Turkish Diaspora

This popular scientific article in Swedish discusses how Sweden's success with high self-assessed proficiency in Swedish as a second language among second-generation Turks can be explained with reference to policies regarding education, integration, labour market, housing market and gender emancipation. The data come from the project The Integration of the European Second Generation (TIES) and provide a comparison of four Western European cities with Turkish diaspora communities: Stockholm, Paris, Berlin and Rotterdam.

Gerd Marie Ådna, Assoiciate Professor, VID Vitenskapelige høgskole, Stavanger A Rose for the Prophet. Religion and Transnational Artefacts in Stavanger In Turkish Muslim communities in Turkey and Europe, the celebration of prophet Muhammad's birthday takes place between April 14. and 21. and not according to the lunar and thus Islamic calendar. This study examines two celebrations in two Turkish communities in Stavanger, Norway, where red roses, given to women in the assembly and visualized in movies shown on screen and in so-called sand art, symbolize peoples' affection towards the Prophet, and human and divine love. The roses are central symbols in some prophet traditions; in Mevlana Rumi's poetry and in pictures called hilyah/ hilye as-sharif, " holy ornaments ". Both gatherings took place in secular rooms with few sacred symbols. However, roses and other religious artefacts linked the profane place in Stavanger to Mecca and Istanbul. According to Thomas A. Tweed's three levels of analysis, the locative (here, the local community and artefacts), the translocative (the Turkish communities here and there) and the supralocative (Mecca and Allah) are dimensions that contribute to understanding the transnational belonging of two chosen diaspora communities and the meaning of their artefacts.

Mosque education in Western countries has been a source of anxiety and speculations in the public debates about youth radicalization and the teaching practices of foreign imams. This research aims to contribute to this understudied field by presenting findings on the organization, objective of provision, learning goals, and curriculum content of mosque education provided by the largest Turkish Islamic communities in the Netherlands: Diyanet, Milli Görüş, and Süleymanlıs. The analysis is based on a diverse data: fieldwork notes, classroom observations at two of the mosques, interviews with imams, hocas (mosque teachers), and key stake-holders. The findings indicate that there is to a great extent overlap between objectives and the curriculum content of the mosque classes. The respondents underline the importance of teaching the children the five pillars of Islam, the life and teachings of the prophet Mohammad, and Islamic rules of behavioral conduct so that they learn "how to be a good Muslim". However, besides providing education, mosque classes in all communities also aim at Islamic and Turkish identity building and advancement of the Turkish language skills of the students. The research discusses the implications of the findings and offers potential directions for future research.

David Drissel's chapter examines the socio-spatial origins of hip-hop graffiti in New York City and its subsequent development in Berlin – two global cities that have undergone dramatic socio-spatial transformations over the past several years.  In particular, the unique socio-spatial milieu and dissemination of graffiti in Berlin’s ethnically diverse Kreuzberg district is analyzed.  Known as “Little Istanbul,” Kreuzberg includes thousands of Turkish migrants and their descendants, who are often stereotyped, stigmatized, and marginalized by majority-group residents. The reasons why young people of various ethnicities engage in the practice of graffiti writing in Kreuzberg and other parts of Berlin, given legal and social sanctions, are investigated.  The chapter includes recent ethnographic observations and open-ended interviews conducted by the author in Kreuzberg and other Berlin neighborhoods. Hip-hop graffiti is portrayed as a distinct type of spatial performance and subcultural discourse, which involves social actors contesting urban social spaces and negotiating place-specific collective identities. Applying various sociopolitical theories of space, Berlin’s hip-hop graffiti subculture is examined for evidence of dialectical dispositions and subversive, non-conformist challenges to dominant social structures in the urban field.  The subjective meaning of the “hood” to Berlin’s hip-hop graffiti writers is addressed in this context and compared to the South Bronx archetype.

