Although men dominate both small- and large-scale trade in Turkey, the development of a regional trade network extending from the former Soviet Union to the Middle East has resulted in the emergence of markets in Turkey where women are very visible and commercial transactions are intertwined with gender relations.

Increasing freedom of travel after the collapse of Communist regimes prompted the development of an informal trade in consumer goods – known as suitcase trade suitcase trade (bavul ticareti) in Turkish, and shuttle trade (chelnochny biznes) in Russian – between post-Sovie…