Immigration to Turkey
Encyclopedia
Since the 19th century, an exodus
by the large portion of Turkish
(Turkic
) and Muslim
peoples (who are termed "Muhacir
" under a general definition) from the Balkans
(Balkan Turks, Albanians
, Bosniaks
, Pomaks
), Caucasus
(Abkhazians
, Ajarians
, 'Circassians', Chechens
), Crimea
(Crimean Tatar diaspora
), Crete
(Cretan Turks
), took refuge in present-day Turkey and moulded the country's fundamental features.
Historically, the Ottoman Empire
— and the Turkish republic succeeding it — were the primary destination for Muslim
refugees from areas conquered — or re-conquered — by Christian powers, notably Russia
in the Caucasus
and Black Sea
areas, Austria-Hungary
, Greece
, Bulgaria
, Serbia
, Montenegro
(later Yugoslavia
) and Romania
in the Balkans
. This has continued to the present day, with large numbers of Bosniak and Chechen
refugees entering Turkey as a consequence of wars in Bosnia
and Chechnya
in the 1990s. Large numbers of Kurds fled north from Iraqi Kurdistan
during the First Gulf War
in 1991, though nearly all repatriated after the cessation of hostilities and the establishment of the Kurdish Autonomous Region in northern Iraq in the same year.
Nonetheless, the Ottoman Empire was also a popular destination for non-Muslim refugees: the most obvious examples are the Sephardic Jews given refuge mainly in the 16th century with the expulsion of the Jews from Spain and Portugal
(as well as before and afterwards), whose descendants form the core of the community of Jews in Turkey today; and the village of Polonezköy
in İstanbul
.
There are other more curious cases on which more detailed research needs to be done to establish a sound basis. One is the case of Hungarians claimed to have taken refuge in Gebze
in early 19th century, and whose descendants might be among the inhabitants of Gebiz
municipality depending Serik
district in Antalya Province
(see Karapinar
).
Yet another concerns various claims relating Vendée
ns, especially of Cholet
, who would have been accorded asylum by the sultan Abdülhamid I after the Revolt in the Vendée
and settled in various Turkish provinces. On a more ascertainable basis, there were several thousand Cossacks in Turkey
for two centuries, near Manyas
and Akşehir
, until 1962, when they were repatriated to Russia
.
Trends of immigration towards Turkey continue to this day, although the motives are more varied and are usually in line with the patterns of global immigration
movements — Turkey, for example, receives many economic migrants from nearby countries such as Armenia
, the Republic of Moldova, Georgia
, Azerbaijan
and Iran
, but also from Afghanistan
, Central Asia, Pakistan
and so on.
office of the UN High Comissionner for Refugees, as of 2005 total of 32,832 people are recorded as having made a valid asylum application in Turkey since 1998. As of 2005, 3900 Iranians and 2200 Iraqis, 400 Somalians and 300 Afghans are still in the country, while an additional 1400 Chechens, who are in a "refugee-like situation", are deemed of concern.
. These refugees are spread out to satellite cities with notable populations in Adana
, Afyonkarahisar
, Agri
, Aksaray
, Amasya
, Bilecik
, Burdur
, Cankiri
, Corum
, Eskisehir
, Gaziantep
, Hakkâri
, Hatay
, Isparta
, Kahramanmaras
, Karaman
, Kastamonu
, Kayseri
, Kirikkale
, Kirsehir
, Konya
, Kutahya
, Mersin
, Nevsehir
, Nigde
, Sivas, Sirnak
, Tokat
, Van, and Yozgat
as well as Istanbul for Iraqis. Country specific groupings include Somalis in Konya, Iranis in Kayseri and Konya, Isparta, and Van, Iraqis in Istanbul, Corum, Amasaya, Sivas and Afghans in Van, and Agri.
