Kazakh Diaspora in Turkey

Posted on November 8, 2011 by ok4u2bu

Over 20 thousand Kazakhs live in Turkey today. The Kazakh diaspora in Turkey originates from the migration wave of 1930, when 18 thousand Kazakhs moved to India and Pakistan, and later in 1952 they moved to Turkey. The migration was caused by different reasons: political, economic and religious.

 

The majority of Kazakh immigrants live in Istanbul.

Back then they had to choose between the USA and Turkey, and they chose the latter due to the similarity of culture and traditions of Turkey and Kazakhstan.

Turkish government helps the immigrants assimilate by providing them with land, housing and cattle, granting citizenship, and releasing them from military service for a 5-yeear-period.

This professor of history, born in Turkey, belongs to an intellectual elite of the diaspora. He represents the third generation of his family which lives in this country.

At first he studied programming but his wrestle with question of where Kazakhs came from and where they go to, made him turn to history.

His wife is from India. They have three daughters and a son, who have to attend Kazakh language classes to be able to speak it. Unfortunately, by this time most Kzakhs living in Turkey have forgotten it.

Lunch time.

Kazakh friends. This woman is 77.

This mosque was built by Kazakhs in 1975.

Names of the leaders of the migration are inscribed on this stele.

On the way to the elder’s house.

This man was born in 1921. He says that when they were young, they were brave and it helped them survive at those difficult times.

He also wrote a book where he described the migration of Kazakhs to Turkey.

This villa belongs to a Kazakh, whose grandfather migrated to Turkey in 1953.

In one of the letters written by the grandfather, the man read about precious stones left in Kazakhstan, which he later found.

His first business was plastic materials production, then he began producing paper building materials and so on and so forth.

His villa reminds him of the lifestyle they have in Kazakhstan.

He was presented with a normand’s tent and decorated it with hand-made souvenirs from Mongolia and China.

In this tent they celebrate holidays, such as wedding days of his children or birthdays…

Elders.

This musician travels around Turkey and European countries and plays traditional Kazakh music together with his band.

When Kazakhs moved to such cities as Ankara and Izmir, they developed a new industry there – dressing skin and tailoring leather goods.

Some Kazakhs have their own tailoring shops…

… like this family.

This woman sews and embroiders bedclothes for newly weds.

This man is a lawyer and his wife is a dentist. They visit Kazakhstan as often as they can.

This woman has been making national ornaments for 17 years.

And 90-year-old man sends his best regards to Kazakhstan and people who live there now.

Location: Turkey