Building on a critical and extensive review of the debate on diaspora, this thesis aims to provide an alternative basis for the conceptualization of the concept of diaspora. In this context, it investigates the boundaries of the Turkish diaspora. This thesis perceives diaspora as an integral part of nation, which entails states to develop diaspora policies. The development of Turkey's diaspora policy is analyzed in this regard. The development and institutionalization of Turkey's diaspora policy, which has been formalized over the last decades, is discussed through diaspora's political participation. Political participation is one of the vital issues that is analyzed within the scope of diaspora policies. The concept of diaspora was used to define colonies around Mediterranean sea before B.C., later through middle ages it described Jewish and Christian minorities, and lately it has been expanded to include almost all transnational communities after the dominance of the nation states in the global political system. The prevailing status of the nation states and nation building processes heightened the importance of the diasporas. Over the last few centuries, acceleration of international migration and the dissolving of empires have further expanded transnational communities and created a fertile ground for diaspora formations. In this regard, the Turkish diaspora consists of both the stranded communities whom culturally and ethnically tied to Turkish nation after the demise of Ottoman Empire and mass migrations during the Republic era, especially after the Second World War. vi Thus, diaspora policies have become widespread and institutionalized with the development of nation-states. More than half of the member states of the United Nations introduced diaspora institutions within their public sector. Diaspora policies apply to wide range areas such as social, economic, cultural, and political. Turkey's diaspora policies have developed in two trajectories: emigrant communities and autochthonous diasporas. However, emigration has been determinant in the institutionalization of Turkey's diaspora policy. In this thesis, the development of Turkey's diaspora policy is discussed through the process of obtaining the right to participate in the political process in the homeland. This process has been analyzed through an in-depth study of the parliament minutes. The growth of diaspora enfranchisement process is closely related to the expansion, development, and institutionalization of the Turkish communities abroad as well as the development of Turkish economy, political stability and democratization. This thesis is unique in analysing Turkish diaspora and Turkey's diaspora policy through its own historical, social, economic and political experiences. Most of the limited number of studies in the literature analyzes Turkish diaspora and Turkey's diaspora policy with the concepts based on Jewish and Armenian experiences. Diaspora policies are praised or criticized without considering the role of nation building in diaspora formation. This thesis argues that diaspora and nation within the boundaries of territory constitute a cosmo-nation so the diaspora policies naturally become a part of public policies of a nation state. Diaspora formation and diaspora policy development have been analyzed through Turkish example in this dissertation.

Kanada’ya göçmenliğini bekleyenler, işadamları ve öğrenciler ile ülkeye yeni gelenler için bu bir başucu kitabıdır. Kanada’ya göç etmek, hayatınızın en önemli ve radikal kararı. Kendinizle dürüst olmanız gerekiyor.
"Ben niye gidiyorum" sorusunu samimi bir şekilde cevaplarsanız kararınız ortaya çıkacaktır. Eğer çok para kazanmak, zengin olmak, kısa yoldan köşeyi dönmek gibi amaçlarınız varsa Kanada size göre bir yer değil. Eğer amacınız Türkiye'deki her türlü saçmalıktan, trafikten, hava kirliliğinden uzak insanca yaşamaksa, o zaman gidin. Şekilcilik, gösteriş budalılığı, lüks ve israf yarışı, en yakın akrabalarınızın dahi samimiyetsizliği sizi sıkıyorsa, durmayın bir dakika! Çocuklarınıza iyi bir eğitim ve gelecek sağlamaksa, tam isabet doğru bir karar veriyorsunuz.  Ama unutmayın ki her şeyin bir bedeli var, bunun için çok çalışmanız ve çok mücadele etmeniz gerekiyor. Bu kitapda, Kanada’ya göç tecrübesi yaşamış olanların deneyimlerini, gerçek Kanada’yı bulacaksınız.
Kanada göçmeni olmak isteyenlere, öğrenci veya ziyaretçi vizesiyle ülkeyi tanımayı hayal edenlere Kanada’ya gitmenin yolları gösteriliyor. Göçmenliğin, öğrenciliği ve çıkartılan engelleri aşmanın püf noktalarını burada. Kanada’da nasıl iş kurulacağını, dil kursuna, üniversiteye,  master ve doktoraya nasıl başvurulacağını öğreneceksiniz. Göçmenlerin yaşadığı sıkıntılarıyla tanışacak ve en belalı mesele iş bulma yollarında yaşanmış tecrübelerden dersler alacaksınız. Dünyanın en özgür, en yeşil, en konforlu, çok kültürlü, çok dinli, bol hoşgörülü canlar, cananlar diyarını keşfedeceksiniz.

