Culture, migration and memory of eastern jews of Turkey

This study aims to explore the culture of Jews, who once lived in the east of Turkey and later moved to Israel and settled there. The scarcity of sources indicates that Jews from eastern Turkey were received little scholarly attention. Through this study it is expected to make them more visible and to open new research areas for researchers. Currently, no Jews live or inhabit in the east and southeast of Turkey; therefore, one of the goals of this research is to reveal the cultural values of a community once had a way of life, beliefs, cultured in a multicultural and multireligious environment of eastern Turkey. With the above objective in mind, field research was carried out in Israel during 2011- 2012; and the research methodology included in-depth interviews with thirty seven immigrants who came to Israel from eastern Turkey. It is aimed to bring out their community life, societal relationships, immigration process and their past through a cultural perspective. To do that a comprehensive background, literature review and research methodology has been also examined. Main findings of the research are included under the title of Culture. It examines the Jews of eastern Turkey from different social aspects such as their relationships with Muslims, Jewish neighborhood and community, the family, childhood, status of women, marriages, clothing, cuisine, religious life, education, economic conditions, Sabbath and Holidays. Consequently, this study is an attempt to reconstruct the life of Eastern Jews of Turkey before their immigration to Israel.