The article is devoted to ethno-political processes taking place in two multi-ethnic entities of the Russian Federation, Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay-Cherkessia in the 1990s, Ethnic mobilization of Karachais and Balkars was linked to the problems of rehabilitation of repressed peoples and passed in conditions of transformation of society, and the exacerbation of inter-ethnic relations in the region. The authors give the description and the process of forming the Karachai and Balkar national movements and turn them into a real political force. The goal of the analysis of search of compromises and contact points in solving problems in the sphere of ethno-political development of peoples, which practically has retained its relevance and early 2000-ies.
