The economics of lifestyle migration : a study of Western European migration to Marmaris, Turkey

The Economics of Lifestyle Migration

A Study of Western European Migration to Marmaris, Turkey

Gabrièle Dennie-Filion

Thesis Supervisor: Sébastien Chauvin Second Reader: Didem Danış

A thesis submitted to the Graduate School of Social Sciences in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Masters of Sociology, Migration and Ethnic Studies program

University of Amsterdam

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This thesis is based on 8 weeks of anthropological fieldwork conducted in the city of Marmaris, Turkey. In recent years, the South Coast of Turkey has become an increasingly popular destination for tourism. It has also become the site of a more permanent form of mobility from Western Europeans and mainly British nationals having purchased secondary homes along its southern coastline or resettled there permanently. This new migration trend fits into a more general rising trend in new types of international migrations, which defy the boundaries of tourism and migration. Although some studies have looked at this phenomenon, this migration has been primarily analyzed from the perspective of International Retirement Migration and lifestyle migration. For example, these papers have focused on older retired European migrants who, in the later period of their life, move to Turkey as part of their retirement. The following chapters discuss the similarities and differences of this mobility to what has so far been explained as lifestyle migration. While this research illustrates that many of the research participants’ motivations behind migration reflect those outlined in the lifestyle migration framework and literature, the following chapters suggest that this “lifestyle migration” is perhaps less privileged and affluent than what the literature would leave us to believe.

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I would like to thank Sébastien Chauvin, tenured professor of sociology and the track coordinator for the migration and ethnic studies program, for his support as thesis supervisor. I am grateful for his constant encouragement and generosity, giving me the opportunity to present my research in the Dynamics of International Migration and Integration class. I would also like to thank Didem Danış, second reader, for her support during my fieldwork in Turkey.

My gratitude goes out to my colleague Emilia Bratanova for countless inspiring academic discussions. Finally I would like to thank Roderik Steenbergen, Claudie Larcher, Hélène Dennie, Daniel Filion, Emmanuelle Dennie-Filion, Dyan Koning and Anita Van Keulen for their constant support during this endeavor. We did it!

Table of content

PREFACE ... 5

Chapter 1: New forms of mobility: tourism-related migrations ... 7

Lifestyle migration: literature review ... 7

The rise of tourism-related migrations...7

What the literature says about lifestyle migration ...8

Literature Gap ... 9

An elite migration? ...9

Problematic ... 11

Chapter 2: Case study: Turkey as an emerging sun-seeking destination ... 13

Why Turkey? ... 13

Fieldwork and methodology... 13

Participant observation ... 14

Semi-structured interviews ... 16

Analysis ... 17

Typology of Western foreign migrants in Marmaris ... 17

Lifestyle migrants? ... 18

Chapter 3: Working-class lifestyle migrants ... 21

Western foreigners residing in Marmaris ... 21

Privileged or working-class? ... 22

Turkey and relative wealth: push and pull factors ... 24

Economic Incentives ... 24

Income strategy ... 26

Conclusion ... 27

Chapter 4: Vulnerable affluence ... 30

A lifestyle conditional to economic circumstances ... 30

Circumstantial Wealth... 31

Return migration ... 38

Conclusion ... 40

Chapter 5: Lifestyle migrants and workers ... 42

Migration theories and work... 42

Lifestyle migration literature ... 43

Tourism-oriented migration literature ... 43

Western foreign migrants working in Marmaris ... 45

Overview of migrants’ labor experiences... 45

The hidden experience of working-class retirees ... 49

Younger working-age individuals ... 50

The implications of illegal employment ... 51

Conclusion ... 55

CONCLUSION... 57

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“The chance was good and I took it. I am very happy, very happy.1_{” (James Beard, 63 years,}

resident of Marmaris)

These words were spoken to me by a British national living in the Aegean coastal town of Marmaris, Turkey during the course of my ethnographic fieldwork in a community of Western foreigners in the spring\summer of 2010. In recent years, the Turkish Riviera has become an increasingly popular destination for foreign property purchase and the host of an important population of foreign residents. A significant number of Western Europeans, many of them retirees, have re-settled permanently along the Mediterranean and Aegean coast in already established tourist destinations such as Fethiye, Antalya, Alanya, Bodrum, Kas, Kalkan, Didim, Kusadasi and Marmaris (Bahar et al.2009).

Turkey is part of a broader network of European and international destinations which have become popular settings for the re-settlement of second home owners, foreign retirees and even working age individuals attracted to their recreational and environmental amenities. The presence of foreign communities on the popular Costal Del Sol in Spain or the British migration to the French Dordogne have, for example, been well documented by academics (Benson 2011; Casado-Diaz 2006; Per Gustafson 2009; O’Reilly 2000, 2003 2007; Waldren1996). Furthermore, similar migration trends such as that of Americans and Canadians to Costa Rica and Panama, are also taking place on other continents. Indeed, the list of spaces imagined and even marketed by home governments as idyllic destinations for foreign retirees seems to be steadily growing to new territories. As these migrations are expanding so has increasing academic attention been devoted to conceptualizing them. It is pertinent to take a look at the way these migrations are being conceptualized.

This thesis draws on 8 weeks of ethnographic fieldwork within a community of western foreign residents and mainly British nationals in the coastal resort town of Marmaris, Turkey. Through the case of Marmaris, I explore the new trend of tourism-related migration. In particular, this thesis focuses on the recent framework of “lifestyle migration” as an analytical tool developed to

understand and encompass various tourism-related migrations. More specifically, through the case study of Marmaris, I deepen the investigation of the economic aspects of this migration, addressing the conceptual notion of “lifestyle migration” as an economically privileged migration and of lifestyle migrants as “relatively affluent individuals”.

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The rise of tourism-related migrations

In recent years, the field of international migration studies has witnessed an expansion of its area of research in order to account for the increasing precedence of new migration trends defying the traditional boundaries between tourism and migration. Similar to tourism by the locations they take place in as well as the motives behind migration, these mobilities involve, for example, the movement of a growing number of older individuals choosing to retire abroad, as well as the seasonal and permanent migration related to foreign property purchases in places that offer natural and recreational amenities. But what are tourism-related migrations? And more importantly how have they been conceptualized?

