Paper short abstract:

This study aims to understand the factors that have delayed both the emergence and development of Georgian associations. This study is mainly based on the researcher's extensive fieldwork in Turkey and Georgia.

Paper long abstract:

This paper aims to understand the factors that have delayed both the emergence and development of Georgian associations. A thorough understanding of the main factors that affect the emergence and development of ethnic associations and their aims and objectives as well as activities provide vital formation for understanding and analysing ethnic organisations' roles among their respective communities ( Vermeulen, 2006: 13-14). In this sense, the study evaluates the main factors that account for the late emergence and development of the Georgian associations by dealing with the question of why these associations emerged relatively later - more than 80 years after their immigration - than other Caucasian ethnic groups, such as Circassians, in Turkey.

This study is mainly based on the researcher's extensive fieldwork in Turkey and Georgia, which includes: in-depth interviews with executive and ordinary members of associations; participant observation of the selected associations' events and programmes; as well as visiting other Georgian associations located in the different cities of Turkey.

The structure of the paper is as follows: A brief information is given about the legal framework of the Georgian associations in the context of Turkish law, which is followed by an overview of Georgians' associational activism. The paper then discusses the main host-country related factors that have had influence on the association-building process among Georgians in Turkey.