Why did They Leave? Perceptions on the Turkish Emigration from Dobrogea to Turkey (1918-1940)

Authors : Metin Omer

Pages : 42-54

Doi:10.14782/ipsus.539390

View : 21 | Download : 8

Publication Date : 2019-03-27

Article Type : Research

Abstract :In this paper I try to present the perceptions of a process that marked not only the evolution of the relations between two countries (Romania and Turkey) but also determined some important social changes in the Turkish-Tatar community from Dobrogea, Romanian province known as Dobrudja in the Turkish historiography. In order to obtain an accurate image we used in our research documents from Romanian and Turkish archives, Romanian press, Turkish press and the press of Turkish-Tatar community from Dobrogea. In our analysis we consider Dobrogea, the main region of Romania where Turks and Tatars leave, a "contact zone”, a term used by Mary Louise Pratt (1992: 4) for "social spaces where disparate cultures meet, clash, and grapple with each other”. We also consider the emigration from Dobrogea to Turkey in the interwar as part of "balkanlaşma göçleri” (Balkanization migration), a term used by Turkish researcher İlhan Tekeli to designate the emigration from the ex-Ottoman territoires in the Balkans to Anatolia (or more specifically within the new borders of Ottoman Empire/Turkish Republic). Tekeli (2013: 44-45) argues that "Balkanization migration” has a direct connection with the process of formation of the national states in the Balkans.
Keywords : Romania, Turkey, Dobrogea, Turkish community in Romania