William and Hall (2002) were one of the first authors to conceptualize what they perceived as mobilities at the intersection of tourism and migration. As an increasing number of mobilities, whether the travel of young individuals taking a year off and working or the migration linked to retirement migration, combined the characteristics of migration and tourism. Predominantly directed towards established touristic destinations, the mobilities they identified stand in contrast to the conventional North-South flow of labor migrations trends. Tourism has a particular influence on these migration flows which generally take place in destinations with an established tourism infrastructure. Furthermore, previous experiences influence an individual’s decision to migrate as well as their choice of location. Among other factors, migration is perceived to be motivated by considerations such as a better climate, a slower pace of life, recreational amenities, attractive landscape and a lower cost of living. As William and Hall point out, these migrations have always existed; yet have grown "in volume and geographical scope in recent decades" (2002: 2). Their increased significance can be understood in the broader socio-economic and technological changes of globalization and a general increase in transnational mobility. Higher income levels for retirees as well as young individuals, greater work flexibility and contemporary technological developments in the areas of communication and transportation

are among the factors having facilitated travel on a general level but also these new more permanent forms of international mobility.

What the literature says about lifestyle migration

In the past 10 to 15 years, various conceptualizations such as: “amenity migration”, “residential tourism”, “international retirement migration”, “second-home ownership” and “peripatetic migration” have surfaced to explain these mobility trends (cf. King et al., 2000; Gustafson 2001; Hall and Muller 2000; Casado-Diaz 2006, Moss et al., 2006; Rodriguez, 2000; McWatters 2008). While these frameworks address similar migration trends, they respectively focus on various destinations, different socio-demographic groups or differences between permanent and seasonal migration. Although their frameworks address similar migration trends in that they have common characteristics - they often take place in touristic destinations, places with natural and recreational amenities, whether the beach or mountains etc. - they have not tended to converge. For example, peripatetic migration has focused on seasonal migration only, while urban to rural migration has tended to focus on domestic migration. With this perspective in mind, authors have more recently attempted to encapsulate these mobilities using the broad and overall concept of lifestyle migration (Benson and O’Reilly 2009; O’Reilly 2000, 2003, 2007).

First developed by Karen O’Reilly, (2003) the framework of lifestyle migration sees common aspirations in the way migrants, despite differencesin their migration strategies, understand their experience as the pursuit of a better quality of life. This is a starting point to examine different tourism-oriented mobilities as an integrated phenomenon. Encapsulated by the general term “lifestyle” the properties associated to migration include: “alternative lifestyles (the good or simple life), escape from the individual and community histories or from changing circumstances and the opportunity of self-realization” (Benson and O’Reilly 2009: 2). The establishment of a better work-leisure balance and the renegotiation of identity in a social space liberated of past constraints are, for example, predominant features associated to the search for a better quality of life (Benson and O’Reilly 2009b). Lifestyle migrants are described as “relatively affluent individuals of all ages, moving either part-time or full–time to places that are meaningful because, for various reasons, they offer the potential of a better quality of life” (Benson and O’Reilly 2009a: 2). Various ethnographies have focused on the narratives of migration to

demonstrate the common way in which migration is conceived and presented as the search for a better way of life (cf. Benson 2011; Benson and O’Reilly 2009a; Benson and O’Reilly 2009b; Korpela 2009; Nudrali and O’Reilly 2009; O’Reilly 2007; O’Reilly 2009).

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The emphasis bestowed on lifestyle migration as a personal trajectory valued for its fulfilling and transformative potential has served as a basis to differentiate lifestyle migration from other categories of migration2. The idea that migration is motivated by “lifestyle choices” rather than income or economic motivation has in particular served to distinguish this migration as aproject of self- realization “different from other migration from their escapist and anti-modern project” (Benson and O’Reilly 2009a: 1). At the same time, there seems to be a contradiction within the framework which conceptualizes lifestyle migration as a distinct and privileged form of migration and evidence in the literature which suggests that migrants are perhaps not as affluent as they first may seem.

An elite migration?

Tourism-led migrations have been conceptualized through many diverging frameworks. Focusing on specific sub-sets of populations, differences in the residential strategy of migrants, domestic or international migration these theories have not always tended to converge. However, these varied conceptualizations agree on one common characteristic. Whether discussed as “tourism-oriented migration”, “amenity migration”, “residential tourism” or “lifestyle migration”, these mobilities are all designated as privileged migrations characteristic to the relatively affluent (Hall and William 2003; McWatters 2008; Moss et al. 2006, O’Reilly 2007).

Likewise, migrants are generally described as affluent individuals who stem from the socio-economic elite and middle-class of their society; for example, King et al. describes them as

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As Benson and O’Reilly State: " This a way of life can be distinguished from that sought by other migrants, such as labor migrants, refugees and asylum seekers, in its emphasis on lifestyle choices specific to individuals of the developed world who present their individualized migration as anti-modern, escapist, self-realization projects, part

“well-off individuals” (2000: 88). Furthermore, this notion of privilege underlies a contrast with non-privileged migrations, in this case, “labor migration”. The distinct lifestyle motivations behind migrations and migrants ability to pursue them are linked to their economic resources and socio-economic status. Migration is not perceived to be motivated by income differentials or economic constraints but by leisure pursuits and lifestyle choices. According to William and Hall (2002: 35), the importance which individuals attribute to these lifestyle choices rather than labor opportunities makes them “consumer oriented-migrants”. In the same sense, their migration and the lifestyle they practice in host societies have tended to be addressed in terms of consumption and leisure paradigms (King et al 2000, Hall and William 2002). Likewise, migration has not tended to be explained in economic terms and focused more on the particular aspirations of migration.

The framework of lifestyle migration similarly defines lifestyle migrants as “relatively affluent” individuals (Benson and O’Reilly 2009a: 2). The fact that migration is perceived to be motivated more by “lifestyle choices” than by income imperatives has also served to distinguish this migration from labor migration. In comparison to “lifestyle considerations”, economic aspirations are not perceived to be important imperatives to migration. Accordingly, the literature does not focus on the economic and income imperatives usually described in the context of labor migrations.

Yet paradoxically, these economic aspirations are also present in the literature. Literature presents some evidence that migrants work and that economic incentives are considerations in their decision to migrate. Thus, Korpela (2009) for example, affirms that many lifestyle migrants to Varanasi India periodically return to their home country in order to sell imported handicrafts. Furthermore, recent studies have suggested that a number of lifestyle migrants in destinations such as Spain and Turkey are from the British working-class (O’Reilly 2007, O’Reilly 2009; Nudrali 2009). O’Reilly (2009), for instance explains the dilemma of working-class children attending international elite schools in Spain, who strive to share the privileged status of an international community, yet whose economic situation makes it impossible to share the same opportunities. Apparently, there seems to be a contradiction between the statement that these are affluent migrants and empirical evidence in the literature. To me, this inner contradiction suggests that migrants are perhaps not that affluent.

