The Self-Identity Construction of Bulgarian Turkish Immigrant Women

Year 2019, Volume: 36 Issue: 1, 150 - 162, 17.06.2019

Gizem Kılıçlı

https://doi.org/10.32600/huefd.432523

Abstract

This research is based on the fieldwork that was conducted with nineteen Bulgarian Turkish immigrant women in the
Kardzhali district of Bulgaria. These women were born in Bulgaria, exposed to similar oppressions by the communist
regime between 1984 and 1989, migrated to Turkey, experienced the life in Turkey for a while, and, then,
returned/forced to return to Bulgaria. The aim of the research is to analyze the effects of Bulgarian Turkish immigrant
women’s experiences on the two sides of the border on their self-identity construction. Firstly, I will focus on their
working experiences with respect to compulsory labor under the communist regime, as well as on whether or not they
were exposed to “double burden” as workers, wives, and mothers. Secondly, the differences in their migration
experiences in Turkey depending on their being perceived by the Turkish state as soydaş, legal immigrant, or illegal
immigrant will be elaborated. Lastly, Bulgarian Turkish immigrant women’s return experiences to Bulgaria, which
were shaped by the nature of their return, i.e. voluntarily or not, will be explicated. Their voluntary or involuntary
return experiences will highlight how they perceive themselves in Bulgaria. The results of the fieldwork show that when the individuals’ perception of homeland is taken into consideration, it is impossible to give an exact and
unchanging definition of homeland. This impossibility is closely related to whether those women who returned to
Bulgaria after migrating to Turkey returned to Bulgaria voluntarily or not. While those who returned to Bulgaria
voluntarily see Bulgaria as their homeland, Turkey is the homeland for those who returned to Bulgaria involuntarily.
To conclude, there is no permanent conception of the Bulgarian Turkish immigrant nor the permanent identity of
Bulgarian Turkish immigrant women. There are many different identities that were assigned to them depending on the
political conditions of where they were born, as well as on the changing attitude of the Turkish-state towards its
immigrants, their voluntary or involuntary return to Bulgaria, and how they perceived themselves in the country where
they are currently living. This research reveals the impossibility of making generalizations about Bulgarian Turkish
immigrant women. Accordingly, this research also shows the importance of ethnography of particular for the discipline
of anthropology.

Keywords

Bulgarian Turks, self-identity construction, double burden, illegal migration, involuntary migration, homeland perception

Bulgaristan Türkü Göçmen Kadınlarının Öz-Kimlik İnşası

Abstract

Bu çalışma, Bulgaristan’da doğmuş, 1984 ile 1989 yılları arasında komünist rejim tarafından uygulanan benzer
baskılara maruz kalmış, Türkiye’ye göç etmiş, bir süre Türkiye’deki yaşamı deneyimlemiş ve daha sonra Bulgaristan’a
geri göç etmiş/etmek zorunda kalmış on dokuz Bulgaristan Türkü göçmen kadın ile Bulgaristan’ın Kırcaali şehrinde
yapılan saha çalışmasına dayanmaktadır. Çalışmanın amacı, Bulgaristan Türkü göçmen kadınlarının sınırın iki
yakasındaki deneyimlerinin öz-kimlik oluşumları üzerindeki etkisini araştırmaktır. Sınırın iki yakasındaki deneyimler
adı altında, ilk olarak, Bulgaristan Türkü göçmen kadınlarının, komünist rejimin zorunlu çalışma politikası ile
şekillenen iş deneyimlerine ve çalışan, eş veya anne olarak çifte yüke maruz kalıp kalmadıklarına da odaklanılacaktır.
İkinci olarak, Türkiye Devleti tarafından söz konusu göçmenlerin soydaş, yasal göçmen veya yasadışı göçmen olarak
görülmeleri üzerinden şekillenen farklı göç deneyimleri üzerinde durulacaktır. Son olarak ise, Bulgaristan Türkü
göçmen kadınlarının Bulgaristan’a geri dönüş deneyimleri istemli göç/istemsiz göç ayrımı üzerinden
detaylandırılacaktır. Bulgaristan Türkü göçmen kadınlarının istemli ya da istemsiz geri dönüş deneyimleri, onların
Bulgaristan’da kendi kimliklerini nasıl algıladıklarını ortaya çıkaracaktır. Saha çalışmasının sonuçları göstermiştir ki,
bireylerin anavatan algıları göz önünde bulundurulduğunda, anavatanın kesin ve değişmez bir tanımı olması
imkânsızdır. Bu imkânsızlık, Türkiye’ye göç ettikten sonra Bulgaristan’a geri dönüş yapan kadınların, bu dönüşü
istemleri doğrultusunda yapıp yapmadıkları ile yakından ilişkilidir. Bulgaristan’a istemli olarak dönenler Bulgaristan’ı
anavatanları olarak görürken, istemleri dışında geri dönüş yapanlar için ise anavatan Türkiye’dir. Sonuç olarak, sabit
bir Bulgaristan Türkü göçmenliği ve kadınlığı olmadığı gibi, söz konusu kadınların sabit bir kimlikleri de yoktur.
Bulgaristan Türkü göçmen kadınlarının, doğdukları ülkenin politik yapısına, Türkiye Devleti’nin göçmenlere karşı
değişen tutumuna, bahsi geçen kadınların Bulgaristan’a istemli/istemsiz geri dönüş yapmış olmalarına ve son olarak
da şu an yaşadıkları ülkede, yani Bulgaristan’da, kendilerini nasıl algıladıklarına bağlı olarak değişiklik gösteren birçok
farklı kimlikleri vardır. Bu çalışma, Bulgaristan Türkü göçmen kadınları hakkında herhangi bir genelleme yapmanın
imkânsızlığını gözler önüne sererek antropoloji disiplininde tikel etnografyanın önemini göstermiş olacaktır.

Keywords

çifte yük, yasadışı göç, istemsiz göç, anavatan algısı, Bulgaristan Türkleri, öz-kimlik inşası, anavatan algısı

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