before the winter arrived.  They cut the willow threes in the extensive woods along the Menderes river, to use as timber for the construction.

                In the meantime Hamız, accompanied by a few of the elders visited the nearby Nogay village .

                The aged Nogays warned Hamız:

            - The area you have selected to build the village, is not at all suitable for the intended purpose!  Our elders also had chosen a similar site close to the river.  Our people perished because of malaria.  You may see our graveyard over there.  It was full much before it had been estimated to last.  Consequently we moved  to this place.

                The Nogays at the skirts of the mountain had been deported in the aftermath of the Ottoman-Russian War of 1768-1774.  Having come from the same region, they were familiar with the Circassians.

                Hamiz thought at first that the Nogays disapproved their choice of the place on selfish grounds.  Later it turned out that they were sincere.

                On their return, they passed by the Nogay Graveyard.  There were hundreds of graves, each with a gravestone fetched from the mountain.

                There were traces of ancient habitation in the area.  There were the remains of a water duct, built to carry water from the fountains at the southern fringes of the Nogayhabl.⁴

                Hamız was not in a positions to evaluate to situation by himself.  He intended to inform his people about his findings, and to obtain their concent to settle down at Şavuj.

                                                   O0O
 

                A group of Circassians had found their way to Izmir in the aftermath of the great migration of 1864-1865.  Like the group led by Hamız, they had proceeded to the south-east, through the Menderes Valley.  But they had not diverted at Denizli.  Rather they had proceeded directly to the east, and had settled down at a depression, at a distance of ten kilometers to the town of Dinar.

                Most of the members of the group belonged to the Natho Family.  In the group there were too many persons  bearing the name “Ali”.  The local population called the community as   “Genç Aliler”⁵ .  Hence by the same token the village they set up was called “Gençali”.

                The site of the settlement set up by the young men was a meadow used by the peasants in the neighborhood as a grazing ground of their cattle.  The refugees had dug water wells in the middle of the depression.  And as they were sitting around the wells to take rest, they were attacked by the Efe bandits, killing several of them.

                On the way they had been splited up to pieces.  The first batch, who had reached the depression, had had to wait the ones behind to catch up.  Their reunion had taken five or six years.

                They were extremely happy when the word came that a Circassian group had arrived in the Upstream Menderes Basin. A team of three immediately was dispatched to have the news confirmed.

                  Both the groups were overwhelmed with joy to have met one another.  the youth opened fire into the air to celebrate the occasion.

                    Natho Ali and his companions stayed at Savuj for three days.  They by turn narrated each other their respective adventures.  The narations revealed that they were relatives, and had been neighbors back at home in Caucasia, decades ago.

                    Natho Kara Ali was an outspoken person.  He didn’t consider Şavuj as a suitable place for habitation.  He asked why the Hamız group had not preferred the mountain skirts.

                    Hamız narrated that the Nogays too had disapproved the selection. and added:

                 - By the time we reached here we were too tired.  We had little stamina to take a step further.

                    Hamız was impressed by the objections relevant to his choice of the site.  Throughout the winter he explored the area for an alternative site.

                    As the weather cooled down the Yörük Türkmen nomads descended from the highland pastures to the skirts of the mountain, and pitched their woolen tents.  Hamız them realized that the area was not that vacant as he had previously assumed.  Thence he began looking for ways and means to stick to the place, without stirring the suspicion of anybody.

                    He visited the Yörüks, made acquaintance with their elders.  He was satisfied to find out that the Yörüks were not particularly interested in the plains.

                    The Circassians had a difficult winter that year.

                    As the weather began warming up gradually with the arrival of the spring season, so there appeared swarms of mosquitoes, increasing by day.  A time came when colds of the insects settled over Şevuj.  The humid winter had made many of them sick.  Now malaria stepped up the rate of mortality.