These numbers greatly increased in the following years especially in regards to Afghans and Iraqis. As of January 2010, 25, 580 refugees and asylum seekers remain in the country. Of these, 5090 Iranians, 8940 Iraqis, 3850 Afghans and 2700 "other" (including Somalians, Sri Lankans, Pakistanis, Chinese, Uzbeks, Palestinians and others) are still in the country. with the number expected to rise to 8710 Iranians, 9560 Afghans, 7860 other while the Iraqis are expected to decrease to 7890 by December 2011. Notable here is that Afghans are expected to make up the largest refugee population in Turkey in the near future.
UNHCR has four offices in Turkey; namely Ankara
, İstanbul
, Van and Silopi
. The Van office up until 2009 handled all Applicants which enter through the Eastern border, which generally included all Iranians and Afghans who entered illegally.
The most recent immigration influx was that of Bulgarian Turks and Bosnian Muslims. In 1989 an estimated 320,000 Bulgarian Turks fled to Turkey to escape a campaign of forced assimilation
. Following the collapse of Bulgaria's communist government that same year, the number of Bulgarian Turks seeking refuge in Turkey declined to under 1,000 per month. In fact, the number of Bulgarian Turks who voluntarily repatriated—125,000—exceeded new arrivals. By March 1994, a total of 245,000 Bulgarian Turks had been granted Turkish citizenship. However, Turkey no longer regards Bulgarian Turks as refugees. Beginning in 1994, new entrants to Turkey have been detained and deported. As of December 31, 1994, an estimated 20,000 Bosnians were living in Turkey, mostly in the Istanbul area. About 2,600 were living in camps; the rest were dispersed in private residences.
In 1994 the government claimed that as many as 2 million Iranians were living in Turkey, a figure that most international organizations consider to be grossly exaggerated. Turkey is one of the few countries that Iranians may enter without first obtaining a visa; authorities believe that the relative ease of travel from Iran to Turkey encourages many Iranians to visit Turkey as tourists, or to use Turkey as a way station to obtain visas for the countries of Europe and North America. Consequently, as many as 2 million Iranians actually may transit Turkey—including multiple reentries for many individuals—in a given year. Specialized agencies of the European Union and the United Nations that deal with issues of migrants and refugees believe a more realistic figure of the number of Iranians who live in Turkey, and do not have a residence in Iran or elsewhere, is closer to 50,000.
In the 1960s, working-age Turks, primarily men, began migrating to Western Europe to find employment as guest workers. Many of these Turkish workers eventually brought their families to Europe. An estimated 2 million Turkish workers and their dependents resided in Western Europe in the early 1980s, before the onset of an economic recession that led to severe job losses. problem in Turkey, with the global parties directly involved often extending a lesser helping hand than Turkey itself to resolve the precarious situation of immigrants stranded in passage.
Emigration
Emigration is the act of leaving one's country or region to settle in another. It is the same as immigration but from the perspective of the country of origin. Human movement before the establishment of political boundaries or within one state is termed migration. There are many reasons why people...
by the large portion of Turkish
Turkish people
Turkish people, also known as the "Turks" , are an ethnic group primarily living in Turkey and in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire where Turkish minorities had been established in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Romania...
(Turkic
Turkic peoples
The Turkic peoples are peoples residing in northern, central and western Asia, southern Siberia and northwestern China and parts of eastern Europe. They speak languages belonging to the Turkic language family. They share, to varying degrees, certain cultural traits and historical backgrounds...
) and Muslim
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
peoples (who are termed "Muhacir
Muhajir (Turkey)
Muhacir is a term of Arabic origin in Turkish language, used across ethnicities, and that corresponds to people whose ancestors migrated from formerly Muslim territories , considered lost to the non-Muslims : the Balkans Muhacir (sometimes maacir in colloquial Turkish) is a term of Arabic origin...
" under a general definition) from the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
(Balkan Turks, Albanians
Albanians
Albanians are a nation and ethnic group native to Albania and neighbouring countries. They speak the Albanian language. More than half of all Albanians live in Albania and Kosovo...
