Vera Skvirskaja (Social Anthropology, University of Cambridge)
The many faces of Turkish Odessa
Since the early 1990s, the port-city of Odessa has become one of they key Ukrainian destinations for foreign traders, businessmen and labour migrants attracted by new commercial opportunities in a largely unregulated and corrupt economic environment. Trade with Turkey has contributed to rapid growth of the largest wholesale and retail market in Ukraine, located just outside Odessa, while Turkish transnational companies and small businesses have established a foothold in the city itself.
This paper discusses the heterogenous Turkish community that has emerged as a result of both individual migration and the organised importation of Turkish workers and specialists. Focusing on the multiple alliances established between Turkish migrants and the local population, I highlight mistrust and hidden hostilities in these interactions, as well as exploring spheres of cosmopolitan engagement represented by alliances with Ukarine’s Turkic-speaking minorities and Slav women. I show that the cosmopolitan dynamics of this coexistence elicit anti-cosmopolitan sensibilities in a city that prides itself on its traditional diversity.
This paper discusses the heterogenous Turkish community that has emerged as a result of both individual migration and the organised importation of Turkish workers and specialists. Focusing on the multiple alliances established between Turkish migrants and the local population, I highlight mistrust and hidden hostilities in these interactions, as well as exploring spheres of cosmopolitan engagement represented by alliances with Ukarine’s Turkic-speaking minorities and Slav women. I show that the cosmopolitan dynamics of this coexistence elicit anti-cosmopolitan sensibilities in a city that prides itself on its traditional diversity.