                    Hamız remembered the points made by the Nogay elders a<nd Natho Ali against suitability of the Şevuj as a habitable place.  Accompanied by Bjafe Musa, Serkuse Hüseyin and other elders of the group, he went to the skirts of the Gümüşlük Mountains.  They discovered a rich fountain with crystal clear water, beneath a precipice.  They decide to shift to the slopes covered with  holly-oak trees.

                    During the summer they moved to the skirts of  Gümüş Dağ, or the Mount Silver. The process of transfer took time.  Some of the families had to defer moving to the new site to  the next spring.

                    They cut the holly oaks at the upper slopes to be used as construction timber.  They used stone and bricks to build the walls, and covered the roof with timber and mud plaster; after the pattern of the dwellings of the Turkish peasants.

                    Some of the families were more populous and resourceful then the others.  Hamız, was vexed at the sight of the more powerful ones tending to grabe larger chunks of the cultivable land.  He gathered the elders of the community to ensure equible distribution of the available land. Though not strictly judicious;   the limits of individual family propriety were  established.

                    The Yörüks continued ascending the meadows every year in the autumn season, and grazed their livestock on the meadows in the area.  The sheep and the goats, roaming around in the oak woods and the bushes, left their wool, stuck to the thorny branches; so much so that at times the place looked all white.

                    The people in the neighborhood, particularly the Yörüks, called the Circassian village  “Yapağlı Köy” or the Wooly Village..  So by time it became known by that name.

                    Natho Kara Ali, on his first visit had jubilantly remarked that “It is a happy coincidence that we happen to be in the same area.  Let us join together in happiness and in sorrow.  Let us meet as often as possible.”

                    The following year the residents of the Yapağlı Köy collectively went on invitation to the Gençali Köyü to attend a Nathos wedding there.   Early in the next spring the senior Haşik died.  The Nathos then came to Yapağlı to offer  condolence.

                    Subsequently there were intermarriages between the inhabitants of the two Circassian villages.

                                                   O0O
 

                    Basti Osman had been on the look out for a change.  He had been bothered not only because of the mourning and groaning of his wife.  He missed Yeftale Hamız, Bjafe Musa, and Serkuse Hüseyin, with whom he had lived  together in the same courtyard since his birth.  They were his relatives by  marriage. Their absence made him miserable.
 

                    He toured the neighboring counties and provinces  with the pretext of doing business.  He often visited the nearby  town of Kadınhan, Ereğli and Karaman.  Later on he extended his visit to the regions of Aksaray and Niğde.  On one occasion he designed to go as far as Eskişehir and beyond; but could not dare to undertake that long a journey.

                    He did find Circassian villages in the areas he visited.  But those belonged to his compatriots who had come to Anatolia in the course of the earlier great migration.  They were smaller groups affiliated to such tribes as Bjeduğ, Mehoş Hatkoy and Abzeh.

                    Osman was not the only one who was in search of his missing relatives.  He came across many fellow travelers in quest of their missing loved ones.

                    Osman, by himself continually worked out presumptions.  He assessed that the refugees from Europe were unlikely to have been directed to the eastern regions of Turkey; and that in case Hamız and his group were not sent to the Arab provinces, they ought to be somewhere in the western Anatolia.

                    On the fourth year of their settlement in Puhtu, Osman, accompanied by Hakul, visited Afyon.  They left their horses at an inn, and went out for a tour of the markets and bazaars.  None looking like a Circassian was to be seen around.

                    He stayed in Afyon for three days.  They toured the city in day light and returned to the inn  in the evening each day.  On the third day in evening when he returned to the inn  in desperation,   he met a  çerçiat⁶  at the inn,  who told him that to the north there were two Circassian villages near Burhaniye.

                    Osman was pleased.  He came closer to the çerçi and   question him further, and learned that the Circassians in question belonged to the earlier lot of refugees.

                    Osman was dismayed.

                    Assuming that one day they would leave the place,  Osman had neglected farming, and making improvements in his building during the past four years.  For most of the time he had been engaged in trading of sheep and horses, by investing his meager capital.  To him business was merely the means; and reunion with his missing relatives was the end.

