Abstract:

In the last 25 years, thousands of Russians, mostly women, have migrated from Russia to Turkey. These purposes are mainly employment and marriage. Russians, today, cluster in metropolitan cities such as İstanbul, Ankara and İzmir, as well as in touristic cities such as Antalya and Muğla. Due to the restrictions on foreign employment in Turkey, even if majority of Russians hold at least a bachelor’s degree, they are obliged to work in low-qualification jobs and often without social security. As for those Russians who have married a Turk, they resign totally from working life, in order not to face any problem during the years they await gaining citizenship. This study aims at revealing the highly skilled Russian migrants’ experiences in a developing country as Turkey, based on interviews made with the migrants and representatives of transnational Russian migrant institutions in İstanbul.

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