These contradictions have been tentatively explored in a recent article by Oliver and O’Reilly (2010). The importance which some working-class migrants place on aspirations of socio-economic mobility is explained through the idea that migration is in itself a form of cultural capital. However, despite such explanations, the presence of working-class migrants and the importance they attribute to migration as a form of socio-economic mobility have yet to be reconciled with the main premises of tourism-oriented literature and lifestyle migration as a privileged migration and that of affluent individuals. If literature implicitly reveals so me economic aspirations to migration, paradoxically, the framework of lifestyle migration continues to rest on the fact that migrants aspirations cannot be encompassed through economic dimensions, making this contrast difficult to address.

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In light of this evidence, one is led to question the legitimacy of considering economic affluence as a factor which unites lifestyle migrants and distinguishes them from other migrants. Could it be that the distinguishing feature of lifestyle migrants is not affluence in itself but rather an instrumental use of a constructed status of privilege used in order to differentiate their migration as a project of self-realization? With this in mind, what can be gained from looking at lifestyle migration through an economic perspective? Can lifestyle migration be considered as only the migration of privileged individuals?

Just as lifestyle migrants choose destinations that signify for them a better quality of life, they also predominantly relocate to economic peripheries.3 Arguably migration involves a certain extent of comparative wealth and economic advantages. Literature addressing these migrations has identified some economic incentives such as lower costs of property and living as influential factors in the decision to migrate (King et al. 2000, Hall and William 2002, Korpela 2009). However, perhaps because migrants are a priori considered to be well-off - economic advantages are not considered by the literature as main reasons for migrating - these same studies focus much more on the amenity attributes of countries, than the fact that they are economic

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peripheries. Thus, despite the fact that most lifestyle migrants relocate to economic peripheries, literature has not specifically looked at the meaning of this choice or accomplished a detailed analysis of the economic push and pull factors which drive lifestyle migrants to leave their country or factor into their choice of specific destinations.

Indeed, the fact that lifestyle migration is perceived as a privileged migration means that the economic dimensions of migration have tended to fall into a theoretical void. At the same time, some literature has acknowledged that certain lifestyle migrants are less affluent and that their lives post-migration continue to be limited by their means. The few studies concerning lifestyle migration in Turkey in particular have tended to describe less affluent migrants (Nudrali 2009). My own fieldwork goes to the heart of this contradiction in order to explore the economic dimensions of lifestyle migration, their role and importance in the migration of Western Europeans to Marmaris and in the growing trend of “lifestyle migration” in general. Can lifestyle migration be considered a “privileged migration”? What role do economic dimensions play in these mobilities?

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In recent years, the South Coast of Turkey has become a significant destination for foreign property purchases and retirement migration. This emergence was facilitated by the development of new property regulations favorable to foreign property acquisition, developed in 2001 and amended in 2003 (Nudrali and O’Reilly: 2009). Although no official statistics exist on the amount of foreign residents on the Turkish Mediterranean coast, it is estimated that 12 832 foreigners reside in Antalya alone - one of numerous coastal cities in which the population of foreign residents is estimated to be high (Balkır and Kırkulak 2009: 126). Various studies have recently examined this migration trend (Bahar et al 2009; Balkır and Kırkulak 2009; Sudas and Mutluer 2006). They reveal a few interesting findings such as the importance of economic incentives and the presence of working-class migrants. That is primarily why I decided to do my ethnographic research in Turkey. More so, the literature concerning lifestyle migration has tended to focus on intra-European migration. In comparison to the abundance of studies concerning British migration to the South Coast of Spain or to France, tourism-related migrations to Turkey thus remain relatively understudied.

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A well-known touristic destination in Turkey, Marmaris, caters to the lower end of the British touristic market offering numerous “all-inclusive” packages to tourists. Settled on the ocean between the Aegean and the Mediterranean coast, it also holds multiple marinas and is a popular sailing destination as well as a place for live-a-boards to settle during the summer season or anchor during the winter. Because of the economic importance of the tourism industry and labor opportunities related to tourism it is also an important site of seasonal migration for labor migrants from the east of Turkey, many of them who even settle there permanently.

Marmaris proved to be a complicated fieldwork site as the community of foreign residents is very varied. The area to cover was first of all wide, the city of Marmaris being subdivided into 5 districts: Armutalan, Beldibi, Bozburun, İçmeler, and Turunç. Furthermore, foreign residents presented a significant amount of diversity in terms of residential strategies as well as the context of their migration. Many of them were British nationals having migrated to Marmaris in the context of retirement. However, others (both men and women) were married to Turkish nationals and had moved to Turkey to join their partner. As foreign residents, there were a whole set of other individuals who called themselves live-a-boards living in the Marmaris marinas. Numerous interviews were conducted with them as well as foreign residents living on the land in order to capture differences. Their life in Marmaris is to a certain extent different than foreign residents on land as they live and socialize in a different geography and different social networks. Many of them hold a different relation to Marmaris as they believe that it is just a temporary home in a transient life or before their return back from the temporary break of the life back home. However, despite this belief some show signs of permanent stay, having lived in Marmaris for numerous years (their boat incapacitated or unable to travel) of even transitioned from living on a boat to an apartment.

Participant observation

A pillar of cultural anthropology, participant observation is a “qualitative research method used by a researcher to collect data of a predominantly descriptive nature by participating in the daily lives of the group, organization, and people he wishes to study (Deslaurier 1991: 46; McCall et Simmons 1969a: I)”4

. Increasingly used among social scientists as well as researchers from other academic disciplines, participant observation emphasizes the “field” as a source of knowledge prioritizing the inductive character of research.

