TURKISH IMMIGRATION TO CANADA began as early as 1880, but the first substantial group arrived between the years 1956 and 1975. Initially, Turkish migration was the result of uncertainty about political and economic conditions in Turkey and the unease about the world economy in general. The new migration included a large number of professionals. Turkish engineers and doctors, immigrant arrivals of the late l950s and early 1960s, remain an important and influential segment of the Turkish-Canadian community. After 1960, skilled workers arrived in large numbers. From 1980 on, however, unskilled villagers immigrated because of dire economic need and because Canada had liberal immigration policies and a reputation as one of the world’s major immigrant and refugee-receiving nations. More recently, Turks have been both political and economic refugees fleeing unrest and oppression in neighbouring states, in particular, from terrorist activities carried out by some Kurdish groups that have claimed up to 30,000 lives in eastern Turkey since the early 1980s, and from ethnic cleansing policies carried out by Greek-Cypriots, until 1974, against Turkish Cypriots, all of which has contributed to global Turkish immigration.

It is difficult to assess the size of the Turkish-Canadian community today because the available data rely on self-identification by Turks who came to Canada from a variety of regions including neighbouring countries once part of the Ottoman Empire that still have a Turkish-speaking minority. The 1996 Canadian census data indi-cate that there are 18,130 Turks (single and multiple responses) in Canada. There are 9,770 Turks in Ontario, and 4,805 in Quebec. Most have settled in Montreal and Toronto with lesser concentrations in Calgary, Edmonton, London, Ottawa, and Vancouver. Small clusters of Turks from Cyprus and Bulgaria can also be found in Ontario in Hamilton, Kitchener, and Mississauga.

There are Turkish Canadians in all sectors of the Canadian economy. Engineers, doctors, computer scientists, teachers, and administrators – both male and female – make up the group’s professional ranks. Skilled and semi-skilled industrial workers and taxi drivers constitute the largest segment of the group’s employed workers. Also, in an effort to provide for the needs of their families, a number of Turkish women and homemakers have entered the job market as cleaners, factory workers, and seamstresses.

Most Turks have retained a high degree of emotional and intellectual attachment to their homeland and are proud of its recent educational and economic achievements. For Turkish immigrants, even the highly educated, most of whom have adapted successfully to Canadian life, dual citizenship is the norm.

The Turkish community has its own radio program, Radyo Merhaba, broadcasting in Turkish every Saturday from CHIN AM 1540/FM 101.3 since 1995. Radyo Merhaba, operated by volunteers with Turkish background, serves as a cultural umbrella for the Turkish community in Canada and it is presently the largest Turkish organi-zation in Canada with over 1,000 members. Radyo Merhaba also has a quarterly newsletter being mailed to over 10,000 private addresses, as well as a monthly newsletter for its members. It prepares the community’s Business Directory each year and maintains a webpage (www.radyomerhaba.com) to help the newcomers and to enhance intra-community relations.

The chief form of entertainment for the members of the ethnocommunity is getting together with friends and sharing a meal. Relations within the social and economic subgroups common in Turkey continue to prevail with-in the immigrant community and often dictate the style and activities of the communal organizations. Probably the earliest Turkish community organization in Canada was the Canadian Turkish Friendship Association that a group of Turkish immigrants from Germany founded in Toronto in 1964. Active until the early 1980s, its headquarters on Bathurst Street in Toronto served as a welcome centre for newly arrived immigrants and as a community centre for the Turkish community of Ontario. As the community grew and diversified, other organi-zations appeared. In 1976, the Turkish Culture and Folklore Society of Canada, created in Toronto, eventually eclipsed the Canadian Turkish Friendship Association. Since its inception, the aims of the Turkish Culture and Folklore Society have been to promote, through its culture, a knowledge and understanding of Turkey. The organization has been involved at various times with folk dancing, exhibitions, and theatre.

Since the late 1970s, various community organizations have emerged to represent various subgroups and regional Turkish settlement areas. These include the Association of Canadian Turkish Cypriots (Mississauga), the Canadian Association for Solidarity of Turks from Bulgaria (Mississauga), the Turkish Canadian Association of London, and the Canadian Turkish Cultural Association of Hamilton. The Montreal community is currently represented by the Association Culturelle Turque du Québec.

The various associations across Canada are now represented by an umbrella organization, the Federation of Canadian Turkish Associations founded in Toronto in the mid-1980s with its executive director and offices located in Toronto. The Federation serves as a referral and communications centre for Turkish news, local events, business and governmental inquiries, and intergroup relations.

Prior to 1980 Turkish-Canadian immigrants came primarily from urban and secular backgrounds. While religious practice was not altogether neglected by the early settlers, for they hailed from a country where well over 90 percent of the inhabitants are Muslim, it remained a matter of individual conscience. Later arrivals have brought with them their commitment to regular and significant participation in religious life, especially through the mosque. This may include Friday prayers, but it generally means communal participation in the various fes-tivals of the Muslim calendar. Presently there are four Turkish mosques in Toronto.

The Turkish community’s political participation in Canada has been limited. The small size of the community, its limited financial resources, its political fragmentation, the urban and rural experiences within and outside Turkey, and the lack of experience in the organizational and cultural life of Canada have all been contributing factors. Lately, especially through Turkish Radio’s efforts, these are all in change.

Görsev Pristine