The effects of Russia-Turkey crisis on mixed families in İstanbul: Hearing the voices of women

From the “Republic of Cousins” to foreign spouses: Transnational marriages in Türkiye

“…More than 25,000 marriages occurred only in 2021 with mixed marriages accounting for 5% of all marriages. Most of the marriage migrants are women (80%+), which indicates a gendered migration pattern in which women often change places (Deniz, 2018).…”

“…In return for their efforts, these women expect to be supported to fulfill their wishes such as visiting relatives or their country and maintaining their own cultural habits. With this position of "inbetweeness", marriage migrants are sometimes seen as foreigners and sometimes as "one of us" (Deniz, 2018(Deniz, , 2020b. In a sense, they shape the positions they have in the society, which is determined based on their identities, in line with their own benefits over time.…”

“…This is what economic empowerment is all about, not just for those considering divorce, but for all marriage migrants. Despite the limitations imposed by the state, marriage migrant women sometimes do digital jobs such as translation, online education, and foreign trade consultancy, and sometimes they work in jobs such as nail design, special day makeup and photography, and they tend to use bank accounts opened in their own countries to avoid questions about the source of their money (Deniz, 2018). This shows how migrants respond to the state's top‐down practices with bottom‐up creative ways.…”

“…More than 25,000 marriages occurred only in 2021 with mixed marriages accounting for 5% of all marriages. Most of the marriage migrants are women (80%+), which indicates a gendered migration pattern in which women often change places (Deniz, 2018). Most foreign brides come from countries such as Syria, Azerbaijan, Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Morocco and Germany, where Türkiye has a flexible visa policy and mutual migration ties (TurkStat, 2022b).…”

“…Some women, who cannot prevent their children from getting this education, have religious education classes opened for children in churches in their cities (seen in Istanbul and Antalya). In addition, it has been observed that women whose children were circumcised against their will secretly baptized their children in the Church when they went on holiday to their country of origin(Deniz, 2018).4 It is seen that within this structure, the number of foreign schools, ethnic theaters, and arts and sports courses where marriage migrants could send their children increased rapidly, and mixed-blood children grow up with various advantages with dual degree programs(Deniz, 2018).…”