The data collected during my fieldwork in Marmaris, Turkey and presented in the following pages is based on an intensive two month period of qualitative fieldwork between May 2nd and July 5th, 2010. Combining direct observation and semi-structured interviews, fieldwork was characterized by long hours of participant observation as well as 25 semi-structured interviews with Western foreign residents and key informants from the Turkish community. These last

4 _{Translation by Gabrièle Dennie-Filion.}

interviews were used to provide a wider contextualization to data. Research was concentrated in the city of Marmaris, the district of Armutalan (with a high population of Western foreign residents) as well as in the Marmaris Marinas. Participant observation and interviews were also conducted in two other districts of Marmaris; Içemeler a small resort town neighboring Marmaris, as well as the more remote town of Turunç. Including a wide geographical scope enabled me to elucidate similarities and differences in the daily lives of foreign residents-for example, the organization of their communities and their place in it- depending on their area of residence and variations in municipal policies. Participant observation was conducted every day at various times, but particularly during social gatherings at night. Key places often frequented by Western foreign residents such as local “expat” restaurants and bars were privileged in order to conduct participant observation and gain access to the community of Western foreign residents. Similarly, I frequently participated in “expat” quiz nights and barbecues, and spent time at respondents’ places of work, even volunteering at an animal rescue center in the village of Hisayronu run by a long-established British Residency in the outskirts of Marmaris. Data collected during participant observation was mostly transcribed after fact, the day of, in fieldwork notebooks to be further subjected to a qualitative analysis. In some instances relevant quotes, stories and events were written down furtively in isolated spaces during short breaks, for example, in toilets during such activities so as not to forget important details.

As Junker (Deslauriers 1991; Junker 1960) details, different types of involvement can characterize participant observation. At one extreme, the “observator” in the strictest sense of the word is without any link to the environment and specializes in the observation of public places where he can observe and listen to conservations at his leisure without engagement. On the other, the “participant” fully takes part in the action and his identity as a researcher is secondary. My own role and involvement attempted to emulate something in between these two opposite poles and can be approximated to the: “participant-observator” (Deslauriers 1991; Junker 1960: 50) whose identity as a researcher is known yet who attempt to makes his presence and intrusion in the community forgotten by others through regular contact and participation in subjects’ daily lives.

Many social scientists have described the potential problems of gaining access to the communities they studied. In my case, one difficulty consisted of being a woman alone when

most foreign residents migrate as a couple and perform activities in pairs. After a few awkward encounters, these difficulties were curbed by the presence of my partner, whom often accompanied me to “expat” gatherings. His presence not only facilitated contact with respondents curbing skepticism towards a young woman alone but allowed for a more relaxed atmosphere, as well as more opportunity to listen to ongoing conversations as an “observer”.

Semi-structured interviews

In addition to participant observation, 25 semi-structured interviews were conducted in person between the 5th of May and 3rd July in order to bring forward more information from my fieldwork and provide more in-depth and contextually rich accounts of western foreign migrants experience in Marmaris. The data collected during these interviews as well as from their analysis was sought to complement an exhaustive analysis of fieldwork and participant observation data.

Semi-structured interviews were chosen among other methods of research because of their capacity to produce event rich context authorizing a linguistic exchange and in doing so, giving the means to capture the interviewee’s own language (Savoie-Zajc 2009: 341). By bringing forward the interviewee’s own language register it becomes possible to point out his world view and the social perceptions which define it (Savoie-Zajc 2009: 341). Arguably, the approach used is thus inscribed in an interpretative approach. Choosing this method was relevant to clarify the perspective of interviewees as well as to bring forward, through language, what cannot simply be observed.

Participant observation provided access to interviewees, further recruited through a snowball technique as well the opportunity to highlight important themes to be elucidated during said interviews. In this sense, interviews focused on various themes which stood out during participant observation. While this research focused mainly on the case of British residents in Marmaris, the largest group of Western Europeans in Marmaris, interviews were also conducted with gatekeepers of different communities. For instance, one interview was conducted with an employee of the Dutch consular services. Likewise, a number of interviews were conducted with gatekeepers of Turkish communities, for instance, the editor of a local English expatriate newspaper, the foreign visa officer, an assistant to the mayor’s office, with access to “privileged information” about the community of Western foreigners. The choice of location for the

interviews was always left up to respondents and thus conducted in public places such as coffee places and restaurants or more secluded locations such as their places of work or home. 23 interviews were recorded using a tape recorder, while 2 respondents preferred not to be recorded. In such cases, detailed notes were taken throughout the interview and completed after the fact. On average, interviews lasted approximately 60 to 90 minutes, some taking as long as 2 hours. In all cases, interviews were fully transcribed into verbatim accounts.

Interviews were typically begun by asking respondents to detail and recount the context in which they migrated to Turkey. Furthermore, themes focused on the context of migration, push and pull factors to migrate, descriptions of respondents’ lives before migration, descriptions of their current daily lives- activities, work, social interaction, bureaucracy, difficulties in host societies- as well as their expectations before migration.

Analysis

Methods of induction and deduction were employed in analyzing the full corpus of interview data. Interviews were conducted looking to verify the relevance of certain hypotheses suggested by data collected during participant observation. This said, it is by following the inverse method of induction that I was able to bring forward the important themes in interviews. First, the whole set of interview transcriptions were re-read to be further deconstructed, looking to elucidate recurring themes. For security purposes, a computer code was employed in order to restrict accessibility to data and protect the identity of respondents. Furthermore, a name code was used to protect the identity of interviewees. The name of each interviewee was replaced by another beginning with the same initial alphabetical letter. Their last names were also falsified.

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Western Europeans residing in Marmaris present an important amount of diversity in terms of their migration context, socio-demographic characteristics, as well as their location of residence. Many of them are senior British couples. Others are in cross-cultural marriages or relationships with Turkish nationals, whether they migrated because in order to join their partner or had been

living in England and migrated together. An important part of respondents were retired. Yet respondents also included younger working-age individuals who migrated in the context of work. Furthermore, although respondents were all considered to live in the city of Marmaris, the city itself is subdivided into 5 different districts’.5

Armutalan, a relatively dense neighborhood for foreign property development is the most concentrated area for foreign residents and differs significantly from the small village of Turunç. Based on differences in their socio-demographic characteristics and migration context, research participants could be categorized using different conceptualization, whether international retirement migration, cross-cultural marriage, entrepreneurial migration, second-home ownership etc. However, despite these differences they all resemble lifestyle migrants in that they present their migration as a search for a different lifestyle and a better quality of life. Thus, respondents’ accounts of migration strongly reflected those described in the lifestyle migration literature both in terms of their reasons to migrate and their portrayal of life in Turkey.

