Nafile soydaşlık: Irak ve Bulgaristan Türkleri örneğinde göçmen, dernek ve devlet

Abstract

This article examines the changing meanings of what it means to be "of Turkish origin" (Türk soylu) through a historical and comparative analysis of Turkish migrants from Iraq and Bulgaria. In problematizing the deployment of the term "of Turkish origin" as if it were a self-evident category, we make three interrelated arguments: 1) The state treats migrants according to what we call a "hierarchy of desirability" which is shaped by the geographies the migrants come from; 2) Rather than being static or fixed, this hierarchy has constantly been reconfigured and instrumentalized in accordance with the national and transnational political priorities of the state; and 3) the relatively privileged status of those immigrants designated as "racial kin" (soydaş) has gradually weakened since the nineties.During the Cold War, the "ethnic kin" abroad were used to reinforce anti-communist state ideology through the discourse of "Turks in captivity," while since the nineties, they are being instrumentalized to further the transnational political agendas of the state. The instrumentalization of "ethnic kin" status has been significant in terms of the relationship between the Turkish state and the migrant associations in Turkey. The hierarchy of desirability established among migrants of Turkish origin manifests itself in terms of differences in the discursive practices of the two migrant associations we examine: the Iraqi Turks Brotherhood and Solidarity Association (ITKYD) and the Balkan Turks Solidarity and Cultural Association (BTDKD). While the former prefers a more informal approach through mobilizing personal networks, the latter forces official and legal channels in the pursuit of citizenship status on behalf of the migrants. Whether they seek formal or informal means, however, both migrant associations attempt to further establish themselves through reaccentuating Turkishness and thereby reassert the discursive weapon that is being wrested away from them. By repeatedly referring to the "debt" the state historically owes to the Balkan migrants, BTDKD reappro-priates the discourse utilized by the Republic in its founding years and redirects it towards the current government. Similarly, by underscoring the "national cause,"ITKYD prioritizes the struggle of the Iraqi Turkish population against the Kurdish formation in Iraq. Finally, while previously received favorably and granted citizenship, immigrants of "Turkish origin" have failed to obtain residence permits, let alone citizenship since the nineties. Their lapse into irregular/illegal status has exacerbated the precariousness of their lives which increasingly resemble the experiences of all other migrant groups in Turkey.