                  His desperate mood effected the çerçi.  He asked Osman:

                -  Tell me what are you after?  Whom you are looking for? there is a remedy to every problem! Don’t be upset.  Tell me your actual purpose.

                Osman was direct.  Without mincing words, he said:

               -I have lost my relatives.  I am looking for them.

                The çerçi scratched his beard, and pondered for a while.  His face gleamed, suggesting he had  an answer to Osman’s woe.  He said,

                -  About two hears ago I was in the Denizli area. There I had stayed in a Circassian village on the road to Çivril.  The male members of the community had developed a smattering of Turkish. But the females were absolutely unable to speak the language.

                    He struck at his knee as he added, “My God! Why it this not occur to me in the beginning.  He continued his narrative:

                - The females did not know the language;  but they made most of the shopping.  They produced old Russian and Ottoman coins.  Honestly, I was surprised.

                    Osman was sitting in the living room of the inn.  He raised himself, supporting on the knees, and leaned to the man.  He asked, “How far is the village you have mentioned?”

                    The çerçi closed his one eye, pondered, and replied:

                -  Depends how fast a horse you mount.  It may take four or five days.

                    Osman could not gather enough courage to set out immediately, though he wished to very much.  It was the end of September.  It was too late a season to set out for somewhere unknown to him.  So he returned to Puhtu.

                    He did not say anything to his wife.  For he did not want to give her a false hope. “I could find no trace of them!”, he sufficed to say.

                    Osman most eagerly waited for the arrival of the spring season.  He made up his mind to set out in April or May.

                    He had grown old.  He had no longer the stamina of the earlier years.  He hated leaving his wife and son by themselves at home.  Someone like Pşılı Hakul should be there at their service; he contemplated.

                    The time finally came to set out for the expedition.  Osman let Pşılı Hakul stay home. Hahurat Ketiğej’s son Ishak and Basti Föye accompanied him.  Both of them had grown into a stout young men.

                    He dropped in Ilgın; called on Hacı Mehmet, informed him of the journey he planned to undertake, and sought his advice.
 

                    Hacı Mehmet hosted Osman and his companions overnight.  He invited his friends to meet the Circassian visitor.  They had the evening meal together and tried to determine the shortest and safest rout to Çivril.

                    One recommended  the Eğirdir and Isparta rout, while the other one suggested the conventional rout via Afyon.

                    Haji Mehmet got ready-food prepared for the journey. Osman thanked and politely tried to decline the offer.  “Our bags are full”, he excused.  But Hacı Osman insisted to give the gift.

                    They traveled down to Afyon without any trouble; for Osman was already familiar with the area.  They stayed for the night at the same inn, where he had boarded last time.

                    Osman contemplated to hire a guide.  He sought the assistance of the inn keeper in this regard.  None was available.

                    He set out, accompanied by Föye and Ishak.  His only advantage was his being conversant in Turkish, which he had polished up in the past four years in Turkey.

                    The Turkish people had more or less grasped the Circassian Episode”.   The urban population had a fair idea about it.  The State officials and the Gendarme possessed adequate information. They journeyed in daylight and halted at a village at night. Before leaving a village  in the morning, they ascertained where to stop next for the night, with the help of the local people. In fact could not name the place where they intended to visit.  They would say, “We are looking for a recently set up Circassian village on the road to Denizli,”  while inquiring about the direction to be followed.

                    Generally it was Osman, who spoke.  Ishak and Föye were not yet freely conversant in Turkish.  Osman’s interlocutor would first move his shoulders, and would say, “I haven’t heard of a Circassian Village!” Then he would describe him the path leading to Denizli:

                  -  If the village in on the way to Denizli, you will certainly find it. Keep going  straight ahead .

                    At Sandıklı the situation seemed to be a little more clear; thanks to a horse dealer they met by accident at the town square.

                    When Osman told him that he was looking for a “Circassian village recently set up near Dinar”, the man smiled and retorted, “Could it be that the ones you are looking for, are the same ones who had stolen my horses?”. Then he released a hearty laugh.

