Abstract
Exile in Collective Memory: The Case of the Ahıska Turks
Exile is the state of being barred from a person’s or people’s home (native city or country), typically for political or punitive reasons. An example that can be given to exile is from the Soviet Union during the World War II. As one of today’s stateless peoples, the Ahıska Turks were sent to exile to Central Asia by the Soviet leader Stalin.
This article examines the exile of Ahıska Turks in November 1944. The exile includes the journey to Central Asia and the life they had there, particularly in Uzbekistan. The examination is based on a qualitative research titled “Göç ve Sonrası: Ahıska Türkleri ile Bulgaristan Türkleri’nin Türkiye’ye Göçü ve Uyum Süreçlerinin Karşılaştırılması” that was carried out in four cities of Turkey - İstanbul, Bursa, Kocaeli and Tekirdağ - but the data for the present paper is gathered from the in-depth interviews conducted in İstanbul, Bursa and Kocaeli. The article is composed of two parts. The first part is a conceptualisation of exile while in the second part the focus is on Ahıska Turks’ experience of exile in Uzbekistan.
Keywords
Ahıska Turks, exile, Soviet Union, Uzbekistan
