). Immigrant entrepreneurship in Turkey: history, development and current market

Abstract

Purpose – The aim of this study is to understand the entrepreneurial activities of immigrants in Turkey through a review of available literature and data. This article arises from the deficient immigrant entrepreneurship literature and aims to examine the history and the recent developments of immigrants and immigrant businesses in Turkey. This will provide the reader with a general overview and in-depth information about immigrant businesses in Turkey. A detailed industrial view can help to Methodology – Through an investigation of literature and secondary data, this study provides a survey on immigrant businesses. Literature review is a critical method to understand the history of migration movement and migrant entrepreneurship development in Turkey while secondary data is reasonable source to maintain qualified information about the current situation of migrant entrepreneurship. Findings – The number of foreigners residing in the Turkey has increased immensely since 2010. There is a seven-fold rise in the number of immigrants in Turkey from 2005 to 2022. This shows the rapid changes that Turkey is going under especially since the beginning of the Syrian Refugee Crisis in 2011. Turkey has quickly become a hub for foreign nationals which is influencing different facets of the country including the demographics, society, and economy. The number of firms established with foreign partners has followed a similar pattern, with a nearly five-fold increase from 2011 to 2021. Turkey is seeing an increasing interest within the immigrant communities from Asia, Africa, and MENA countries. Conclusion – Immigrants face many difficulties in establishing and sustaining a business. These difficulties can be mitigated through government policies and support programs that focus on assisting both immigrant and local community in their business endeavors. Government can support immigrant entrepreneurs by providing language learning opportunities that focus on business Turkish and culture. This will not only help immigrants to learn the language but also assist them in adaptation of the local culture which may speed up their integration process. Keywords: Entrepreneurship, international migration, regional migration, immigrants, migrant entrepreneurship JEL Codes: L26, F22, R23