Living on the Margins: Iranians in Late Ottoman Istanbul

Date

2024-2

Author

Özütürk, Mevlüt Safa

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This thesis analyses the emergence of the Iranian community in Ottoman Istanbul as a distinct group, once the city became a vibrant commercial centre for Iranian economic migrants in the nineteenth century. Focusing on the variables defining Iranian identity in Istanbul, this thesis argues that Iranians' self-perception was main determining factor in shaping Iranian identity in Istanbul, beyond Ottoman and/or Qajar political decisions and Shiite - Sunni sectarian divisions. This thesis further asserts that Iranian identity in Istanbul was shaped not only by Iranian self-perception, but also by Iranians' economic marginalization as a result of domestic and international economic transformation and their deliberate embrace of social marginalization to claim their belonging to the city as a distinct community. Thus, it is claimed that the Iranian community in Istanbul was a peculiarly Istanbulized community rather than a diasporic group.

Subject Keywords

Iranians in Istanbul, Urban Identity, Iranian Self-Perception, Social Marginalisation

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/108308

Collections

Graduate School of Social Sciences, Thesis