, Bosniaks
Bosniaks
The Bosniaks or Bosniacs are a South Slavic ethnic group, living mainly in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a smaller minority also present in other lands of the Balkan Peninsula especially in Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia...
, Pomaks
Pomaks
Pomaks is a term used for a Slavic Muslim population native to some parts of Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, Albania and Kosovo. The Pomaks speak Bulgarian as their native language, also referred to in Greece and Turkey as Pomak language, and some are fluent in Turkish,...
), Caucasus
Caucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
(Abkhazians
Abkhaz people
The Abkhaz or Abkhazians are a Caucasian ethnic group, mainly living in Abkhazia, a disputed region on the Black Sea coast. A large Abkhazian diaspora population resides in Turkey, the origins of which lie in the emigration from the Caucasus in the late 19th century known as Muhajirism...
, Ajarians
Ajarians
The Adjarians are an ethnographic group of Georgians that mostly live in Adjara in south-western...
, 'Circassians', Chechens
Chechen people
Chechens constitute the largest native ethnic group originating in the North Caucasus region. They refer to themselves as Noxçi . Also known as Sadiks , Gargareans, Malkhs...
), Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
(Crimean Tatar diaspora
Crimean Tatar diaspora
The Crimean Tatar diaspora dates back to the annexation of Crimea by Russia in 1783, after which Crimean Tatars were forced to emigrate in a series of waves spanning the period from 1783 to 1917...
), Crete
Crete
Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
(Cretan Turks
Cretan Turks
The Cretan Turks, Turco-Cretans , or Cretan Muslims were the Muslim inhabitants of Crete and now their descendants, who settled principally in Turkey, the Levant, and Egypt as well as in the larger Turkish diaspora.After the Ottoman conquest of Crete...
), took refuge in present-day Turkey and moulded the country's fundamental features.
Historically, the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
— and the Turkish republic succeeding it — were the primary destination for Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
refugees from areas conquered — or re-conquered — by Christian powers, notably Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
in the Caucasus
Caucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
and Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
areas, Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
, Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
, Montenegro
Montenegro
Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
(later Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
) and Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
in the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
. This has continued to the present day, with large numbers of Bosniak and Chechen
Chechen people
Chechens constitute the largest native ethnic group originating in the North Caucasus region. They refer to themselves as Noxçi . Also known as Sadiks , Gargareans, Malkhs...
refugees entering Turkey as a consequence of wars in Bosnia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
and Chechnya
Chechnya
The Chechen Republic , commonly referred to as Chechnya , also spelled Chechnia or Chechenia, sometimes referred to as Ichkeria , is a federal subject of Russia . It is located in the southeastern part of Europe in the Northern Caucasus mountains. The capital of the republic is the city of Grozny...
in the 1990s. Large numbers of Kurds fled north from Iraqi Kurdistan
Iraqi Kurdistan
Iraqi Kurdistan or Kurdistan Region is an autonomous region of Iraq. It borders Iran to the east, Turkey to the north, Syria to the west and the rest of Iraq to the south. The regional capital is Arbil, known in Kurdish as Hewlêr...
during the First Gulf War
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
in 1991, though nearly all repatriated after the cessation of hostilities and the establishment of the Kurdish Autonomous Region in northern Iraq in the same year.
Nonetheless, the Ottoman Empire was also a popular destination for non-Muslim refugees: the most obvious examples are the Sephardic Jews given refuge mainly in the 16th century with the expulsion of the Jews from Spain and Portugal
Jewish diaspora
The Jewish diaspora is the English term used to describe the Galut גלות , or 'exile', of the Jews from the region of the Kingdom of Judah and Roman Iudaea and later emigration from wider Eretz Israel....
(as well as before and afterwards), whose descendants form the core of the community of Jews in Turkey today; and the village of Polonezköy
Polonezköy
Polonezköy or Adampol is a small village at the Asian side of Istanbul, about 30 kilometers away from the historic city center, within the boundaries of the Beykoz district...
in İstanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
.