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The western foreigners who migrate to Marmaris can in many respects be considered as “lifestyle migrants”. Their migration stories, the post hoc reasons they give for migrating and the properties they attribute to life in Turkey, show a striking resemblance to those described in the lifestyle migration literature. Respondents often explained that they had moved to Turkey in order to gain a better quality of life. The features that attracted them to Turkey were similar to the factors typically recognized as attracting migrants in tourism-informed mobilities: a better climate, a slower pace of life and the prospect of extended longevity etc. Many, for example, commonly pointed to the attractive climate in Turkey and its beneficial health properties as a factor that had attracted them to relocate.

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The community of Western Europeans residing in Marmaris is surprisingly diverse. Geographically speaking, Marmaris covers a wide area. Although it is one city, it is subdivided in 5 different singular districts: Armutalan, Beldibi, Bozburun, İçmeler, and Turunç. The community of foreign residents is spread among these districts although most are concentrated in the area of Armutalan. Depending on their location of residence, life can be quite different for them.

"We moved here because of the better lifestyle: possibly being healthy for a longer time because of the sun and the weather and escaping the stress. We had some people around us die and we thought we got to do it while we still can6".

"This is the place for me. I am glad I chose here because sometimes we can moan about things but there are too many things to be pleased of. You know what it is? Longevity! Because of the atmosphere- no pollution- it’s better! And the diet is different. I love to eat Turkish food – healthy, healthy food. More fish, more vegetables, beautiful fresh natural stuff7".

"I have to say it’s the more sociable life I think that I appreciate. The outdoor life. You can be outside most of the year. Whereas in England in the winter you go inside, you shut your door and so you don’t really see anyone. If you go out it’s to see friends. Here because you’re outside, you sort of communicate better with each other8

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Likewise, their accounts were often comparative in nature: respondents often related the positive merits of life in Turkey in contrast to the negative attributes of their country of origin such as escaping life in Britain and the “rat race”.

“Really for me the reason I live where I do is because it gives me really nice lifestyle. It’s a slower pace of life. It’s just very different than living in England. It’s nice though. More chilled out more relaxed9.

While the western foreigners who migrate to Marmaris could be considered as lifestyle migrants, the following chapters suggest that this lifestyle migration is perhaps less privileged than what the framework of lifestyle migration conceptualizes. Economic conditions, although they are evidently not the only dynamic to this migration flow, are primordial components of it, both structuring the migration flow10 and impacting the experience of foreigners there. Their importance is perhaps best illustrated by looking at the impacts which changes in global and domestic economic conditions have had on the experience of foreign residents in situ. The economic incentives of moving to a country with lower costs of living and property and a favorable exchange rate were important dynamics in the decision to migrate. Likewise delving

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Kagan Abbott, semi-structured interview with Gabrièle Dennie-Filion, July 1rst, 2010. 7

James Beard, semi-structured interview with Gabrièle Dennie-Filion, June 3rd, 2010. 8

Wanda Barber, semi-structured interview with Gabrièle Dennie-Filion, May 25th, 2010. 9_{Emily Bronson, semi-structured interview with Gabrièle Dennie-Filion, June 15}th

, 2010. 10

This migration flow is in large part determined by a combination of favourable economic conditions. Favorable economic conditions translate in economic incentives and are further reflected in migrants’ personal motives &

deeper into the narratives and meanings associated to a “better lifestyle” suggests that lifestyle and economic aspirations (in particular the advantages of migrating to a place offering relative wealth) are deeply interrelated.

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“I'm just an ordinary man from the working-class, but I did good here. My friends back home just can't believe it!11” (James Beard, 63 years, resident of Marmaris)

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Tourism-oriented and lifestyle migration typically involve the movement of populations from northern geographic areas to southern ones. Such is the case, for example, of British migration to Spain and Portugal as well as that of North Americans re-settling in Mexico, Costa Rica or Panama. As numerous authors have demonstrated, these migrations are closely related to tourism (Hall and William 2002, King et al. 2000, McWatters 2008). Migrants’ ideals and expectations of life after migration are often guided by touristic pursuits and informed by their own tourist experiences. The locations that they select are generally well-established tourist destinations and in many cases familiar ones they have already visited as tourists, some on multiple occasions. The attributes of such destinations usually include leisure and landscape amenities that attract migrants in much the same way as they attract tourists. Their geographic position offers, for example, a more appealing climate. However, whereas these migrations reflect the North to South trend of tourism, another important characteristic lies within this flow: the movement of individuals from more powerful economies to economic peripheries.

A priori, a number of the western foreigners residing in Marmaris resemble the category of privileged migrants described in the lifestyle migration literature. Second-home owners and seasonal live-a-boards, who use the Marmaris marinas as a base to travel during the summer, exemplify well this affluence. They dispose, for example, of enough resources to maintain two residences. However, most of the western foreigners having migrated to Marmaris are permanent residents. In contrast to second-home owners, this group does not entirely fit the image of privileged migrants. On the one hand, many of them are retirees, whose accounts of life in Marmaris stress the leisurely character of their existence, their ability to travel, to go out and

enjoy the better things in life indeed suggest a privileged life. On the other, most of the western European migrants in Marmaris differ from the affluent individuals described in the literature because they stem from the working-class of their home societies.

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“I'm just a working-class guy. We're all working-class here. I'm not fed from a silver spoon”12. (James Beard, 63 years, resident of Marmaris) Considerable evidence surfaced during my fieldwork to suggest that most western European migrants in Marmaris were not from the socio-economic elite or the middle-class of their home societies. The first and perhaps most evident clue of this is migrants’ self-identification with the working-class. In the course of conversations and interviews, numerous respondents spontaneously referred to themselves, to their friends and, occasionally, to the rest of the foreign resident community as working-class individuals. In doing so, they described, for instance, their modest familial background or the limits of their financial means. As one retired interviewee asserted: “I'm just a working-class guy. We're all working-class here. I'm not fed from a silver spoon. My father was a working-class man and I was the first in my family to own a house"13. This self-identification is, in itself, not a direct marker of their socio-economic background14. Respondents’ occupational status and the financial constraints they described when speaking of their lives before migration are further indicators that they predominantly stemmed from the working-class and to a lesser extent the lower middle-class of their home societies. Most respondents were not high-skilled employees nor did their migration the result from a transnational career. Before migration, respondents worked, for example, as insurance sales agents or in telecommunications. Furthermore, some of them worked in the lower-tier employment of the service sector, for example, as sales clerks, while others worked in the construction or manufacturing industry. In that sense, most respondents could not be categorized

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James Beard, semi-structured interview with Gabrièle Dennie-Filion, June 3rd, 2010. 13

James Beard, semi-structured interview with Gabrièle Dennie-Filion, June 3rd, 2010. 14

Class is a relational concept and to emphasize the fact that they were part of the working-class, most respondents mainly referred to their home society. In this sense, it is possible that migrants wished to illustrate best their own social-mobility through migration. However, while interviewees defined themselves and most of their peers as working-class individuals, some foreign residents could be defined as middle-class. What is of interest to us here is their own perception of their social status, how they perceived themselves (Jodelet 1984: 366).

as high-skilled migrants or professional expatriates. A former fireman, James, a 63 year old retiree had, for example, spent his entire career working for the local fire department while his wife worked as a nurse.