1980’lere kadar Kanada’da ciddi bir nüfus oluşturmayan Müslümanlar ve Türkler, 2000’li yıllarla birlikte çoğaldı. Ekonomik krizler ve savaşlar müslümanları Kanada’ya sevketti. İlk Kanadalı Müslümanlar kimlerdi ve Türklerin Kanada macerası nasıl başladı? Her yıl neden 3000 kişi Kanada’da müslümanlığı seçiyor?

Based on my observations and in-depth interviews over a ten-month period, this article explores the efforts of Toronto's Alevi community to maintain a separate identity in their adopted country, while attempting to integrate their families into Canadian society. Major issues in my study include the question of whether, and how, Alevis in Toronto maintain a sense of self-identity and a measure of communal cohesion. Special attention is given to music and dance practices. Such expressive cultural practices provide an analytical tool for understanding the relations between diaspora communities and their home countries. By investigating the Alevi movement in Turkey and Canada from a comparative perspective, my aim in this paper is to explore to what extent the Alevi musical revival in Turkey influences the music practices of Alevis in Toronto.

This thesis aims to contribute to a broader understanding of spill-over of homeland conflicts to the host country by diaspora groups and analyses how the repercussions of the Kurdish question in Turkey are reflected in the interactions between second-generation Turks and Kurds in Sweden and Germany. It is argued that the on-going conflict adversely affects the relationship between the two ethnic groups, but that the tensions and conflict dynamics are not an exact reflection of the situation in the homeland, and instead take a different form in each hostland. The contentions between the groups and their grievances are dependent on several factors that are rooted in the hostland and directly or indirectly affect how these groups establish contact with one another. These include: the profile of the migrants; the size of the ethnic communities; the ratio of one ethnic community to another in the hostland; the political and discursive opportunity structures in the hostland; and the relations between the homeland and the hostland. The second generation were selected as the sample group in this thesis as they offer a clearer picture of the host country impact, as well as the persistence of conflict dynamics in the diaspora spaces.

The arguments that this thesis makes are based largely on field research, which included interviews with academics, politicians, migrant organisation leaders, as well as first- and second-generation diaspora members. Sweden and Germany were selected on the grounds that both have significant populations of non-European migrants and in particular because they have Turkish and Kurdish populations that show different diasporic tendencies, thus making them relevant cases for comparison. The comparison of their approaches to migrant incorporation; multiculturalism as a formal state policy; the corporatist structures that they have developed with migrant organisations; the profile of the migrants they have received; and, their approach to the Kurdish question in Turkey, sheds light on the varying dynamics of conflict-import to a host country by diaspora groups.

Since the late 19th century, especially after both the world wars and Russian Revolution, Turkestanis and other Turks in Russia emigrated to Turkey, the Middle East, Europe, and the Far East for various reasons. They organized their own communities and kept in touch with each other. This paper focuses on the activities of Abdülvahap Oktay, a Turkestani (or Uzbek) émigré during the 1940s and 1950s. Oktay was educated in Germany and his importance among Turkestani émigrés was maintained even after his emigration to Turkey. The correspondence between Oktay and his friends/colleagues, which was incidentally found by this author, illustrates his contacts within and outside the community. Oktay’s publication is one of the subjects. For example, a Turkestani emigrant to Adana mentioned in his letter the journal Türkistan (1953), with which Oktay engaged. Another important subject is the last days of Ayaz İshaki, who was leader of the Volga-Ural Turks and passed away in July, 1954. One letter explains the process of electing a new leader. This letter also describes the international anti-Soviet meetings in Munich, in which Oktay participated as a Turkestani delegate in 1958. According to a letter to his wife and colleague, Oktay kept in touch with Americans in the Turkish Front in accordance with émigré organizations in Idil-Ural, Azerbaijan, among others. In addition, we read about situations of Turks in Finland in letters from his old friends. Although Oktay’s correspondence tells us about the “Turkic World” of émigrés, some struggles existed within their communities.

