Journal of Turkology

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DOI :10.26650/iuturkiyat.872446   IUP :10.26650/iuturkiyat.872446    Full Text (PDF)

Citizenship Consciousness in Turkish Diaspora: Legal and Political Context

Gizem Kolbaşı Muyan

In this study, it is emphasized that Turkish citizenship is important in two aspects. First, in the context of Turkey’s diaspora policy, Turkish citizens living abroad as the subject of Turkish diaspora (citizens, fellow descendants, relative communities, etc.) have many rights with the effect of Turkish citizenship status in Turkey. This is a natural result of the definition of Turk which is associated with Turkish citizenship in the Constitution of the Republic of Turkey (article 66). Secondly, Turkish citizenship, especially for Turks living in European Union (EU) member states, brings important legal rights in the context of EU law. At this point, the decisions of the European Court of Justice (ECJ), which are examined within the scope of the study, also reveal an important legal basis for these rights. The study is structured over three research methods. First, the policies were resolved on Turkey’s diaspora policies. This analysis was done on three pillars: (i) review of the literature on diaspora and Turkish diaspora, (ii) the examination of Turkish law, (iii) analysis of the applications and implementations of the relevant institutions of Turkey. Second, the study focused on the legal background of the rights of Turkish citizens set forth by Turkey-EU association law. Thirdly, and lastly, the recent ECJ decisions have been examined due to their interpretation of the current developments and controversial situations arising in the relations of Turkish citizens with EU member states and their binding provisions. As a result of the research, Turkish citizenship has been identified as a legal tool that brings important rights, gains and privileges for Turkish diaspora (Turkish citizens living abroad) in their relations both with the (EU) countries they reside in and their home country, Turkey.

Keywords: Turkish Diaspora, Turkish Citizenship, Turkey-EU Association Law, Transnational Citizenship, European Court Of Justice (ECJ)
DOI :10.26650/iuturkiyat.872446   IUP :10.26650/iuturkiyat.872446    Full Text (PDF)

Türk Diasporasında Vatandaşlık Bilinci: Yasal ve Politik Bağlam

Gizem Kolbaşı Muyan

Bu çalışmada, Türk diasporasının Türk vatandaşlığına sahip olmasının iki açıdan önemli olduğu vurgulanmaktadır. İlk olarak, Türkiye’nin diaspora politikaları bağlamında, Türk diasporasının öznelerinin (vatandaş, soydaş, akraba topluluk, vb.) içerisinde yurt dışında yaşayan Türk vatandaşlarının, Türk vatandaşlığı statüsünün etkisiyle Türkiye’de birçok hakka sahip olduğu görülmektedir. Bu durum, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Anayasası’nda (m.66) yapılan Türk tanımının Türk vatandaşlığı ile ilişkilendirilmesinin de doğal bir sonucudur. İkinci olarak ise Türk vatandaşlığı, özellikle Avrupa Birliği (AB) üyesi devletlerde yaşayan Türkler için Türkiye-AB ortaklık hukuku bağlamında önemli yasal haklar getirmektedir. Bu noktada, Avrupa Birliği Adalet Divanı’nın (ABAD) çalışma kapsamında incelenen kararları da bu haklara ilişkin önemli bir yasal zemin oluşturmaktadır. Çalışma, üç araştırma yöntemi üzerinden kurgulanmıştır. İlk olarak, Türkiye’nin Türk diasporasına ilişkin politikaları çözümlenmiştir. Bu çözümleme (i) literatür incelemesi, (ii) Türk hukukun incelenmesi, (iii) Türkiye’nin ilgili kurumlarının uygulamalarının incelenmesi ile yapılmıştır. İkinci olarak, Türk vatandaşlarının, Türkiye-AB ortaklık hukuku ile ortaya konan haklarının yasal arka planına odaklanılmıştır. Üçüncü ve son olarak da Türk vatandaşlarının AB üyesi devletlerle ilişkilerindeki güncel gelişmeleri ve ortaya çıkan tartışmalı durumları yorumlaması ve bağlayıcı hükümler içermesi nedeniyle son dönemde verilen ABAD kararları incelenmiştir. Araştırmanın sonucu olarak, Türk vatandaşlığının, Türk diasporasına (yurt dışında yaşayan Türklerin) hem Türkiye ile hem de yaşadıkları ülkelerle ilişkilerinde önemli haklar, kazanımlar ve ayrıcalıklar getiren bir yasal araç olduğu tespit edilmiştir.

Keywords: Türk Diasporası, Türk Vatandaşlığı, Türkiye-AB Ortaklık Hukuku, Ulusötesi Vatandaşlık, Avrupa Birliği Adalet Divanı (ABAD) Kararları

EXTENDED ABSTRACT


The concept of citizenship receives scholarly attention in the migration literature. It often comes to the agenda related with the immigrant integration. Despite of the increasing attention to the concept of citizenship in migration studies, it has received limited interest from diaspora studies. This article revisits the citizenship concept from the diaspora perspective more specifically in the context Turkish diaspora. Main aim is to point out the meaning of Turkish citizenship for Turkish diaspora from the legal perspective. More importantly the rights derived from EU-Turkey association law are discussed in order to underline the importance of Turkish citizenship for their legal position in the countries they reside in. In this regard, Turkish citizenship will be analyzed in the context of both national (Turkey) and EU context by employing not only the legal documents at the national and EU level but also the judgments of the European Court of Justice (ECJ). The article argues that Turkish citizenship is an important legal tool for Turkish diaspora to enjoy with the better rights and opportunities both in Turkey and European Union (EU) Member States (MSs).