The economic constraints which migrants described when speaking of their life before migration are further indicators that they are not part of the economically well-off of their home societies. In many cases, economic concerns were important themes in respondents’ narratives of life before migration - loans, debt and economic survival featuring prominently in the context of pre-migration.

"Money may not be everything but it’s very difficult without it. If you have taken a mortgage on and everything and people losing their jobs. You can arrange a mortgage between you and your wife but if your wife loses her job…you are on strain and pressure all the time. The mortgage, the car payment, the kids’ education and all it is is money. Are you earning enough money to keep it?"15.

"You get fed up of what they call the rat race in England and the pressure of trying to make the payments all the time. With coming here, I was able to clear all of my debts"16.

For some, migration had emerged out of the context of unemployment. A current live-a-board, Jenny and her husband decided to pursue a long dated dream of sailing the Mediterranean after a downsizing at the marketing firm where they had worked for 10 years. Another example, Thomas a more high-skilled migrant working as a marine engineer lost his job at the age of 63. After applying for hundreds of jobs he received only 3 replies. Failing to secure new employment he decided to retire in Turkey:

"It was a bad time for me. In England, you are finished at 45 and at 63 you are pretty much dead on the business market. Since I had a hard time finding a job, my son suggested that I move to Turkey"17.

A challenge to the image of affluent migrants, these examples suggest that migrants were perhaps not affluent to begin with. On the contrary, their remarks suggest that these economics concerns were important factors in their reasons to migrate.

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James Beard, semi-structured interview with Gabrièle Dennie-Filion, June 3rd, 2010. 16

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Studies concerning tourism-related migration trends to the South Coast of Turkey suggest that economic incentives are important considerations in the decision to migrate (Bahar et al 2009; Balkır and Kırkulak 2009; Sudas and Mutluer 2006). According to Sudas and Mutluer (2006), the lower cost of life in Turkey is the second most important consideration in migration. Another example, Bahar et al. (2009) conclude that “a cheap and comfortable life” are among essential reasons for re-settlement in Turkey.

As respondents revealed, economic considerations did seem to play an important part in their decision to leave England and the choice of migrating to Turkey. Here, the push and pull factors to migration- whether income or lifestyle related- are strongly inter-connected. Indeed, there is a significant link between the economic constraints which respondents experience, their migration and the “lifestyle” which they sought to obtain by moving to Turkey. If migrants are not part of the economically well-off of their societies, the constraints they associate to their position in the economy and labor markets of their home societies are strongly interrelated with the advantages they see to migration and the importance they attribute to economic incentives. Arguably, economic advantages may be incentives to the migration of all tourism-related migrants regardless of their financial resources. Indeed, cheaper property prices and a lower cost of living may be appealing even to the most affluent of migrants who look to extend their income. However, in this case, migrants’ accounts reveal real anxieties and concerns about their financial situations, suggesting that the significance of economic incentives lies above all in their potential to overcome these concerns towards better financial and material standards. In particular, this held true for older migrants who aspired to retire or take an early retirement.

Economic incentives

Whereas many factors enter into the choice of relocating, in their accounts of migration, respondents in Marmaris attributed much importance to economic incentives. However, the way migrants talked about these advantages in interview revealed them to be more than simple economic advantages and of a larger importance in their migration strategy. Advantages were

usually related in opposition to financial constraints and as a solution to them. Respondents often referred to economic incentives such as the lower cost of living, high exchange rates etc. while contextualizing their decision to migrate. In numerous cases, interviewees first explained their migration by referring to economic advantages such as a lower cost of living, less expensive property and favorable exchange rates. These incentives were particularly attractive to retirees looking to extend their disposable income. Neighbors in the small town of Turunç Wanda and Abigail had both retired to Turkey from England with their husbands.

"We had been coming out here for 15 years. We bought a house with a view of coming to retire out here because it’s cheaper to live out here than it is to live in England so our pensions would be better here. We could buy more with our pensions here than we could living in England on our pensions"18.

As Wanda explained, she and her husband had been coming on holiday to Marmaris for the 12 years before deciding to migrate there.

"Six years ago, people in our hotel were talking about visiting apartments. It hadn’t occurred to us to move to Turkey although we always said we wouldn’t be old and cold in England. One afternoon we decided to see what we could get for our money and it was more than we expected. We decided not to do it. We weren’t brave enough. We’ve both never lived more than 20 km from our birthplaces"19.

"We came back on holiday the next year and the estate agent showed us an apartment we fell in love with. Like Abigail we thought, well our money will just go further. But also cause the interest rates were very very high when we moved here. They’re not high now though they’re better than anywhere else. That was an added bonus really wasn’t it. The interest rates were around 22% which was very high. And also we haven’t got enormous bills. We haven’t got the enormous bill that you get in the UK. I mean our worst bill is electricity in winter and petrol year round. We haven’t got enormous poll tax, council tax, whatever it’s called and road tax and all of those kind of things that make life so difficult in England"20.

As shown by the example of Wanda, the financial and fiscal advantages of living in Turkey were usually related in opposition to the economic restrictions migrants experienced in Britain. Thus,

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Abigail Davis, semi-structured interview with Gabrièle Dennie-Filion, June 15th, 2010. 19

the high costs of living and taxation were, for instance, attributed to having little disposable income after having paid for the necessary costs of life.

Income strategy

While a multitude of considerations factor into the choice of Marmaris as a new home of residence, the choice of Turkey as a country of destination is closely tied to its position in the global economy. Migrants themselves are not part of the economically well-off of their societies. However, as members of more powerful economies, they derive comparative advantage from relative wealth by converting their economic assets (whether economic savings, property or pensions) into another economic structure. Favorable exchange rates, lower cost of living and of property offer, for example, foreseeable opportunities to extend their resources. In this case, the basis by which many respondents envisioned financing their migration and to support their lives after it is closely tied to the conditions of an attractive foreign property market21.