There are other more curious cases on which more detailed research needs to be done to establish a sound basis. One is the case of Hungarians claimed to have taken refuge in Gebze
Gebze
Gebze is an industrial city in Kocaeli Province, Turkey. Situated 30 miles east of Istanbul on the northern shore of the Sea of Marmara, it is the largest district of Kocaeli; Gebze has experienced rapid growth in recent years- from 159,116 in 1990, to 282,444 in 2009. Gebze accounts for 15% of...
in early 19th century, and whose descendants might be among the inhabitants of Gebiz
GeBIZ
GeBIZ is a Government-to-business Public eProcurement business centre where suppliers can conduct electronic commerce with the Singapore Government. All of the public sector's invitations for quotations and tenders are posted on GeBIZ...
municipality depending Serik
Serik
Serik is a town and district in Antalya Province of Turkey, east of the city of Antalya, along the Mediterranean coast.-Geography:Towards the coast the district is mainly flat farmland, used for growing vegetables, while the inland half of Serik is forested hills and the Taurus Mountains...
district in Antalya Province
Antalya Province
Antalya Province is located on the Mediterranean coast of south-west Turkey, between the Taurus Mountains and the Mediterranean sea.Antalya Province is the centre of Turkey's tourism industry, attracting 30% of foreign tourists visiting Turkey. The province of Antalya corresponds to the lands of...
(see Karapinar
Karapinar
Karapınar is a town and district of Konya Province in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey. According to 2000 census, population of the district is 55,734 of which 35,285 live in the town of Karapınar. Volcanic Karapınar Field is located nearby....
).
Yet another concerns various claims relating Vendée
Vendée
The Vendée is a department in the Pays-de-la-Loire region in west central France, on the Atlantic Ocean. The name Vendée is taken from the Vendée river which runs through the south-eastern part of the department.-History:...
ns, especially of Cholet
Cholet
Cholet is a commune of western France in the Maine-et-Loire department. It was the capital of military Vendée.-Geography:Cholet stands on an eminence on the right bank of the Moine, which used to be crossed by a bridge from the fifteenth century...
, who would have been accorded asylum by the sultan Abdülhamid I after the Revolt in the Vendée
Revolt in the Vendée
The War in the Vendée was a Royalist rebellion and counterrevolution in the Vendée region of France during the French Revolution. The Vendée is a coastal region, located immediately south of the Loire River in western France. The uprising was closely tied to the Chouannerie, which took place in...
and settled in various Turkish provinces. On a more ascertainable basis, there were several thousand Cossacks in Turkey
Cossacks in Turkey
Cossacks in Turkey refers to descendants of a group of Don Cossacks who had lived in the territory of the Republic of Turkey until they migrated in 1962.- History :...
for two centuries, near Manyas
Manyas
Manyas is a town and district of Balıkesir Province in the Marmara region of Turkey. The population is 6501 . The mayor is Hasan Kahraman .-Pictures from Manyas Birds' Heaven:...
and Akşehir
Aksehir
Akşehir is a town and district of Konya Province in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey. According to 2000 census, population of the district is 114,918 of which 63,000 live in the town of Akşehir...
, until 1962, when they were repatriated to Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
.
Trends of immigration towards Turkey continue to this day, although the motives are more varied and are usually in line with the patterns of global immigration
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
movements — Turkey, for example, receives many economic migrants from nearby countries such as Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
, the Republic of Moldova, Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
, Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
and Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, but also from Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, Central Asia, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
and so on.
Refugees and Asylum-seekers
According to figures provided by AnkaraAnkara
Ankara is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after Istanbul. The city has a mean elevation of , and as of 2010 the metropolitan area in the entire Ankara Province had a population of 4.4 million....
office of the UN High Comissionner for Refugees, as of 2005 total of 32,832 people are recorded as having made a valid asylum application in Turkey since 1998. As of 2005, 3900 Iranians and 2200 Iraqis, 400 Somalians and 300 Afghans are still in the country, while an additional 1400 Chechens, who are in a "refugee-like situation", are deemed of concern.