                    He would intermittently exclaim, “What a co-incidence!” as he went on laughing, which seemed to know no end.  Finally he was steady enough to narrate his story:

                  - I had bought ten horses from the villages in the Işıklı Plains.  Myself and two of my men, tied the horses to one another and hit the road.  After two hours of difficult drive, we reached at the bank of Menders river.  There was a narrow wooden bridge across the river.  It was a difficult job to have the horses pass over the bridge; we were exhausted.  We let the horses to graze, and ourselves stretched on the grasses to have some rest.  Believe me, we must have dozed  off  at the most for half an hour; when we woke up to see all the horses gone, including our own riding horses.

                    The horse dealer resumed laughing.  He continued with his narration:

                -  For ten years I have been visiting the area.  I came to know of the new village during my last visit.  We walked for about one hour before reaching the so-called village.  A thousand witness is required to claim it a village.  Make-shift barracks.  Worst of all; the ones showed up were unable to understand us.  They summoned an old man.

                    The horse dealer halted.  He touched his own forehead and pondered.  “The man had strange name, I can’t recall it!”, he said.

                    Osman interjected:

                  - “Could it be ‘Hamız’?”

                    The horse dealer jumped up, “Yes! something like that !”  he exclaimed.  He continued:

                -  The old man said something in his own language.  A few of the boys there quickly distanced from the place.  A little while later they turned up with our saddled horses and seven naked ones.  I told them “Three are missing”.  They said, “These are all we have found at the meadow, assuming they had no living owner.”  “Thanks God to have found the horses, be they minus three!” I said and departed from the village.

                    Osman was pleased to have found the trace of Yaftale Hamız.  At the same time he blushed because of the story the man had narrated.    For a moment he was at a loss what to say.  Finally he murmured: “Our people can’t stand at the sight of a horse.”

                    The horse dealer realized Osman was embarrassed.  With an air of a man used to gain and to lose, he comforted Osman, he laughed off,  and said: “Take it easy! It doesn’t matter at all.”

                    The horse dealer was a lovable gay person.  He had a lean and healthy structure.  He walked with Osman to the limits of the town.   He narrated   other interesting anecdotes he had experienced, as they walked.

                    It was early morning. The horse dealer raised his head, and looked at the sun.  “If you drive fast, you would be in Dinar before sunset”, he said, and briefed him about  the rout to  be followed:

                -  There are two Circassian villages near Dinar.  One is on the road to Denizli; the other  is on the way to Çivril.  When you arrive in Dinar, you may inquire about it.  They will show you the way.

                    Hahurat Ishak and Basti Föye had been following the elders a few paces behind.  As the time to part arrived, the cheerful trader helped Osman to ride the horse, smiling.  “May God protect you against the evil!” he said.

                    Ishak and Föye walked for a while, trailing their horses.  At about the time they were going to mount, the horse dealer shouted, “Hay Circassian Prince!”.  Osman anxiously pulled the harness, and turned back.

                    The dealer continued:

                -  There are Turkman villages on your way.  Mind you, don’t while away time there.  Don’t engage in any sort of argument with them.  They are rough people.  They far excel your people in robbery.  Beware!

                    Subsequently he released a very loud laughter, which made Osman ponder  whether the man was serious or had been joking all along. He spurred his horse.

                    They had a good night’s sleep in Sandıklı.  Themselves and their horses had refreshed.  Osman, assuming that the horse dealer had told him the truth, drove at a maximum speed.  They boys followed him.

                    On the way they halted twice to allow the animals respite.  They arrived Dinar late in the afternoon.

                    Dinar had been set up at the fountain head of the the river Menders.  It was a small town, with  water ducts running through its streats.  It was green all around.

                    Osman inquireed about the direction to the “recently built Circassian village”.  Some had no idea, and some told him about the “nearly fifteen year old Circassian village named Gençali on the road to Denizli”.

