Antalya'daki Rus Gelinler: Göçten Evliliğe, Evlilikten Göçe

Abstract

Marriage is a major cause of migration from Russia to Turkey, and particularly to the tourism city of Antalya. These marriage migrations increase the number and visibility of Russian migrants, which leads to significant changes in social life. The main motivation for this study is to understand the mechanism of marriage migration between Russian women and Turkish men. It examines the migration and settlement processes of Russian women who have settled in the tourism city of Antalya through international marriage migration, as well as the changes they have brought to the city. The study has been conducted through surveys and in-depth interviews with 25 participants reached via the snowball method. The data suggests that Russian women generally meet their husbands when they visit Antalya on holiday or when they come for short-term work. The main factor that motivates these Russian women to marriage migration is the desire for a better life. The marriage migration of these highly educated Russian women, with professional skills and a natural flair for learning Turkish, leads to a new mixed generation and a new pattern/model of family structure different to the prevalent one in Turkey, thus reshaping the image of women among the local public.