Centre for Applied Turkey Studies

Publications

- Salim Çevik
- Berk Esen
Turkey after the local elections: How Erdoğan‘s defeat could change domestic and foreign policy

Turkey’s political landscape is shifting. President Erdoğan and his AKP party suffered their biggest defeat in more than two decades at the country’s recent municipal elections. Turkey’s western allies will be looking to see whether the changing tide at home may affect Ankara’s foreign policy.
SWP Podcast 2024/eP 02, 25.04.2024
- Chiara Maritato
Care and Control: Turkey’s Ambitions for ‘Its’ Domestic Abroad

Under the rule of the AKP (Justice and Development Party), there has been increased attention given to the activities of Turkey’s Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) in Europe by scholars as well as the general public. The number of religious officers sent to Turkish migrant communities has increased, and the number of religious services has expanded in scope and scale. Imams and preachers sent to Europe have been assigned a new pastoral mission to teach Islam to new generations and to provide religious and moral support for all aspect of life. Moreover, Diyanet’s extensive network is crucial to reconfiguring the diaspora’s sense of belonging in essentialist religious (Sunni Muslim) and nationalist (Turkish) terms. The report retraces this evolution, relating it to the recent strengthening of diaspora policies and institutions that are aimed at forging a loyal diaspora regarding religious and political behaviours.
Centre for Applied Turkey Studies (CATS), CATS Network Paper, No. 03, 24 April 2024, 33 Pages
- Yaşar Aydın
Turkey’s Policy towards its Diaspora in Germany: Consequences for Bilateral and Intersocietal Relations

In last year’s Turkish parliamentary and presidential elections, President Erdoğan and his People’s Alliance received a significantly higher percentage of votes from Turkish voters living in Germany than from those living in Turkey. However, this does not necessarily mean that the present Turkish government has a strong grip on the Turkish diaspora as a whole as it is feared in German policy circles and media. Indeed, Ankara has not been able to establish strong control over the diaspora or to achieve the desired level of political mobilization beyond Islamist, conservative and nationalist milieus. Turkey’s diaspora policy is driven primarily by the aim to bind diaspora people and their organizations to Turkey in social, economic, and political terms and mobilize them in line with perceived national interests, such as cultivating and maintaining a positive image of Turkey and Turks, promoting economic and political relations with Germany and the EU, and countering more radical groups. However, the success of the present Turkish diaspora policy is modest and it also contributes to inner-community fragmentation in the diaspora and creates tensions in Turkey’s bilateral relations with Germany. This paper recommends that German policymakers and institutions adopt a comprehensive strategy that includes understanding the paradoxical nature of the diaspora, appreciating the transnational ties and orientations of Turks, and recognizing Islam as part of Germany.
Centre for Applied Turkey Studies (CATS), CATS Network Paper, No. 04, 24 April 2024, 37 Pages

Turkey’s Diaspora Policies

Turkey in Africa

Visualizing Turkey’s Activism in Africa

The Political Feasibility of the Adoption of the UNDP’s "Türkiye Compact" by the EU, the UK and Switzerland

National Defence Industry: From an Enabler of Turkey’s Pursuit of Strategic Autonomy to a Bridge between Turkey and Europe

A Sea of Opportunities: Can the West Benefit from Turkey’s Autonomous Foreign Policy in the Black Sea?

CATS Network

Network Coordination

Network Partners

Podcast

Turkey after the local elections: How Erdoğan‘s defeat could change domestic and foreign policy

Publications

Turkey after the local elections: How Erdoğan‘s defeat could change domestic and foreign policy

Care and Control: Turkey’s Ambitions for ‘Its’ Domestic Abroad

Turkey’s Policy towards its Diaspora in Germany: Consequences for Bilateral and Intersocietal Relations