International Migration System between Turkey and Russia: The Case of Project-Tied Migrant Workers in Moscow*

Abstract

With over 4.5 million persons born in Turkey living abroad – for the most part in Europe – Turkey is currently one of the most significant emigration countries in the world. If native-born children of immigrants are included, over 6 million, or more than 8 percent of the country’s population lives abroad. These large numbers are a product of various migratory flows from Turkey which began in the early 1960s with the arrival of Turkish migrants in various Western European countries, and continued with the arrival of Turks in Australia, and the oil-rich countries of North Africa and the Middle East (MENA), and then in the former communist countries such as the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The emigration history of the last fifty years in Turkey indicates that the migratory flows of Turkish citizens have become a part of various migratory systems. The main aim of this essay is two-fold. First, it attempts to document the dynamics and mechanism of project-tied migration from Turkey to the Russian Federation, particularly focusing on the case of project-tied migrant workers from Turkey to Moscow. Second, it looks at the migratory system between Turkey and the former communist countries of Eastern Europe, Central and Northern Asian countries, with special reference to macro, micro, and meso factors affecting the migration system concerned.