The immigration of Russians and Azerbaijanis to Turkey: who are they? Why are they here?

• Author: Ozgur, E.M.
• Position: Report

Background: Emergence of a Migration System

As an indication of the transformation that took shape after the collapse of the Soviet Union and its passage to a new economic system, new migration patterns have emerged throughout the post-Soviet territories since the early 1990s. (2) Migration has been a vital strategy in coping with the living difficulties of the transition period. One stream of such migration has headed towards Turkey in order to carry out shuttle trade (3) and to work in economic sectors such as tourism, entertainment, textile and domestic work. (4)

Russians and Azerbaijanis made up an important part of those immigrating to Turkey, which was based, at the beginning, on the same political-economic-social order changes as those coming from other former communist countries. The post-Soviet people initially arrived at the Black Sea coastal cities and the metropolis of Istanbul to work, and later began to migrate to some other large cities in Turkey, such as Ankara, Izmir and Bursa, and to touristic regions, such as Antalya, along the Mediterranean coast. Afterwards, both tourist (Figure 1) and migrant flows from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region to Antalya increased, in parallel with the development of political and economic relations between the CIS and Turkey.

Beginning in the mid-1980s, a migration system emerged between Turkey and this region through the migrants' ties to project by Turkish construction companies, which had been undertaking business in the former Soviet Union. (5) This system further developed after the collapse of the Soviet Union, thanks to the good political-economic relations between Turkey and post-Soviet countries, and migrant flows that had been accompanied by counter-flows. These flows of people added a new dimension to the migration system between the two regions, depending on tourism, and in recent years Antalya and its surrounding area began to be an important component of this migration system.

The international migration system is a structure which emerges with migrant flows and counter-flows between two countries, contributed by other connections such as colonialism, social interaction, trade, investment and culture. (6) This system takes form and shape through the interaction of macrostructures, containing the world market's political economy, international relations as well as immigration and migrant law and practices as issued by the sending/receiving countries, with the microstructures covering the informal social networks which the migrants themselves have developed in an effort to cope with migration and settlement issues. As for meso-structures, they act as intermediary between individuals, groups or institutions, migrants, and political and economic institutions. Macrostructures of the regional migration system between Turkey and Eastern Europe, Central and Northern Asia (7) are based on three factors. The first factor is the mutually good relations built with the independent states, which started in the mid-1980s and developed after the collapse of the Soviet Union; they resulted in a great number of bilateral and multi-lateral agreements (on visa, property acquisition, trade, etc.). The second factor is the cultural bond that Turkish-origin communities within the former Soviet Union revived once gaining independence, in which the Turkish language and common cultural practices play an important role. The third factor is the social-cultural relations between citizens of the former Soviet Union owing to a common language (Russian) and administration-organization practices, which affect their manners of life and behavior, both individually and communally. This effect is clearly observable in the flow of migrants from CIS countries to Turkey and these people's aggregation in certain Turkish cities.

In this migration system, the main framework of which is drawn by macrostructures, good relations between states have impacted tourism as well, along with mutual trade, and in the course of time caused tourism to play a key role in the system. In this study, we focus on Russians and Azerbaijanis, two migrant groups that take part in a tourism-based migration system between the post-Soviet territories and Antalya. Furthermore, we analyze certain characteristics and migration experiences at a micro-level as part of the social networks that contribute to the formation of the migration system.

We will begin this study with a short background, which examines the emergence of a new migration system, proceeding by a description of the method and data. As for the findings of the study, we organize them under two sections. To get acquainted with the Russian and Azerbaijani migrants, who have been the subject of very few studies, and to understand why they immigrate to Antalya, we seek the answers to the following questions: "Which basic attributes do the migrants have?", "Are the migrants working?", "If yes, what are they doing for a living?", "What are they doing with their income?", "What are the basic characteristics of migration processes?", "Why are they coming to Antalya?", and "Where do they want to live in the future?" all under the main topics of "Who are they?" and "Why are they here?" Finally, we conclude the study with a short assessment.

With the aim to understand the participants in tourism-led migration(8)--defined by temporary or permanent migration to a place which has been visited previously for touristic purposes, owing to the attractiveness and opportunities of the touristic destination--from Russia and Azerbaijan to Antalya, this study is based on data obtained as a result of a comprehensive questionnaire and interviews with migrants during a four-month field study in Antalya from July to October 2013. (9) At the end of the field study, a comprehensive questionnaire was applied to 418 people, 209 of which were Russian and 209 of which were Azerbaijani. In addition, migrants of different attributes, such as head of association, student, housewife and salesperson, were interviewed. We also include observations and interviews, some statistics from government offices and certain media coverage in regard to these two migrant groups.

Data obtained from the questionnaires were transferred in proper format to the database of the SPSS 18 statistics program. Afterwards, the variables of the survey questions were determined among such data, the relevant frequency tables developed and descriptive analyses carried out. In addition, we tried to measure the degree of influence that a series of factors could have had on the decision to migrate through a 25-question Likert scale. Using the data set composing of these 25 variables, which question the basis for migration, factor analyses were carried out individually for both migrant groups, and the means have been checked out to determine the most important reasons for migration. Finally, the analysis results were construed in relation to the literature.

Who are They?

Azerbaijanis (10) and Russians (11) in Turkey have so far been under-researched, despite their increasing numbers, which has made their presence more apparent, and their growing participation in Turkish social life. One of the central issues of international population movements--other than the regulation of international migration--is the influence of increasing ethnical differences on host societies. Migrants are often different than such societies in respect to traditions, religion, institutions, culture, physical appearance or way of dressing. (12) Though it is assumed that Azerbaijanis resemble Turks in respect to ethnicity, religion, language and cultural practices whereas Russians do not share such similarities, diversity is determined by individual characteristics, migration experiences and transnational practices of the two migrant groups. This, at the same time, leads to differences in the typology of migration.

What are the Migrants' Basic Attributes?

Gender Structure: According to the data from the field study, the percentage of females is high (83 percent) within Russian...