RUMELIA IN THE POEMS OF THE KOSOVAR POET ZEYNEL BEKSAÇ

Zeynel Beksaç's Rumeli, O Benim İşte! Collected Poems (1971-2017) was published by Türkçem Publications in 2017. Considering this work of Beksaç, how he dealt with the concept of Rumelia in his poems was examined. The frequent mention of the word Rumelia in the poet's works is proof that this problematic has a significance. The main source of this work is the book Rumeli, O Benim İşte!. As a result of scanning and examinations, it has been detected that the concept of Rumelia is mentioned in eighteen poems. When we look at the subject in this motto and approach it with a biographical reading, it is quite natural that a poet who lives in Rumelia always takes his hometown as an issue, keeps it on his agenda, and has various meanings in his poems. Along with the analysis of the poems, many concepts such as migration, tears, pain, longing, Turkish identity struggle etc. in Rumelia overlap. As a safe harbor to shelter from negativities, the poet positions Turkish language as a guardian of Rumelia. The major point stressed in the main framework is the change of demographic structure after the withdrawal of the Ottoman Empire from these lands, the identity struggle with the new regimes, and the tragic situations reflected in art. It is stated that Rumelia can survive with Turkish language yet.