Turkish-American Immigration

     According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Turkish immigration to the United States has risen from 84,000 in 1990 to 117,575 in 2000 (U.S.).  I chose to research Turkish-American immigration because I have a group of friends that are Turkish immigrants and there is very little to no information or literature representing their experience immigrating to America.  Through the use of informal interviews, I hope to learn more about why they decided to immigrate to the United States and their experience here thus far, since their nationality was not covered in this course.

     My starting point in researching Turkish immigration was to search for literature relating to the topic; however, there is little or none to be found.  This was quite surprising, and after exhausting my own resources, I even sought help from the UHCL Library and the Turkish consulate in the U.S. at (713) 622-5849.  I did find that one of the most prominent Turkish writers is Orhan Pamuk, a writer of controversial novels in Turkey.  He still lives in Turkey, however, so is useless in the research of the immigration experience. 

     Some Turkish writers that have immigrated to the United States include Alev Lytle Croutier (1944 - ), Paulett Tumay (1945 - ), Leon (Zaven) Surmelian (1907 - ), and Muzafer Sherif (1906 – 1988) (Contemporary).  Unfortunately, I was unable to find any writings by these authors about the immigration experience.  They seem to focus on novels unrelated to immigration or non-fiction.  I plan to both continue my search for works describing the integration into American society and read a recommended novel written by Orhan Pamuk.

     In my research, I interviewed five different Turkish immigrants, two married couples and one individual.  Probably the most interesting immigration story came from Neva Ciftcioglu.  She came to the United States in 1999 after obtaining her Doctorate’s degree in Turkey.  She works at the NASA site doing biological research and has actually been what would be considered “too successful.”  In Turkey, she discovered a new vaccine that would prevent a childhood bone disease.  Unable to obtain a patent there, she sent out her information and it was stolen and claimed by another company.  She decided to move to the U.S. because there is more funding for medicinal research. Her research here has also been successful; however, her discoveries (which she did not want to disclose) have been fought and tied up by pharmaceutical companies and surgeons.  She has now been asked to work on anti-wrinkle creams for cosmetic companies.  She certainly has job security and a good income, but she is terribly disappointed that major breakthroughs such as hers are denied because it would mean economic loss.

     A somewhat more complicated immigration story came from Cenap and Selma Atatural.  Cenap was sent here to live with his older sister immediately after graduating high school in Turkey because of the dangers of a political uproar happening at the time.  Although he now lived in the United States, he wanted to marry a Turkish woman, so a cousin that knew Selma sent her his picture and sent him hers.  They talked on the phone, she came to the U.S. with a Visitor’s Visa, and they were married here.  Shortly after, she went back to Turkey to visit her mother, but when she tried to return to her husband, she was denied access to the U.S. because they had not obtained a permanent Visa for her after they were married and before she left.  She was forced to remain in Turkey, and their daughter Didem was two years old before Cenap saw her for the first time.

     I have learned the most from Nihal and Osman Baber, who are my neighbors and close friends.  Osman was sent here to live with his aunt on a Student Visa when he was seven years old.  He was forced to return to Turkey at the age of twenty-one when he was no longer a student.  Upon arrival in Turkey, he had to serve his mandatory eighteen month military time, which is required of all males there.  He met Nihal, they were married, and he wanted to return to the U.S. due to the poor Turkish economy at the time.  Because of the close-knit structure of the families in Turkey, she did not want to come, but she did tell him that he could enter them in the Green Card Lottery and if they won, she would come with him.  Her number was picked.  Everyone there told her how lucky she was, but she was very hesitant about leaving her home country – she still misses it.  They now have dual citizenship along with their son, Can.  However, their sons Cem and Cenk are U.S. citizens.

     Nihal says that life is harder for them here because in Turkey she was a loan officer.  She is unable to work in the banking industry here because of the differences in the systems, and they are limited to one income.  She likes the school systems in the U.S. better than those in Turkey.  Students in Turkey are allowed to choose English, German, or French and they study that language from sixth to twelfth grade.  She feels that the schools in Turkey are too strict, and those here are not strict enough.  However, everyone is able to attend regardless of economic status.  Even in Elementary school in Turkey, students are required to purchase their books if they are to attend school.  Also, college is very complicated because they only allow so many master’s and doctorate degrees per year due to the fact that there are not enough jobs.  Nihal also tells me that the people in the U.S. are much friendlier and eager to help than in Europe.  An immigrant in Europe is not able to obtain a driver’s license, apartment, etc. unless they are able to speak the native language very well.  

    Just from these three interviews, I have learned that Turkish people immigrate to the United States for many different reasons, and have different levels of success and contentment here.  Based on the knowledge that I have gained so far, I have learned that I would like to learn much more about immigration to the United States, and the Turkish culture in general.  I plan to take a trip to Turkey with Nihal in the summer.

Sources

Gale Literary Databases. Contemporary Authors Online. The Gale Group, 2001-3.

U.S. Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov/

Other Sources

Atatural, Cenap and Selma. Personal interview. April 2006.

Baber, Nihal and Osman. Personal interview. April 2006.

Ciftcioglu, Neva. Personal interview. April 2006.

[TC]