Since ancient times,the deer has been a sacred animal believed to have guiding, lucky and protective qualities both before and after Islam. In addition to these positive meanings attributed to the deer, the fact that the deer is among the animals gifted to the god reveals the value given to him. However, it is seen that this importance attributed to the deer is exactly the opposite in the Bulgarian writer Sabri Tata’s novel ‘Geyik Avı’. Because in the novel, the oppressions of the Bulgarians, who gained their independence by rebelling against the Ottoman Empire, to the Turks who became a minority while they were homeowners the their lands, are discussed, and it is explained that the Turkish identities were tried to be destroyed under the name of the ‘return to descent’ movement, especially during the Todor Jivkov government. The fact that the government tortures the Turks, who oppose their wishes, by hunting / catching them like ‘deer’, turns the positive connotation of the deer metaphor from past cultures into a negative meaning. Therefore, Turks are identified with this metaphor, which is used bothin the name of the novel and in its content, and the change in meaning is turned into an allegory that can only be understood when the novel is read.

Bulgar Turks, Persecution, Deer Metaphor, Sabri Tata, ‘Geyik Avı’.