ÖZET Dünyanın birçok yerinde bulunan Türk göçmenler göç edilen yer ve göç süreci gibi sebeplerden dolayı gittikleri yerlerde kendine özgü bir göç tecrübesi oluştururlar. Bu bağlamda, İngiltere'deki Türkler de İngiltere'de bulunan diğer göçmen toplulukları ve Avrupa'nın diğer ülkelerindeki Türklere kıyasla birçok açıdan farklılıklara sahip olması bu kendine özgülüğün en önemli göstergelerinden birisidir.İngiltere'de Türkler denildiği zaman Londra'daki Türkler; Londra'daki Türkler denildiği zaman da Kuzey Londra'nın Enfield, Harringey, Hackney ve Islington ilçeleri akla gelmektedir ve şehrin bu bölgesinde, yoğun Türk nüfusuna paralel olarak market, kebapçı, restoran gibi iş/emek mekânları; dernek, kahvehane, okul, cami, cemevigibi toplumsal ve kültürel mekânların varlığı ile adeta 'Küçük bir Türkiye' olarak isimlendirilen bu bölge her ne kadar anavatan ile benzerlikler gösterse de kendine özgü özellikleri olan bir yerdir. Bu çalışmanın birinci amacı; Londra'daki Türk mekânlarını resmederek bu bölgeyi hangi unsurların özgün kıldığını sorgulamaktır. Bu amaca temel oluşturacak şekilde bir diğer amaç ise, Londra'daki Türklerin göç tarihi ile beraber Türk nüfusu hakkında bilgi vermektir. ABSTRACT Turkish migrants, which are in the diverse area of the world, has special and unique experience due to the attitudes of host countries and the process of migration. In this context, Turkish community in London has greatly different features in the respect of both other migrant communities in United Kingdom and Turkish migrants in other European countries. Turkish population in London intensify in the districts of North London such as Enfield, Haringey, Hackney and Islington, and this region is called " The Small Turkey " due to having so many labour spaces owned by Turkish people such as markets, kebap shops and restaurants, and due to the number of social and cultural spaces such as organizations, coffee houses, schools, mosques, cemevis that Turkish people frequent. Even if the region has some features of both the homeland and the host country, it is a unique and distinctive place. Thus, my

Mosque education in Western countries has been a source of anxiety and speculations in the public debates about youth radicalization and the teaching practices of foreign imams. This research aims to contribute to this understudied field by presenting findings on the organization, objective of provision, learning goals, and curriculum content of mosque education provided by the largest Turkish Islamic communities in the Netherlands: Diyanet, Milli Görüş, and Süleymanlıs. The analysis is based on a diverse data: fieldwork notes, classroom observations at two of the mosques, interviews with imams, hocas (mosque teachers), and key stake-holders. The findings indicate that there is to a great extent overlap between objectives and the curriculum content of the mosque classes. The respondents underline the importance of teaching the children the five pillars of Islam, the life and teachings of the prophet Mohammad, and Islamic rules of behavioral conduct so that they learn "how to be a good Muslim". However, besides providing education, mosque classes in all communities also aim at Islamic and Turkish identity building and advancement of the Turkish language skills of the students. The research discusses the implications of the findings and offers potential directions for future research.

As violent conflicts become increasingly intra-state rather than inter-state, international migration has rendered them increasingly transnational, as protagonists from each side find themselves in new countries of residence. In spite of leaving their homeland, the grievances and grudges that existed between them are not forgotten and can be passed to the next generation.

This book explores the extension of homeland conflicts into transnational space amongst diaspora groups, with particular attention to the interactions between second-generation migrants. Comparative in approach, Diasporas and Homeland Conflicts focuses on the tensions that exist between Kurdish and Turkish populations in Sweden and Germany, examining the effects of hostland policies and politics on the construction, shaping or elimination of homeland conflicts.

Drawing on extensive interview material with members of diasporic communities, this book sheds fresh light on the influences exercised on conflict dynamics by state policies on migrant incorporation and multiculturalism, as well as structures of migrant organisations. As such, it will be of interest to scholars of sociology, political science and international studies with interests in migration and diaspora, integration and transnational conflict.


