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I, originally, am from the west northern part of Iran, the country mostly known as Persia in the history. Iran is a multinational and diverse country consist of different “nations” like Fars’, Turks, Kurds, Arabs, Baluchis, etc. It is normal to be anywhere having different nations around you speaking their own mother language, respecting their ethnic culture and traditions and at the same time considering themselves as a member of bigger nation, which is called Iranians.
My mother language is Turkish. Living in a multinational country we are used to live in a diverse society. I started learning Farsi, official language of the country and my second language, since the first day of the school. Turks are famous as immigrant nation and hardworking people in Iran and in addition to their province they are spread all over the country.
My first so-called immigration started when I got an admission from a university in Tehran, capital city of Iran, and moved there when I was 18 years old. After graduation, I worked 27 years all over the country and abroad; 3 years in Pakistan, 11 years full time and part time in Dubai. Having business trips to more than 10 countries in Europe, Asia, and Africa made it clear to me that human being all over the planet is one big nation, just divided by borders which I hope will disappear one day as it is happening among European Union.
However, moving to Canada was a different and bigger step. I always wanted to send my children abroad for a better and higher level of education, but not as immigrant, especially not for the whole family.
My immigration actually started with a concern. Having Iraq and Afghanistan occupied by US or UN troops around 2007 and threatening Iran for the same action by President Bush administration, imagining of being in a miserable situation like people of those two countries ignite the first thoughts of serious action in my mind. First we thought about moving to Dubai and then Turkey. Later on we went a little bit further toward Cyprus or Spain as European Union countries and finally we chose and preferred Canada because of its immigrant-oriented policy. A well developed, democratic, tolerant, and diverse cultural atmosphere, having more opportunities of job, education, and also English language speaking country, made it more attracted and desirable to us. We applied on August, 2008 and finally reached here December, 2012. It was a whole family decision and now, after being 15 months in Canada, we feel that we made the right one.