                    Osman moved his head side ways to suggest that that was not the one he had been looking for.  “We are looking for the one set up about three or four years ago”, he pointed out, painfully smiling.

                    In the meantime a small crowd of the local people formed around the visitors.  One person in the crowd said, “Come along with me!”, and led Osman and his companions to the open space in the center of the town.

                    There were water ducts running through the opposit two sides of the rectangular open space, which was surrounded by plain trees.  It was the only shopping area in the town.  It was a crowded and busy place.  The man briskly walked up to a shop where he asked Osman to wait a little while, and hemself went inside the sop.  Not long before he appeared  with a short and bearded person.

                    The bearded man happened to be the owner of the shop, who welcomed Osman and the boys.  He said,

                -  Perhaps you are looking for  “Çerkes Yapağlı”.  That is a recent village.

                    Osman smiled painfully and  pointed out that he didn’t know the name of the village.

                    The bearded man appeased Osman:

                -   Never mind! No good to set out for the place at his late hour of the day.  You may go tomorrow morning.

                    Indeed it was already sunset.  They were too tired and needed some rest.  Besides they didn’t know the approaches to the villages.

                    The bearded man was the owner of the shop.  His name was Kadir, or “Kadir Hoca”,  as the people called him.   He hosted Osman and his companions overnight at his place in Dinar.

                    In the morning Kadir Hoca asked one of his sons to guide Osman up to Beşpınar, on the back of a donkey.

                    Osman and the boys accompanying him followed Kadir Hoca’s son, keeping pace with  his donkey. Having seen off the boy, the party spurred the horses.

                    Basti Osman was in his sixties.  His crimson beard had   begun graying.  On that particular day, however, he was as agile as a youth in his twenties. He was virtually flying on his horse.

                    About one hour later he could see the simple, primitive dwellings of  Yapağlı.  The closer he came to the village, the more strongly  his heart pounded.

                    To the right of the village there was a wide spaced bordered by holly oaks.  It was the graveyard.  There were about thirty-five or forty piles of earth, some with and some without green over them, which suggested how old the individual graves were.

                    Osman anxiously wondered, “Who could have died?”  He dismounted.  The boys also got down from their horses.  Ishak rushed towards Osman, and took over the harness from him.

                    Osman approached the fence of the graveyard.  He raised his hand, palms open,  He prayed for the dead. Then he proceeded towards the nearest dwelling.

                    The trail from the town  partitioned  the village through the middle.  At the start;  to the right,  there lived the Somen family; while to the left,  lived the Hahurat family.

                    Some of the women and children had spotted the approaching visitors.

                    The first one to recognize Osman was  Somen Osman, son of Haşi.  Haşi had died in the Yantra Valley, Bulgaria.  The Somen lineage was being maintained by his son, Somen.

                    Somen Osman asked the kids gathered around to rush to the Yaftale and Koce families to deliver the happy news. Then rushed towards  Basti.

                    He opened hid fold, “Thanks God!” he exclaimed, as he embraced Osman.

                - We were afraid we had lost you for ever!

                    The children had stirred the whole village in the meantime.  By the time Osman arrived near the house of Serkuse Hüseyin, a large crowd had assembled there.

                    The village had been set up on a slightly graded ground.  The narrow and low ceiling structures had been constructed in a south to north  alignment;  and each courtyard was separated with branches of holly oak.  Serkuse Huseyin’s house was at the lowest end.  There stood a mosque immediately above it.

                    The people had gathered in the open space in front of the mosque to receive Osman and his companions.  There were, however,  some others too still hurrying down to the masque.   Men, women and children; all were overwhelmed by excitement at the sudden sight of their relative, whom they had assumed they had lost for ever.

                    Man or woman, old or young, everyone in the village was saying something or the other joyfully at the same time.  The sound emitted by the cheerful crowd resounded in the whole space.  The women, close  relatives of Osman, where sobbing out of joy.

                    Bjafe Musa, Serkuse Huseyin and others were trying in vain to calm down the excited crowd.

