- Title: Russians who fled to Turkey due to war make longer terms plans
- Date: 11th October 2022
- Summary: ISTANBUL, TURKEY (OCTOBER 7, 2022) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF THE BOOKSTORE OPENED BY RUSSIAN COUPLE WHO FLED THE WAR WITH THEIR DAUGHTER ALEKSANDRA AND OLEG CHERNOUSOV VARIOUS OF ALEKSANDRA CHERNOUSOV TALKING TO RUSSIAN CUSTOMERS OLEG AND ALEKSANDRA CHERNOUSOV TALKING TO EACH OTHER (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) RUSSIAN CITIZEN WHO FLED TO THE WAR, OLEG CHERNOUSOV, SAYING: "In reality, the store is pocket sized, not big, but we hope it will have a long and happy life. That would be cool. So, of course, in that sense, yes it may have some connection but in fact it’s a completely different story." CHERNOUSOVS LOOKING AT A BOOK (SOUNDBITE) (English) RUSSIAN CITIZEN WHO FLED TO THE WAR, OLEG CHERNOUSOV, SAYING: "The delivery process is quite hard. It's very important to collect a lot of books in Russia and send them all together. It should be a big weight like a thousand kilos or something like books. So we will get it here. The route is through Georgia. So it's quite a long journey for books to just appear in Turkey in Istanbul for example, if it's from Russia." CHERNOUSOVS LOOKING AT A BOOK (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) RUSSIAN CITIZEN WHO FLED TO THE WAR, ALEKSANDRA CHERNOUSOVA, SAYING: "When we started dating in Russia we called it the candy-and-flower period, that time like in classic novels when you meet in a café and exchange presents such as flowers and jewelry -- he offered me some books. My bookshelves began filling up as he brought me extraordinary volumes and, long story short, I quickly became pregnant." VARIOUS OF ALEKSANDRA ASSEMBLING A TABLE WITH NIKITA (NO SURNAME GIVEN) ANOTHER RUSSIAN WHO FLED THE WAR (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) RUSSIAN CITIZEN WHO FLED TO THE WAR, ALEKSANDRA CHERNOUSOVA, SAYING: "That’s why I feel so good that we’re in the bookstore, because the books and the bookshelves we had in Russia mean a lot to me. Not as someone who works in this business, but as a source of inspiration and I felt alone, I felt lonesome without them. Now I feel better. " VARIOUS OF MAN LOOKING TO A BOOK (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) RUSSIAN CITIZEN WHO FLED TO THE WAR, NIKITA (NO SURNAME GIVEN), SAYING: "We were walking nearby with my wife when we saw a book. We were very curious to see what was inside because it’s quite rare to see such unique products, especially when you come from abroad, arrive in Istanbul and discover books in your native language. So, we walked in, and it turned out that we had flown to Istanbul in the same plane as the bookstore owners. We came inside and we were pleasantly surprised.†VARIOUS OF RUSSIAN CUSTOMERS LOOKING AT BOOKS (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) RUSSIAN CITIZEN WHO FLED TO THE WAR, NIKITA (NO SURNAME GIVEN), SAYING: "In Russia, yes, life has become complicated. I lived in Kaliningrad, and it was difficult to do business because my job is to produce special effects for films and TV series. I work for clients overseas and it became difficult to operate from Russia. That’s why I had to leave and resettle here." VARIOUS OF CUSTOMERS LOOKING AT BOOKS
- Embargoed: 25th October 2022 07:06
- Keywords: BOOKSTORE IMMIGRATION RUSSIA WAR
- Location: ISTANBUL, TURKEY
- City: ISTANBUL, TURKEY
- Country: Turkey
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Europe,Middle East,Military Conflicts
- Reuters ID: LVA001124710102022RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Oleg Chernousov took only a few bags when he hastily left Russia in March and flew to the Turkish city of Istanbul with his wife and their 11-year-old daughter.
Russia had just begun invading Ukraine and the couple from St Petersburg, feared they'd be arrested for being vocal opponents of a war that Russian authorities call a "special operation".
With no peace deal in sight in the seven-month-old conflict, Chernousov and his wife, Aleksandra, have had to make longer-term plans to earn money and provide their child with school education. Last weekend, they inaugurated a small bookstore in Moda, a trendy district on the Asian side of Istanbul.
"The store is pocket sized, not big, but we hope it will have a long and happy life," Chernousov, 33, told Reuters as visitors, mostly newly arrived Russians alerted by friends and social networks, poured into the shop. "That would be cool."
Like the Chernousovs, thousands of Russian nationals who fled the country to avoid being detained or drafted into Russia's armed forces have reached a turning point: With fast-diminishing savings and no clear prospect of being able to return home, they've decided to start a new life abroad.
Many have chosen Istanbul after finding that they could obtain residence permits in Turkey with relative ease compared to other countries in Europe and North America.
NATO member Turkey has close relations with both Russia and Ukraine and has sought to balance ties during the war, rejecting Western sanctions on Moscow while criticising the Russian invasion and supplying Kyiv with armed drones.
Nikita, a young Russian man attending the bookstore opening, said he moved to Istanbul in March because he works in special effects for foreign film productions and was not able to collect payments when Western sanctions disrupted the Russian banking systems.
"I work for clients overseas and it has become difficult to operate from Russia. That’s why I had to leave and resettle here," he said, asking to be identified only by his given name.
Nikita said he discovered the shop by chance while strolling with his wife through the maze of Moda's little streets. In a sign of how tightly knit Istanbul's mushrooming Russian community is, Nikita had met the bookstore owners before.
"We walked in, and it turned out that we had flown to Istanbul in the same plane," he said. "We came inside, and we were pleasantly surprised."
Called "Black Mustache", the store offers a selection of books on photography, fashion and design, including some in Russian.
Chernousov said he was trying to obtain more books from Russia but that the war and trade sanctions had made transport both prohibitive and unpredictable.
"The delivery process is quite hard. It's very important to collect a lot of books in Russia and then send them all
together. It should be a big weight, like 1,000 kilos," he said.
"The road is through Georgia so it's quite a long journey for books to appear in Istanbul if they come from Russia."
Unlike her husband, who managed an art bookstore in St Petersburg for 15 years, Chernousova, 34, said she has no experience in the business. In Russia, she worked as a shoe designer. Still, books play a central role in her life.
"When Oleg and I started dating, in Russia we called it the candy-and-flower period, he offered me some books," she said.
"My bookshelves began filling up as he brought me extraordinary volumes and, long story short, I quickly became pregnant."
But when the family hurriedly flew to Istanbul in March, they had to leave the books behind.
"That's why I feel so good that we're doing a bookstore, because the books and the bookshelves we had in Russia mean a lot to me," Chernousova said. "They were a source of inspiration and without them, I felt alone, I felt lonesome. Now I feel better."
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