Many authors attribute the emergence of tourism-oriented mobility to the development of attractive real estate markets (William and Hall 2002; McWatters 2008). In some cases, international destinations are actively promoted by governments or real estate agencies as up and coming international retirement destinations by advertising lower costs of property. According to Balkır and Kırkulak (2009), the lower cost of property in Turkey- in comparison to other established Mediterranean destinations such as Spain similarly played an important factor in short-term property related mobilities to Turkey. However, put into the context of their economic strategy, for most seeking to re-settle permanently, both the prospect of selling their house at attractive terms and of purchasing property in Turkey at a comparatively lower cost were essential considerations to migrate. At the time of changes in regulations, the emergence of a low cost property market in Turkey coincided with a real estate bubble in Britain, the main country of origin of respondents. The elevated value of their property was a starting point, for many respondents with limited savings, to contemplate migration. The profits derived from the sale of their home provided many with the means to purchase property in Turkey without requiring taking on a mortgage. More importantly, conserving a part of the capital from the sale of their home proved to be an important strategy by which many aspiring retirees envisaged to support their life in host society without employment. A favorable exchange rate and lower costs of

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living offered the possibility of extending this resource. Moreover, high interest returns offered by Turkish banks at the time as a strategy to attract foreign investment presented an attractive investment opportunity. In this context, most migrants chose to invest a large part of the capital remaining from the sale of their home in placements with the perspective of deriving income from monthly interest returns22.

As Margaret Fuller, one respondent explained, she and her husband have been living in Marmaris for 3 years. They came to Marmaris as tourists, for their first time in Turkey, and after 10 days they bought the first house they visited. Her husband wanted to move abroad to escape all the stress of long work hours. As she explained, it was only by moving here that they were able to retire.

“We didn’t have a lot of money but we made enough from the sale of the house back in England and the interest rate from the money of this sale. The interest rate has gone down. But my husband now gets his pension this year23.

This case exemplifies the financial strategy by which a majority of retired interviewees financed their migration and retirement abroad. While most migrants consolidated all of their resources to migrate, some were able to buy or rent property in Marmaris without selling a home in their country of origin. Moreover, others purchased more than one property with the intention o f marketing them as vacation rentals or re-selling them at a higher profit. Yet, even for those with greater economic resources these strategies were still devised on the logic of relational wealth. Thus, remaining homeowners derived regular income from the rent of their property in their country of origin and were likewise able to maximize this income by converting it into local currency in combination with lower costs of living. In the same sense it is only by relocating permanently to Marmaris that these migrants were able to produce income.

If migrants are not part of the economically privileged of their country of origin, the constraints they attribute to their position in the economy and labor market of their home societies are an important part of the reason they migrate and the importance they attribute to economic incentives. In our case, respondentsmay describe their motivations to migrate in much the same way as that described in the lifestyle migration literature. However, just as research participants

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mostly stemmed from the working-class of their home society, moving to a place that offers relational wealth is an important factor in migration. Furthermore, the lifestyle and economic push and pull factors they attribute to migration are both interrelated and indelible. Arguably, all lifestyle migrants may be attracted by lower costs of living and less expensive property. However, in the case of migration to Marmaris, such incentives underlie a more profound economic dimension. For respondents, these advantages were not only perceived as economic incentives to gain a better disposable income or extend retirement funds, but as a way to renegotiate financial constraints and even to deal with concerns of pension doubt or financial insecurity.

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Literature has often tended to explain the choice of migration on a general level rather than in terms of country specific incentives. The destinations chosen by tourism-oriented migrants are in a sense perceived to be non-specific as migrants often choose to migrate before choosing their destination. Furthermore, migrants transfer their own idealized and romanticized notions onto spaces tailoring them to their own expectations and constructions of paradise. (McWatters, 2008). According to O’Reilly (2009), the act of migration in itself can be more significant than the choice of country as the very act of moving abroad is perceived by migrants as a form of social-mobility and self-realization. Lifestyle migrants then choose destinations that are meaningful for different reasons, for example, because they have visited them as tourists24. This romanticized, idealized perspective of space, in a sense, holds true for respondents. However, their choice of Turkey as a country of destination is also in great part attributable to relational wealth. As stated, migration to Turkey represented for many the possibility of an alternative lifestyle; one which they had experienced as tourists. However, for many individuals, achieving the lifestyle they envisioned was first enabled through economic advantages which contributed to an increased disposable income. Therefore, if lifestyle migration is often described as an escape from individual constraints, migration to Marmaris, in this case, is also an escape from economic

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This idea (and the fact that literature focuses on common general trends to narratives) has in part tended to lead away from country\ region specific conceptualizations of push and pull factors.

constraints and a way for migrants to overcome the limitations they attribute to their position in the economy and labor market of their home societies. In contrast to the affluent migrants described in the literature, respondents mostly came from the working-class and the lower to middle income bracket of their home societies. Although, their choice of Turkey as a country of migration was influenced by a number of factors including their previous experience there as tourists, it was also dictated by the economic incentives of moving to a place which offered relative wealth, especially for retirees looking to extend their disposable income. This suggests that the distinguishing factor of their migration was perhaps not affluence in itself, but rather that the dynamics of relative wealth on offer in Turkey enabled them to extend their resources as a getaway to the `tourist` lifestyle they imagined.

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The migration of working-class western foreigners to the South-Coast of Turkey presents an important contrast to the academic assumption of tourism-related migration as the terrain of the economically affluent. If not characteristic, financial affluence is something that migrants seek to obtain through migration to Turkey. The dynamics of comparat ive wealth are meaningful in this prospect, giving migrants the opportunity to attenuate some of the financial constraints they experience in their country of origin. Furthermore, they are deeply important to realizing their vision of a more leisurely lifestyle, particularly for aspiring retirees seeking to renegotiate their dependence on salaried earnings. Looking to the creation of comparative wealth, migrants understandingly seek to escape economic constraints for more privileged circumstances. Reflecting upon their experience in Turkey, respondents often portray their migration as an embodiment of the ideals they had set out to achieve. Migration is usually presented as a rewarding strategy as respondents emphasize the merits of life in their new country of residence. Among the comparative advantages of life in Turkey, the improvement of material circumstances, and liberation from the constraints attributed to working life in their country of origin feature prominently in their accounts. However, this strategy itself reveals little about the attainment of such goals and within this perspective, certain essential questions arise. What becomes of the comparative wealth gained by migrants? Does it provide the means to achieve lifestyle goals? Does migration fulfill its promise of a more privileged existence? Are migrants liberated of financial constraints?

