Migratory Trends and the 'Turkish' Community in London

Abstract

Ali Haydar was from Dersim, a city with a large emigrating population in Turkey. Many opt to migrate as a response to the ethnic and religious discrimination they face. Now, it is possible to find people from Dersim in many different parts of the world. His sister, for example, lived in Canada, and Ali has been in the UK for more than ten years. He had a kebab shop in a quiet street in London. Like many Kurdish Alevis, he decided to leave Dersim when he was 23 years old. He entered the UK through a student visa, but then applied for refugee status. In the early days after his arrival he stayed with his relatives living in London and worked as a waiter in Turkish restaurants. After some years, he decided to open his own kebab house with a Kurdish partner from Northern Iraq, who had also entered the UK through Istanbul.