. These refugees are spread out to satellite cities with notable populations in Adana
Adana
Adana is a city in southern Turkey and a major agricultural and commercial center. The city is situated on the Seyhan River, 30 kilometres inland from the Mediterranean, in south-central Anatolia...
, Afyonkarahisar
Afyonkarahisar
Afyonkarahisar is a city in western Turkey, the capital of Afyon Province. Afyon is in mountainous countryside inland from the Aegean coast, south-west of Ankara along the Akarçay River. Elevation...
, Agri
Agri
Agri may refer to:* As shorthand or prefix referring to agriculture* Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development * Azerbaijan–Georgia–Romania Interconnector * Ağrı, a city in eastern Turkey* the Agri in southern Italy...
, Aksaray
Aksaray
Aksaray is a city in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey and the capital district of Aksaray Province. According to 2009 census, population of the province is 376 907 of which 171,423 live in the city of Aksaray. The district covers an area of , and the average elevation is , with the highest...
, Amasya
Amasya
- History :Its location in this steep valley makes the city a mountain stronghold, easy to defend, and thus Amasya has had a long and prominent history.-Antiquity:...
, Bilecik
Bilecik
-External links:* http://www.eksisozluk.com/show.asp?t=bilecik%20diye%20bir%20yerin%20asl%C4%B1nda%20olmamas%C4%B1%20 Bilecik Conspiracy* http://www.bilecikaktuel.com* * http://www.voyagerbook.com/eng/iller/11/11.asp*...
, Burdur
Burdur
Burdur , is a city southwestern Turkey and the seat of the Burdur Province of Turkey. It is located at , on the shore of Lake Burdur...
, Cankiri
Çankiri
-Agriculture:Various produce like wheat, corn, beans, apple etc. are grown in the farms, and fields that are rich of water.-Industry:Most of the industry is located near the city center and Korgun. Other towns that are in the industrial map of the city are Şabanözü, Çerkeş, Ilgaz, Kurşunlu, and...
, Corum
Corum
Corum Jhaelen Irsei is the name of a fictional fantasy hero in a series of two trilogies written by author Michael Moorcock.- Plot summary :...
, Eskisehir
Eskisehir
Eskişehir is a city in northwestern Turkey and the capital of the Eskişehir Province. According to the 2009 census, the population of the city is 631,905. The city is located on the banks of the Porsuk River, 792 m above sea level, where it overlooks the fertile Phrygian Valley. In the nearby...
, Gaziantep
Gaziantep
Gaziantep , Ottoman Turkish: Ayintab) previously and still informally called Antep; ʻayn tāb is a city in southeast Turkey and amongst the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world. The city is located 185 kilometres northeast of Adana and 127 kilometres by road north of Aleppo, Syria...
, Hakkâri
Hakkari
Hakkâri , is a city and the capital of the Hakkâri Province of Turkey. The name Hakkâri is derived from the Syriac word, Akkare, meaning farmers...
, Hatay
Hatay Province
Hatay Province is a province in southern Turkey, on the Mediterranean coast. It is bordered by Syria to the south and east and the Turkish provinces of Adana and Osmaniye to the north. The province is part of Çukurova, a geographical, economical and cultural region that covers the provinces of...
, Isparta
Isparta
Isparta is a city in western Turkey and the provincial capital of the Isparta Province. The city's population is 222,556 and elevation from sea level is 1035 m. Another name of the city is "City of Roses"....
, Kahramanmaras
Kahramanmaras
-Industry:Kahramanmaraş's industry is mainly based on textile and ice cream. Kahramanmaraş is one of the biggest textile industry cities of Turkey. Companies like Kipaş, İskur, Arsan and Bozkurt are one of the richest companies in the city...