                    Koce Neov’s wife Karej was the elder sister of Osman’s wife, Skurun. By age she was one of  eldest members of the older generation.

                    As the Yeftale daughters, Karej and Nefin, appeared at the site  together, the crowd stirred, parted to make room for them to pass through.  Silence prevailed.

                    The two sisters had been wailing for so many years, as Skurun had been.  It the very moment too their eyes were full with tears.

                    “Welcome!” said Karej, and timidly asked,

                    -  Are you alone?  Where are the children?

                        Osman understood their anxiety.  “Don’t be worried!”  he exclaimed, as he raised his hands.  He was brief and to the point to dispel their worry:

                     -  Every one is alive and in good health. We didn’t know  your place. We came here  to find it  out.

                        Osman, briefly narrated how he had been looking for them for the last four-five years, how finally he was able to discover their place.

                        Meanwhile Osman noticed a few of the elders missing. “ I don’t see  Yeftale and Koce here!” he said, and gazed through the crowd.

                        Karej replied as she wiped he eyes:

                    -  They aren’t with us any more.

                      Bjafe Musa told him the rest of the story.  Pointing at the hazy horizon to the west, he said,

                    -  We left Koce Neov in the middle of the plains over there, while we were coming to this place!

                      Following a short pause he continued:

                    -  Hamız passed away last winter, just a few months ago.

                     The euphoria of a moments before suddenly disappeared; was replaced by grief.

                     Serkuse Hüseyin, hesitantly invited the visitors to his house.  Karej stopped him.

                     Serkuse Hüseyin’s mother was a Basti.  She was Osman’s aunt.  But yet Karej being the elder one, they had to follow her lead.

                     The three-room house of the Koce family was full to the brim.  After the crowd dispersed, a few of the elders remained with Osman.  The visitors and the hos, in turn, narrated their own odyssey.

                     Osman and his companions stayed at Yapağlı for five days.  Most of the time Basti Osman was together with the elders, while Föye and Ishak mingled with the youth.

                    Yapağlı was not the only Circassian settlement in the area.   At a distance of about fifteen kilometers from Yapağlı, there was the Circassian village of Gençali.  Besides, there was yet a larger village in the forest area to the left of the road to Denizli.  Osman was pleased to know it.

                    Osman’s visit to Yapağlı was not an ordinary one.  Either side had been worried for the past nearly five years about the fate of the other.  They existed looking forward to reunite; Karej and Nefin anxious to see their sister.

                    Nevertheless Osman was rather uncertain as to his future course.  He had surveyed Yapağlı and the neighborhood, and had been briefed by the elders.  The cultivable land and the meadows had been parceled out to the resident families.  Therefore he could not be sure whether or not he should move to Yapağlı.

                     Osman had grown up in prosperity in Caucasia.  He had been playing the leading role within his community in the course of the migration as well as during their stay in Bulgaria.  Now he was supposed to take shelter in Yapağlı as a destitute refugees, with no estate.

                      The youthfull Koce Bekir had detected the undecided mood of Basti Osman.    Bekir told Osman in confidence that he needn’t worry about being without any land to cultivate.  “I can share with you all what I have got!” the latter emphasized.  Bekir further said:

                -  By the side of the water⁷ , there is an extensive piece of land not yet claimed by anyone.  It is a grassland, which needs strong men to reclaim.

                    Koce Bekir was right.  Many families were yet without any draft animals.  Therefore they were contented by reclaiming the land closer to the village and easier to handle.  The flat  land was yet untouched.

                    Bekir also tried to appeal the sentiment of the old Basti.  Bekir told him how his mother had been wailing for so many years.  He underlined that the separation ought to terminate.

                    Osman appeared persuaded; but did not mention any of the points which disturbed him. He parted Yapağlı  for home.

                                                 O0O
 

                    Osman contemplated all along the way.  He was so confused that he could not sleep at night at the stopover, though he was very tired.

