Our Student Beyzagül Öztürk Successfully Defends Her MA Thesis Titled “Memory, Sense of Belonging and Home Making”

Our Sociology MA student Beyzagül Öztürk successfully defended her thesis titled “Memory, Sense of Belonging and Home Making: Stories of Uzbeks from Afghanistan in İstanbul” and supervised by Prof. Ramazan Aras, on June 15, 2026. The thesis presents an original study focusing on migration, belonging, and memory.

The study examines the migration journeys of Uzbek immigrants from Afghanistan to Türkiye via Pakistan and Iran, their historical and cultural accumulations, and their search for identity and belonging in Zeytinburnu, Istanbul. The thesis explores immigrants’ home-making practices and social adaptation experiences through their personal life stories.

Based on a six-month ethnographic field study, the research involved in-depth interviews with 20 individuals over the age of 18 living in Zeytinburnu. Additionally, data from the “Transit, Temporary and Permanent Lives Project” were used, resulting in a total of 46 Afghan immigrants’ life stories being analyzed. The oral history methodology allowed a holistic evaluation of their experiences in the context of memory studies.

The thesis also examines identity, belonging, and “home-making” processes using discourse analysis, highlighting both individual and social dimensions of migration.

Given the limited research on Afghan-origin Uzbek immigrants in Türkiye and internationally, this work addresses an important gap in the literature.

We congratulate our student and wish her continued success.