In pictures: Ethnic Turks leave Russia

1 of 8 Thousands of Meskhetian Turks - a marginalised minority - are leaving the Krasnodar region in southern Russia for the US, which has offered them asylum. (Pictures: Artyom Liss, BBC.)

2 of 8 Most of the Turks work in nearby fields. Nights are often spent in sheds among the tomato crops to secure fields and income from thieves.

3 of 8 Without registration, say the Turks, even this manual job is not quite legal. The local authorities insist they have never turned down any applications for a passport.

4 of 8 Dilaver Karimov, like many of his neighbours, fled Uzbekistan after anti-Meskhetian pogroms in 1989. He is one of many packing their bags for the US.

5 of 8 His wife Baktia believes life will be much better in the United States.

6 of 8 Gilyara Karimova, 11, is Dilaver's youngest daughter and is learning English from a tattered phrasebook. In the US, Turks are offered English tuition, furnished homes and even stocked fridges.

7 of 8 The local authorities are giving the Turks a free ride to the airport, and buses are even escorted by police cars.

8 of 8 Those leaving and those who stayed behind were in tears. But these were tears of joy, the Turks said.