Istanbul, Turkey

Vicini eppure così lontani

Nel corso degli anni la migrazione è diventata l’epicentro delle nostre vite. Ma cosa significa diventare un immigrato?
Turkey, Western Asia

Story by Merve Vardarli. Translated by Maria Grazia Calarco
Published on March 19, 2022.

This story is also available in GB de es kr



Nel corso degli anni la migrazione è diventata l’epicentro delle nostre vite. Ma cosa significa diventare un immigrato? Magari starai pensando: “Non ho mai vissuto in un altro Paese né ho mai lasciato la mia nazione per vivere altrove.” Questo è vero, ma puoi dire lo stesso di tutti i tuoi familiari e dei tuoi antenati? Non credo.

Dopo lo scoppio della guerra in Siria, il tema della migrazione è tornato ad essere al centro dell’attenzione per il popolo turco, e ha occupato uno spazio enorme sui mezzi di informazione nazionale. Ma in realtà, avevamo dimenticato una cosa importante: la gran parte del nostro popolo si è unificato durante il crollo dell’Impero ottomano, e le ripercussioni di quell’evento sono tutt’oggi in azione.

I miei nonni sono originari della Bulgaria, della Romania e della Grecia; tuttavia, io sono cresciuta secondo gli usi della tradizione e della cultura turca e pensavo di essere turca al cento per cento fino a poco tempo fa, quando ho scoperto che potevo rivendicare la cittadinanza romena e avere la doppia nazionalità in seguito alle vicissitudini affrontate nel passato dai miei antenati. 

Questo evento ha cambiato il mio modo di percepire le nazionalità. Il mondo è un enorme melting pot, eppure continuiamo a imporre dei confini tra noi e gli altri.

Al momento vivo negli Stati Uniti in quanto titolare della Carta Verde; inoltre, ho la doppia cittadinanza romena e turca. Trasferirmi negli Stati Uniti ha cambiato la mia percezione delle cose, nel senso che ho compreso cosa significhi essere un immigrato in pratica, nella vita reale. Trasferendomi in un altro Paese ed essendo io stessa un’immigrata, ho potuto comprendere meglio, anche se solo in minima parte, le difficoltà che hanno affrontato i miei antenati e che gli immigranti odierni affrontano ancora oggi.  

Creiamo delle differenze nella nostra vita di tutti i giorni per avere la sensazione di appartenere a un luogo. Ma questa sensazione di appartenenza si è spinta troppo oltre durante il corso della storia, tanto da portare al razzismo, alle guerre e ai genocidi. Ma chi siamo davvero?

Le esperienze che ho vissuto negli ultimi anni in prima persona hanno cambiato il mio modo di concepire l’etnicità. La nostra etnicità è fluida, siamo in costante cambiamento. Il mondo si evolve. La sola cosa su cui dovremmo concentrarci è trovare quel punto d’incontro che esiste da qualche parte nel profondo di tutti noi, ed è il buon senso. 

La parte peggiore è pensare che i confini sono qualcosa che abbiamo creato a un certo momento della storia. Per un lungo periodo, non ho potuto visitare la terra in cui sono nati e vissuti i miei nonni perché mi serviva il visto, le procedure burocratiche, le scartoffie. Questa situazione mi rattrista molto.

Personalmente credo che le relazioni internazionali siano l’invenzione del secolo e che ogni nazione dovrebbe impegnarsi per migliorare i negoziati con gli altri stati e ridurre i conflitti. Come ho già detto, siamo tutti uguali e le nazioni sono composte da cittadini che hanno origini fluide. In quanto persona di origini turche, romene, bulgare e greche che vive negli Stati Uniti, vorrei sottolineare che il razzismo e l’etnicità sono concetti inventati dagli uomini per soddisfare il desiderio di appartenere a un luogo. Ci siamo evoluti per usare il cervello e placare i nostri istinti animali. So solo che siamo molto meglio di così. Usate il buon senso, e siate gentili gli uni con gli altri. Pace.


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Merve Vardarli

Merve Vardarli

Hi, I’m Merve from Istanbul. Trying to find the meaning of life, I currently live in Boston and have lived in several different parts of the world so far. Challenging oneself to go out of their bubble, I believe one will realize the beauty of being in an uncharted territory eventually.

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