مرکز منطقه ای اطلاع رساني علوم و فناوري - “Gilded Migration” to Turkey: European Citizens in Istanbul

Abstract :

How to tackle a case of immigration, where the migrant is not an unqualified, young and single man migrating from a poor country to a rich one? The present research on “Gilded Migration” in Turkey: European Citizens in Istanbul aims at studying this theme, which has been neglected in current scholarly literature on sociology of immigration. Within the framework of our research, we studied the process of immigration of Europeans who preferred to settle in Istanbul (a global city) for a reason related to work issues or to a search for adventure, and we also analyzed their perceptions of their own homelands in their present expatriate condition. Istanbul, which has become a global port city since late 19th century, went through a process of relative closing as a result of Kemalist elites’ policy of homogenization in the framework of the creation of a Turkish nation-State. However, from 1980s on, as a consequence of Turgut Özal’s policies, Istanbul became once again an eventual home for foreign capital and foreigners. Within a theoretical framework based on the concepts of “global city” and “transnational social spaces”, the present thesis aims at analyzing the process of integration of “elite” Europeans living in Istanbul to the society they live in.