Dr. A. Erdi Öztürk

This book examines Turkey's evolving diaspora policies, analysing how the state engages, controls, and mobilizes its overseas communities as tools of diplomacy and nation-building. Through an interdisciplinary lens, it highlights the political, ideological, and cultural motivations.

This special issue is the outcome of a one-day workshop, ‘Turkey’s Diaspora Governance Policies from the Past to the Present,’ held on May 21, 2021 and sponsored by the Centre for Peace, Trust and Social Relations at Coventry University, London Metropolitan University, and the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA).

The article focuses on the narratives of those who decided to leave Turkey following the Gezi protests in 2013.