Contents:  Foreword. Part I Importation of Homeland Conflicts to the Diaspora: Introduction; Theoretical approaches to diaspora politics; The Kurdish question at home and abroad. Part II Setting the Scene: Sweden and Germany as Host Countries: Migrant incorporation and multiculturalism in Sweden and Germany; Turkish-Kurdish question in Sweden and Germany. Part III Generational Continuation of Contentions Related to Homeland Conflicts: Interactions between Turkish and Kurdish second-generation in Sweden: negative peace and group competition; The impact of Swedish policies and politics on Turkish-Kurdish diaspora spaces; A replica of Turkey in Germany? Violent conflict, negative and positive peace; The impact of German policies and politics on Turkish-Kurdish interactions; Comparing two puzzles. Appendices; Index.

Naiboğlu'nun Birleşme Sonrası Türk-Alman Sineması'nı incelediği çalışması, göç sinemasının temel konularından olan Avrupa'ya işçi göçü ve sonrasında oluşan atmosfere yeni bir bakış açısı getirmektedir. Kitap, birleşme sonrası Türk-Alman sinemasını etik, duygulanım ve emek odaklı olarak incelemektedir. Odağını uzun süredir devam eden entegrasyon, kimlik ve kültürel çatışma kaygılarından kaydıran Naiboğlu, bu filmlerin artık göçmenler ve vatandaşlar arasındaki çatışmaları vurgulamadığını savunmaktadır. Temelinde işçi göçüne dayanan bu sinemanın gözardı edilen köklerine dönerek, filmlerdeki çalışma yaşamına ve bunun yansımalarına odaklanmıştır. Filmlerde; çalışma, işsizlik, güvencesiz ve yasadışı çalışma, toplumsal yeniden üretim, tükenme ve istikrarsızlık temaları aracılığıyla geç kapitalizm altında yaşanan deneyimin yeni ifadelerinin sunumuna odaklanarak, yerleşik sınıf, topluluk ve kimlik fikirlerinin yeniden düşünülmesi çağrısında bulunmaktadır. Bu doğrultuda, çoğunlukla kimlik ve temsil eksenine dayanan Türk-Alman Sineması yazınına yeni bir yaklaşım önerisi getirerek, temsil sonrası yaklaşım biçimlerini örneklendirmektedir.

Since the late 1980s, a steady stream of literature has been emerging from circles of the Turkish minority in the Netherlands. The article offers a survey of this literature, characterises its main themes and concerns, and demonstrates how successive phases in this literature reflect ...

Based on data from the project The Integration of the European Second Generation (TIES), this paper investigates the maintenance of Turkish as a heritage language among second-generation Turks between ages 18 and 35 in Stockholm County, Sweden. The impact of Sweden's multiculturalist policies since the 1970s on language maintenance and bilingualism is discussed from an integration perspective with the help of statistical methods. The chapter also examines to what extent the bilingual profiles of Turks in Sweden differ from the rest of Western Europe, and instead resemble multicultural settler socities like Australia and Canada.

This article briefly investigates the evolution of Turkish diaspora over the course of history and pays particular attention to major diaspora formation approaches. Then, the focuses on the Turkish Diaspora within which, before all else, emigration and changing borders are considered major components for diaspora formation. This paper also demonstrates that the history of Turkish emigrant communities began in the 19 th century during the Ottoman era and dramatically increased after WWII, during the Turkish Republic era. This study, in particular, focuses on autochthonous aspects of the Turkish diaspora, which came into existence as a result of the Ottoman State's territorial losses.