, Karaman
Karaman
Karaman is a town in south central Turkey, located north of the Taurus Mountains, about south of Konya. It is the capital district of the Karaman Province. According to 2000 census, the population of the province is 231 872 of which 132,064 live in the town of Karaman. The district covers an area...
, Kastamonu
Kastamonu
Kastamonu is the capital district of the Kastamonu Province, Turkey. According to the 2000 census, population of the district is 102,059 of which 64,606 live in the urban center of Kastamonu. The district covers an area of , and the town lies at an elevation of...
, Kayseri
Kayseri
Kayseri is a large and industrialized city in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It is the seat of Kayseri Province. The city of Kayseri, as defined by the boundaries of Kayseri Metropolitan Municipality, is structurally composed of five metropolitan districts, the two core districts of Kocasinan and...
, Kirikkale
Kirikkale
Kırıkkale is the capital of the Kırıkkale Province in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey. It is located 80 km east of Ankara. According to the 2000 census, the population of the province is 280,834, of which 192,705 live in the city of Kırıkkale...
, Kirsehir
Kirsehir
Kırşehir, formerly Macissus and Justinianopolis, is a city in Turkey. It is the capital district of the Kırşehir Province. According to 2000 census, population of the district is 121,947 of which 105,826 live in the city of Kırşehir.-History:The history of Kırşehir dates back to the Hittites...
, Konya
Konya
Konya is a city in the Central Anatolia Region of Turkey. The metropolitan area in the entire Konya Province had a population of 1,036,027 as of 2010, making the city seventh most populous in Turkey.-Etymology:...
, Kutahya
Kütahya
Kütahya is a city in western Turkey with 212,444 inhabitants , lying on the Porsuk river, at 969 metres above sea level. It is the capital of Kütahya Province, inhabited by some 517 804 people...
, Mersin
Mersin
-Mersin today:Today, Mersin is a large city spreading out along the coast, with Turkey's second tallest skyscraper , huge hotels, an opera house, expensive real estate near the sea or up in the hills, and many other modern urban...
, Nevsehir
Nevsehir
Nevşehir, formerly Muşkara, , is a city and the capital district of Nevşehir Province in the Central Anatolia Region of Turkey. According to the 2010 census, population of the district is 117,890 of which 85,634 631 live in the city of Nevşehir...
, Nigde
Nigde
Niğde is a small city and the capital of Niğde Province in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey. The population is 109,724 per the 2010 statistics...
, Sivas, Sirnak
Sirnak
Şırnak is a town in southeastern Turkey. It is the capital of Şırnak Province, a new province that split from the Hakkari province...
, Tokat
Tokat
Tokat is the capital city of Tokat Province of Turkey, at the mid Black Sea region of Anatolia. According to the 2009 census, the city of Tokat has a population of 129,879.-History:Tokat was established in the Hittite era....
, Van, and Yozgat
Yozgat
Yozgat is a city and the capital district of Yozgat province in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey. According to 2009 census, population of the district is 113,614 of which 73,835 live in the city of Yozgat.-History:...
as well as Istanbul for Iraqis. Country specific groupings include Somalis in Konya, Iranis in Kayseri and Konya, Isparta, and Van, Iraqis in Istanbul, Corum, Amasaya, Sivas and Afghans in Van, and Agri.
These numbers greatly increased in the following years especially in regards to Afghans and Iraqis. As of January 2010, 25, 580 refugees and asylum seekers remain in the country. Of these, 5090 Iranians, 8940 Iraqis, 3850 Afghans and 2700 "other" (including Somalians, Sri Lankans, Pakistanis, Chinese, Uzbeks, Palestinians and others) are still in the country. with the number expected to rise to 8710 Iranians, 9560 Afghans, 7860 other while the Iraqis are expected to decrease to 7890 by December 2011. Notable here is that Afghans are expected to make up the largest refugee population in Turkey in the near future.
UNHCR has four offices in Turkey; namely Ankara
Ankara
Ankara is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after Istanbul. The city has a mean elevation of , and as of 2010 the metropolitan area in the entire Ankara Province had a population of 4.4 million....
, İstanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
, Van and Silopi
Silopi
Silopi is a district of Şırnak Province in Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia Region, close to the border with Iraq. The district, composed of Silopi center, 3 depending townships with own municipalities and 23 villages has an urban population of 73,400 .The Habur frontier gate, the only major...
. The Van office up until 2009 handled all Applicants which enter through the Eastern border, which generally included all Iranians and Afghans who entered illegally.
Immigration during the Republican period
More than half a million ethnic Turks arrived from Greece as part of the population exchange between Greece and Turkey. After 1925, Turkey continued to accept Turkic speaking Muslims as immigrants and did not discourage the emigration of members of non-Turkic minorities. More than 90 percent of all immigrants arrived from the Balkan countries. Between 1935 and 1940, for example, approximately 124,000 Bulgarians and Romanians of Turkish origin immigrated to Turkey, and between 1954 and 1956 about 35,000 Muslim Slavs immigrated from Yugoslavia. In the fifty-five-year period ending in 1980, Turkey admitted approximately 1.3 million immigrants; 36 percent came from Bulgaria, 30 percent from Greece, 22.1 percent from Yugoslavia, and 8.9 percent from Romania. These Balkan immigrants, as well as smaller numbers of Turkic immigrants from Cyprus and the Soviet Union, were granted full citizenship upon their arrival in Turkey. The immigrants were settled primarily in the Marmara and Aegean regions (78 percent) and in central Anatolia (11.7 percent).The most recent immigration influx was that of Bulgarian Turks and Bosnian Muslims. In 1989 an estimated 320,000 Bulgarian Turks fled to Turkey to escape a campaign of forced assimilation
Forced assimilation
Forced assimilation is a process of forced cultural assimilation of religious or ethnic minority groups, into an established and generally larger community...
. Following the collapse of Bulgaria's communist government that same year, the number of Bulgarian Turks seeking refuge in Turkey declined to under 1,000 per month. In fact, the number of Bulgarian Turks who voluntarily repatriated—125,000—exceeded new arrivals. By March 1994, a total of 245,000 Bulgarian Turks had been granted Turkish citizenship. However, Turkey no longer regards Bulgarian Turks as refugees. Beginning in 1994, new entrants to Turkey have been detained and deported. As of December 31, 1994, an estimated 20,000 Bosnians were living in Turkey, mostly in the Istanbul area. About 2,600 were living in camps; the rest were dispersed in private residences.
In 1994 the government claimed that as many as 2 million Iranians were living in Turkey, a figure that most international organizations consider to be grossly exaggerated. Turkey is one of the few countries that Iranians may enter without first obtaining a visa; authorities believe that the relative ease of travel from Iran to Turkey encourages many Iranians to visit Turkey as tourists, or to use Turkey as a way station to obtain visas for the countries of Europe and North America. Consequently, as many as 2 million Iranians actually may transit Turkey—including multiple reentries for many individuals—in a given year. Specialized agencies of the European Union and the United Nations that deal with issues of migrants and refugees believe a more realistic figure of the number of Iranians who live in Turkey, and do not have a residence in Iran or elsewhere, is closer to 50,000.
In the 1960s, working-age Turks, primarily men, began migrating to Western Europe to find employment as guest workers. Many of these Turkish workers eventually brought their families to Europe. An estimated 2 million Turkish workers and their dependents resided in Western Europe in the early 1980s, before the onset of an economic recession that led to severe job losses. problem in Turkey, with the global parties directly involved often extending a lesser helping hand than Turkey itself to resolve the precarious situation of immigrants stranded in passage.
See also
- Republic of Turkey
- Turkish diasporaTurkish diasporaThe Turkish diaspora refers to "Turks" who have emigrated from their homeland. Thus, the term may refer to citizens of Turkey living abroad or ethnic Turks from traditional areas of Turkish settlement who are living abroad.Due to the...
- List of countries by immigrant population