                     He visited Sinan Naur near Akşehir.  He wanted to consult friends as to his future course.  For he was afraid that the friends in Puhtu, being biased in favor of his continued stay there, would not be able to judiciously advise him what to do.

                     Naur was an aged man by then.  The unending distress and journeying had cost him his health. He was unable to walk without his walking-stick.  He patiently listened to Osman to the end without interrupting him.  His answer surprised Osman:

                  -  Don’t think you are the only one  in doubt.  Our younger generation is not satisfied with this place at all.  They want to move out somewhere else.

                      Basti raised himself on his knees, as he said in surprise.    “Are you sure?”

                      Sinan Naur continued,

                  -  Last year a group of our youth had gone out to explore  the Eskişehir area.  They say that there are much better places to settle down, further  north.

                      Old Naur paused to breathe.

                      Osman was so confounded that he couldn’t figure out what to say.  Stayed overnight at Naur’s place, and bade good-bye to his old friend.

                       Back in Puhtu he confronted with conflicting opinions, as he expected.

                       Skurun was exceedingly happy to learn that her sisters were alive.  When told that her elder brother had died, his joy turned to sorrow.  She wailed in distress.

                        Havuduko Bislan and the rest of the village elders expressed deep regret over the demise of the undaunted Yeftale  Hamız.  They, however, were reticent relevant to Osman’s position.  They could say neither “stay on” nor “go.”

                        Back in Bulgaria, Havuduko Bislan had been in close touch with Basti Osman, who was about eight years elder to him.  They had been together during the past five years as well.  He had always held Basti in high esteem.  As such he had withheld his judgement that far.  Havuduko suggested:

                    -  Indeed the final word is yours.  It is your obligation to reunite your wife with her sisters.  Nevertheless your absence would be a great loss to us.

                        Hahurat Ketiğej’s wife had suddenly died during Osman’s absence.  The profoundly distressed him, particularly because he had taken away with himself the only son of the family, who otherwise could be of immense help to the bereaved family.  He felt guilty conscious.

                        While offering his condolence to old Ketiğej, Osman also apologized for the lapse on his part.  “Forgive me!” he implored.

                        Hahurat Ketiğej had been looked after well by all of his neighbors, Skurun in particular.  Havuduko Bislan had stayed with him at night for about one week.  He had been provided with his meals regularly.  Nevertheless loneliness had troubled him most.  His ever present cheerfulness was gone.  He looked gloomy.  He had developed fits, which troubled his attendants.

                        Osman attempted to soothe the old man.  He told him that the two of them were “Venekoş”.⁸  He assured him:

                    -  We are of the same family. I am not going to leave you alone here.  We will go together.

                        Osman kept his word.  He immediately purchased a carriage for Hahurat and his son.

                        In the meantime Osman had dispelled his doubts and had overcome his hesitation. He prepared for the move patiently. He sold the nearly forty sheep and two milk-cows at the bazaar of Ilgın, and bade farewell to Hacı Ismail and other friends.

                        He decided to depart at the end of June.  As the time came closer, he was increasingly troubled at hear.

                        The parting scene was indeed pathetic.  He regretted having left behind the people with whom he had been sharing a common destiny for such a long time.  He could not withhold his tears as he embraced Havuduko Bislan.

                        Skurun was happy; for she was going to meet her sisters and other relatives.  For quite a long time she could not separate from the group of women, who were there to bid her farewell.

                        Osman boarded Hahurat Ketiğej’s vehicle, and let his son Idris to  ride his horse.

                        The carriage driven by Pşılı Hakul carried Skurun only.  Her eyes had swollen because of too much weeping.  She was almost buried in the heap of bags and baggages.

                        First moved the carriage driven by Ishak.  The two old men, remorsefully waved their hands for the last time to those who were  around to bid them good-bye.   Pşılı Hakul’s carriage followed Isha’s.

                        Skurun lifted up her head with some difficulty.  She seemed looking not at the people who had gathered there to see her off; but to some invisible object further away behind them.  As it had happened years ago, her heart filled with an intense feeling  hostility.  She implored:

                        -  May God curse the ones responsible for our awful plight!