The first part mainly highlights the conceptual and theoretical background. Although there is not any agreed definition of Turkish diaspora, this article reflects a narrow perspective and refers to the Turkish citizens living abroad as Turkish diaspora. The citizenship tie and status of Turkish diaspora influence their relationship with their homeland (Turkey and Turkish society) and strengthen their political, economic and social embeddedness to the homeland. In this regard, Turkey allows not only dual citizenship but also multiple citizenships. In addition to this, it tries to continue its strengthened relation with the ones who renounce their citizenship in order to naturalize through Blue Card. The article refers to the rights and responsibilities of Turkish citizenship under three spheres: Right to vote and stand for elections, military service and economic aspect. When the citizenship policies are considered, it could be concluded that Turkey wants to strengthen its relationship with its diaspora and tries to attract the attention of Turks abroad to the Turkish citizenship by attributing more rights and opportunities and less responsibilities. In this respect, Turkey could be referred as a “transnational nation-state” and reflects a transnational citizenship policy.

The second part discusses the rights of Turkish diaspora derived from Turkish citizenship in the EU MSs. Although there is a tendency to discuss homeland citizenship in relation with the country of origin and homeland society, in this study the importance of Turkish citizenship will be elaborated in the context of country residence. Turkish citizens, in some cases, could even receive better treatment than the citizens of the country of residence and/or EU citizens. This “reverse discrimination” which refers to the less favorable treatment of citizens of the country of residence mainly results from the interaction between national and EU law. The case law of the ECJ clarifies the rights of Turkish citizens in the EU. Therefore, the more favorable situation of Turkish citizens compared with the citizens of EU MSs and/or EU citizens is discussed as a result of the analyses of the judgments of the ECJ on EU-Turkey association law in three spheres: Lawful residence and expulsion, family reunification and social security.

Due to the rights derived from EU-Turkey association law, Turkish citizenship also strengthens the legal position of Turkish diaspora in the EU MS. In this regard, Turkish citizenship promotes the active participation of Turkish diaspora to the social and economic life in the country of residence. It could be argued that the transnational citizenship of Turkish diaspora could foster their integration to the country and society of residence. Therefore, as opposed to the discussions from the perspective of countries of immigration which perceives transnationalism and integration as a zero-sum game, Turkish citizenship could be in a complementary position in the integration debate. The article also concludes that in addition to the sentimental meaning of Turkish citizenship to Turkish diaspora, there are pragmatic considerations which could also foster the meaning of Turkish citizenship even for post migration generations.


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APA

Kolbaşı Muyan, G. (2021). Citizenship Consciousness in Turkish Diaspora: Legal and Political Context. Journal of Turkology, 31(1), 259-280. https://doi.org/10.26650/iuturkiyat.872446


AMA

Kolbaşı Muyan G. Citizenship Consciousness in Turkish Diaspora: Legal and Political Context. Journal of Turkology. 2021;31(1):259-280. https://doi.org/10.26650/iuturkiyat.872446


ABNT

Kolbaşı Muyan, G. Citizenship Consciousness in Turkish Diaspora: Legal and Political Context. Journal of Turkology, [Publisher Location], v. 31, n. 1, p. 259-280, 2021.


Chicago: Author-Date Style

Kolbaşı Muyan, Gizem,. 2021. “Citizenship Consciousness in Turkish Diaspora: Legal and Political Context.” Journal of Turkology 31, no. 1: 259-280. https://doi.org/10.26650/iuturkiyat.872446


Chicago: Humanities Style

Kolbaşı Muyan, Gizem,. “Citizenship Consciousness in Turkish Diaspora: Legal and Political Context.” Journal of Turkology 31, no. 1 (Jun. 2025): 259-280. https://doi.org/10.26650/iuturkiyat.872446


Harvard: Australian Style

Kolbaşı Muyan, G 2021, 'Citizenship Consciousness in Turkish Diaspora: Legal and Political Context', Journal of Turkology, vol. 31, no. 1, pp. 259-280, viewed 26 Jun. 2025, https://doi.org/10.26650/iuturkiyat.872446


Harvard: Author-Date Style

Kolbaşı Muyan, G. (2021) ‘Citizenship Consciousness in Turkish Diaspora: Legal and Political Context’, Journal of Turkology, 31(1), pp. 259-280. https://doi.org/10.26650/iuturkiyat.872446 (26 Jun. 2025).


MLA

Kolbaşı Muyan, Gizem,. “Citizenship Consciousness in Turkish Diaspora: Legal and Political Context.” Journal of Turkology, vol. 31, no. 1, 2021, pp. 259-280. [Database Container], https://doi.org/10.26650/iuturkiyat.872446


Vancouver

Kolbaşı Muyan G. Citizenship Consciousness in Turkish Diaspora: Legal and Political Context. Journal of Turkology [Internet]. 26 Jun. 2025 [cited 26 Jun. 2025];31(1):259-280. Available from: https://doi.org/10.26650/iuturkiyat.872446 doi: 10.26650/iuturkiyat.872446


ISNAD

Kolbaşı Muyan, Gizem. “Citizenship Consciousness in Turkish Diaspora: Legal and Political Context”. Journal of Turkology 31/1 (Jun. 2025): 259-280. https://doi.org/10.26650/iuturkiyat.872446



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Submitted01.02.2021
Accepted05.03.2021
Published Online05.05.2021

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