Türkiye’nin 2010 yılından itibaren Avrupa’da yaşayan Türkiyeli göçmenleri bir diaspora olarak tahayyül etmek üzere izlemeye başladığı politikalar, özellikle 15 Temmuz Darbe Girişimi (2016) sonrasında ülkede yaşanan tansiyonun göç alan ülkelere taşınmasıyla birlikte özel bir gündem oluşturmaya başladı. Bu politikaların bir parçası olarak görülmesi gereken yurt dışında oy kullanma hakkının 2014 yılında tanınmasından sonra göç literatüründe “uzun mesafeli milliyetçilik” (İng. “long-distance nationalism”) olarak anılan bir yaklaşım Avrupa’daki Türkiyeli göçmenler örneğinde de tartışılmaya başlandı. 2000’lerin ortalarında gerçekleştirilen “Avro-Türkler” başlıklı araştırmaların Avrupa’daki Türkiyelileri uyum sağlayarak Avrupa toplumlarının parçası hâline gelen bir topluluk olarak betimliyor olmasının aksine bu yeni tartışmalar “Avrupa’da Türk diasporası”nı siyaseten çok daha derinden kutuplaşmış bir topluluk olarak ele alıyor. Türkiye’nin yeni “diaspora inşa politikası” özellikle AB’yle olan uluslararası ilişkileri açısından önem kazandığı ölçüde farklı aktörler bu konuyla daha fazla ilgilenir oldu.

Bu makale Türkiye' de ulusaşırı yayıncılığın dinamiklerini tartışmayı amaçlamaktadır. Tartışma iki ana başlık altında düzenlenmiştir. İlk bölümde ulusaşırı kitle iletişim süreçlerinin dünya genelinde sosyal, ekonomik ve tarihsel arka planı oluşturulmaya çalışılmış ve Türkiye özelinde ulusaşırı yayıncılığın bu süreçlere nasıl eklemlendiği incelenmiştir. Makalenin ikinci bölümünde ise Türkiye özelinde ulusaşırı yayıncılığın üretim süreçleri ele alınmıştır. Bir diğer deyişle Türkiye' den ulusaşırı yayın yapan medya kuruluşlarının hedef izleyicilerini nasıl kurguladıkları sorusuna cevap aranmıştır. Makalenin amacı, Türkiye özelinde ulusaşırı yayıncılık olgusunun genel bir fotoğrafını yayıncılık perspektifinden çekmeye çalışmaktır. Bunun için, temel olarak kurumsal analizlerden ve üst düzey medya çalışanları ile yapılmış görüşmelerden faydalanılmıştır.

Abstract
This article aims to discuss the dynamics of transnational broadcasting in Turkey. The discussions in the article are gathered under two main sections. In the first section, the social, economic and historical backgrounds of transnational broadcasting are formulated within a global context followed by a discussion on the ways in which transnational broadcasting processes in Turkey have been influenced from this new media paradigm. In the second section, the production processes of transnational broadcasting in Turkey are analysed. In other words, the question of how transnational broadcasters in Turkey conceive of their audiences is tried to be answered. The aim of the article is to draw a general portrait of the concept of transnational broadcasting in Turkey from the broadcasters' perspective. In order to accomplish this, the article favours from institutional analysis and interviews conducted with media executives.

Language choice of individuals has a long-term impact on ensuring language maintenance and preventing language loss in bilingual societies. This study investigates language choices for Turkish, Russian, and Kazakh which exist in the repertoire of bilingual Ahiska Turks who live in Kazakhstan around the concept of "domain" suggested by Fishman. Data were collected through surveys from 274 participants who live in the southern states of Kazakhstan for the research which is designed according to the survey model. Although the participants stated that their native language is Turkish at a rate of 85,0%, it was observed that they are much more competent in the Russian language. Within the context of identity and native language, it was determined that language loss remains at a low level. As language learning source, it was seen that Turkish is a home-learned language and does not have any input in the educational atmosphere. Although an individual seems to use Turkish and Russian in terms of language use, it was determined that this balance is impaired in people, environment, and function-based language choices. It was concluded that the Turkish language is mainly chosen to use at home, with family elders and for actions towards emotional function.

Since the late 1980s, a steady stream of literature has been emerging from circles of the Turkish minority in the Netherlands. The article offers a survey of this literature, characterises its main themes and concerns, and demonstrates how successive phases in this literature reflect corresponding phases in the socialisation of the migrant community. Works by three authors, Halil Gür, Sadik Yemni and Sevtap Baycılı are examined in this context and shown to handle parallel motifs in very different ways, reflecting the concerns of the guest-worker, the young second-generation migrant and the integrated intellectual respectively. -----------------------------------Neophilologus 85: 1-23, 2001.