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Conceptions of Homeland and Identity Among Meskhetian

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CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by Texas A&M University CONCEPTIONS OF HOMELAND AND IDENTITY AMONG MESKHETIAN TURK REFUGEES IN THE U.S. AND TURKEY A Dissertation by HULYA DOGAN Submitted to the Office of Graduate and Professional Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Chair of Committee, Cynthia Werner Committee Members, Norbert Dannhaeuser Thomas Green Lynne Walters Head of Department, Cynthia Werner August 2016 Major Subject: Anthropology Copyright 2016 Hulya Dogan ABSTRACT This dissertation focuses on the Meskhetian Turks, a small non-titular group who has experienced multiple displacements, violent persecution, and ongoing exile since 1944. Initially, the Meskhetian Turks were one of several groups who were deported from their homeland, Georgia, to Central Asia under Stalin’s rule along with the other groups such as the Chechens, Crimean Tatars, and Ingushes who were designated as traitors of the Soviet Union in 1944.After being victims of mass deportation from Georgia, the Meskhetian Turks experienced pogroms in Uzbekistan, and human rights abuses in Russia. Starting from 2004, the U.S. accepted approximately 14,000 Meskhetian Turks as refugees. By incorporating qualitative data collected through fieldwork in Turkey and the United States, this dissertation investigates where the home is for the group as asking whether Georgia still holds the meaning as homeland or the location of the “homeland” is shifting, as the population resettles in a surrogate homeland, Turkey. The processes of de-territorialization and reterritorialization are operationalized by examining “sentimental attachment to homeland” (to Turkey or to Georgia at various scales of place) and “satisfaction with place” (current places of residence in both Turkey and the United States). As referencing the literature on transnationalism, de-territorialization vs. reterritorialization, primordialism and integration, this dissertation sought to answer the questions of if the multiplicity of attachments to places through living in, remembering, and imagining them can be observed for Meskhetian Turks and as a diasporic ethnic ii group which does not have a nation-state, how Meskhetian Turks preserve their cultural values and ethnic identity in Turkey and United States. This study contributes to the theoretical understanding of ethnic identity formation among displaced populations, with special focus on the concept of homeland and transnationalism. iii DEDICATION To my family and Annem ve Babam icin iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Upon the completion of this study, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to those people whose encouragement and support made the completion of this dissertation possible. I would like first to express my sincerest gratitude to Dr. Cynthia Werner, chair of my committee, who frequently and generously shared her knowledge and her time with me through every step of this study and the entire time I have been in the program. Her enthusiasm and kindness in educating and guiding me will never be forgotten. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my dissertation committee members; Dr. Norbert Dannhaeuser, Dr. Tom Green, and Dr. Lynne Walters for their support and critical input. Furthermore, I would like to express my gratitude to Dr. Tim Walters who supported me with his help during the proof reading and copy editing process. A special thanks is to my husband, Dr. Can Dogan, whose constant encouragement, love, and patience, helped me make it through the difficult times during this study. I know that I cannot thank him enough. Especially his endless support during the course of this dissertation made me appreciate more than ever how lucky I am to have him in my life. I would like to extend my gratitude to all Meskhetian Turks in Houston and Istanbul who agreed to participate to my study and spent time with me throughout. v Last but not the least; I am grateful to my parents, Fatma and Abdurrahman Ozcan, without whom none of this would have been possible. I will always remember the sacrifices they made for my education. Their belief in me has always given me the strength and the courage to succeed. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................................ii DEDICATION .................................................................................................................. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... v TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................vii LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................ x LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ xi CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................... 1 Inspiration: One Hot Afternoon in Houston ................................................................... 1 Origins and Terms .......................................................................................................... 6 Population....................................................................................................................... 9 Research Questions ...................................................................................................... 10 Organization of Dissertation / Chapter Summaries...................................................... 12 CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW ....................................................................... 15 Refugees ....................................................................................................................... 17 Transnationalism .......................................................................................................... 21 Diasporas ...................................................................................................................... 25 Homeland and Identity ................................................................................................. 29 Evolution of People-Place Attachment in Social Studies ............................................ 31 Homeland as an Idealized Mythical Piece of Land ...................................................... 35 De-territorialization and the Changing Face of Homeland .......................................... 37 Repatriation to Georgia or Turkey-Where is Homeland? ............................................ 39 Gender and Identity ...................................................................................................... 43 Summary and the Theoretical Framework ................................................................... 47 CHAPTER III THE HISTORY OF MESKHETIAN TURKS ...................................... 50 Mass Deportation from Uzbekistan in 1989 ................................................................ 62 Meskhetian Turks in Krasnodar Krai ........................................................................... 67 Brief Description of Life in Krasnodar .................................................................... 67 Studies on Meskhetian Turks ....................................................................................... 70 vii CHAPTER IV METHODOLOGY ................................................................................ 72 Research Population ..................................................................................................... 75 Data Collection ............................................................................................................. 76 Multi-Sited Ethnography .......................................................................................... 76 Sample Population .................................................................................................... 77 Unstructured Interviews ........................................................................................... 78 Life History and Family History Interviews ............................................................ 79 Internet Resources .................................................................................................... 79 Participant Observation ............................................................................................ 80 Challenges and Limitations of Project ......................................................................... 83 CHAPTER V TURKEY AS A HOMELAND ............................................................... 85 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 85 Meskhetian Turks in Turkey ........................................................................................ 86 Demography and Mapping ........................................................................................... 91 Home/Homeland – Negotiation of Belonging ............................................................. 93 Self-Identification and Homeland Image ................................................................... 100 Gender Strategies, Identities and the Notion of Homeland ........................................ 107 Sense of Belonging for Women in Turkey................................................................
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