Before further discussion, it is essential to consider once more the nature of the strategy by which migrants sought to create economic affluence by moving to Turkey in order to better understand the enduring financial limitations they experience. Indeed migrants’ accounts and experiences reveal enduring financial constraints which dictate many of the choices they make in their host society and undermine greater access to the means of consumption. Therefore, just as migrants tend to portray their existence in Turkey as a fulfillment of their intents, there is

evidence that they continue to experience important financial limitations which compromise the achievement of the goals they had initially attributed to migration. In particular, findings suggest that migrants have not entirely been able to overcome their financial limitations in order to achieve their ideals of leisure. Although, moving to Turkey may have appeared as a solution to improve their financial and material standards, the dynamics of relative wealth and the negative impacts of global and domestic economic changes have not necessarily provided them with greater financial stability.

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As the previous chapter suggests, for western foreigners moving to Marmaris the pursuit of a more leisurely lifestyle is profoundly intertwined with the renegotiation of work imperatives. In light of their economic situation, for a vast majority of working-class migrants, an essential part of migration consists of improving their financial standards in order to renegotiate their dependence on employment earnings. However, to liberate one’s self from the constraints of employment was in itself inscribed in an economic strategy dependent on specific conditions imposing constraints of their own. If migrants came with pre-existing assets, most accumulated the necessary capital for migration from the sale of their previous home. However, the extent of resources at their disposal presented restricted potential to support their life after migration on a

long-term basis. As such, the creation of sufficient capital further depends on specific economic conditions such as a favorable exchange rate, lower costs of living and high investment interest rates in as much as they offered the prospect of extending limited resources. Thus, most migrants, particularly early retirees awaiting access to pension funds, need to preserve and invest their existent capital in order to create a sufficient income, notably through monthly interest returns.

Ultimately, just as migrants took advantage of opportunistic economic conditions to maximize limited resources, they also came to rely on them. In this sense, independence from income was

not so much achieved as a dependence on employment was replaced by a reliance on the mechanisms that create comparative wealth. Each one of the conditions which migrants relied on to extend their resources is part of complex national and international economic structures and is further determined by numerous micro and macro level economic, social and political dynamics. Understandingly, these conditions are known to be subject to change and instability. Therefore, just as they offer the possibility of creating comparative wealth, the variable nature of such conditions implies that the economic advantages to be gained from migration are fundamentally vulnerable. As such, if migration offers the possibility of improving financial circumstances, it does not guarantee the attainment of such goals in itself.

The above discussion has served to illustrate the circumstantial nature of the affluence sought and created by individuals through migration as a basis to explore the evolution of their own experience after migration. Fieldwork reveals that a change in the initial economic circumstances having informed migration has important implications in the context of migrants’ daily experiences. The following paragraphs explore the consequences of such changes for the foreign residents of Marmaris, as well as their broader impacts on the migration trend of foreign residents to the South Coast of Turkey. Notably, the changes felt by migrants in the context of their daily lives, the methods they use to adjust to them and the reflection of these changes in their capacity to achieve the ideals attributed to migration as a lifestyle project will be discussed.

At the time of fieldwork, in 2010, the economic incentives that had attracted a number of individuals to migrate, shortly after the opening of Turkey’s real estate market to an international audience, had substantially changed. Inflation had increased, the value of the British pound had fallen dramatically and real estate markets in the main sending countries had slowed pace, making the possibility of selling less attractive for many potential migrants. Most importantly, the interest returns offered by Turkish banks had greatly decreased, compromising migrants’ capacity to capitalize on their savings. As the economic conditions upon which migrants had envisioned supporting their lives deteriorated, their financial well-being was impacted. A change in the dynamics that had initially offered them the means to improve their economic standards resulted in a diminished income. In this context, migrants were now confronted with the need to restrain their expenses. In this perspective, those deriving revenue solely from the interest returns of their invested savings were perhaps most vulnerable to such changes. Migrants with additional

sources of income from personal and state pension funds or the rental of property kept in their country of origin may have been at a lesser risk as they were able to rely on diverse means of income. In any case, it is clear that migrants relying on these weakened economic conditions to extend their resources felt the impact of such changes.

"When I sold my house in Dalyan part of the reason I didn’t buy another one is that the house prices generally really were falling anyway so not a good time to buy. But I’ve got my money in the bank here and got 21 % which was incredible but now I am getting 8 or 9%. I don’t rely on that income but it’s nice to have it. That was quite a drop. The other thing is that I’ve got a car and fuel is incredibly expensive. Electricity has got very expensive too. Generally speaking I think people are finding it a bit harder"25.

During the course of conversations and interviews, respondents readily acknowledged changes in the economic circumstances that had initially informed their migration, in particular the higher cost of living and the decline of interest rates. As Abigail said: "It was a lot cheaper at the time which isn’t the case now. Although it probably is a lot cheaper than Greece and Spain but at the time it was a lot lot cheaper"26. However, despite the fact that many respondents had identified interest returns as their principal source of income, few were willing to talk about the effects of such changes in the context of their personal lives. As they reflected on a change in the economic circumstances that had compelled them and many others to migrate, most respondents discussed the adverse economic effects on the community of foreign residents in general or even compared themselves to other communities of British living in Spain.

"The sterling has lowered so savings have gone down. My mother who lives in Spain now has 25% less income and she copes by trying to be more frugal and go out less for example for lunch. She didn’t bring a lot of savings from the UK. I think a lot of expats live off savings so obviously anything that affects savings or interest rates affects them"27.

"So you know I had a lot more money then I needed when I first came here. I’ve still got more than I need now but I haven’t got quite so much more than I need. But a lot of people who weren’t in that situation they are finding it harder. I am sure though Turkey is a lot better than places in Spain"28.

"Some individuals sold their houses in the UK and then that capital they invested here because the interest rates again here were high. Some individuals thought they could live

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Patricia Gardner, semi-structured interview with Gabrièle Dennie-Filion, May15th, 2010. 26

Abigail Davis, semi-structured interview with Gabrièle Dennie-Filion, June 15th, 2010. 27