                        About twenty youth had readied their horse to see off their departing friends.  As the carriages moved, so did they jump on the sadles.  They escorted the small caravan  for about one hour.

                        In the meantime they performed all sorts of movements to entertain the travelers.  It  relaxed  even Skurun, let alone the others.  She unwittingly smiled, while others were laughing.

                        Idris also joined the mounted acrobats in the performance.  Skurun worried lest an accident occur.  Finally she couldn’t help interfering.   “It is enough. Stop it, and return home, boys!” she shouted.

                        In an attempt to cheer up the boys she  said,

                    -  Thank you boys!  Thank you very much for coming along. May God bless you all!

                        The journey lasted over two weeks.  One afternoon they arrived at the Yapağlı Village without any mishap.  They were received with great enthusiasm.

                        The joy of Skurun and her sisters was beyond description.  They were to be justified in rejoicing so much; for they were reunited at a time when they had completely lost their hope; thanks to Basti Osman’s unyielding determination and strenuous efforts.

                        Following a brief period of rest and recreation they feverishly set themselves at work.

                        Koce Bekir was keen to have his aunt and brother-in-law as his neighbors.  Even before their arrival he had thought of the needful, and had made necessary preparation.

                        They selected a plot of land at the upper fringes of the villages for Hahurat Keteğej and his son.  Everybody collectively worked to build a house for each of the two new newcomer families.

                        The longing of the separated ones thus come to a happy end.  The long distressed community, though destitute and deprived of material means; hopefully resumed a new life.⁹

                                             THE END

                        They took interest in the people around them;  entered in every kind of feasible human relations with them; made friends;  accepted the established order, and the valid moral values and convictions in the country.

                        Yeftale Zekerira and Eyüp, Koce Bekir, Basti Idris, and Serkuse Ahemet went for the Hajj Pilgrimage to Mecca.

                        The Circassians of Yapağlı proved as being dependable people in peace.  Also they proved their courage at war.   The fifty Circassian families comprising the Yapağlı Circassians, contributed Seventy-five persons to take part in the three consecutive war Turkey fought; namely the Later Balkan War, the First World War,  and the War of Independence. Most of the soldiers did not return home, and some of the families disintegrated.  Nevertheless there was no complaint on their part. They were proud of contributing for the defense of their new homeland.

                        They bequeathed to their children an honorable reputation.

                       As for the migrations and deportations from Caucasia subsequent to those mentioned in the above narration, the following may be noted.

                          In the aftermath of the Ottoman-Russian War of 1877-1878, Anatolia received a large scale migration from Caucasia, mainly from Abhazya.

                         Also in the aftermath of the disturbances in certain regions of the Russian Empire, subsequent to the Russo-Japanese War of 1905, a part of the Karaçay people migrated to Turkey.

                        During the later phase of the First World War, the Bolshevik Revolution broke out in Russia.  Lenin declared “the right of self-determination to all the nationalities in Russia!”.   As a result, four independent Republics were declared in Caucasia, namely: Northern Caucasia, Azarbaijan, Georgia and Armenia.  Subsequently Lenin retracted.  He dispatched the Red Army to crash the sovereign Republics of Caucasia.  Fierce fightings too place. Once again the Caucasians had to seek asylum abroad, in great numbers.

                        At one stage of the Second World War, the Germans had occupied southern Russia, Crimea and Caucasia.

                        When the German pulled out forces from Russia, nearly thirty-thousand Caucasians followed them.  They were temporarily camped in Austria, from where the refugees were sent to various parts of the world.

                        Then came the Russian reprisal of  the alleged Caucasian “collaboration with the Germans”.  Thousands of the victims were deported from each of the effected areas to the forced labor camps.  The Tatars of Crimea,  and  the Çeçen-Inguş and Karaçay-Balkar  peoples were wholly uprooted and deported to Siberia.

                        All those events inflicted irreparable material and spritual damages on the peoples of Caucasia.