Since the early 2000s, Turkey has shown an unprecedented interest in its diaspora. This book provides the first in-depth examination of the institutionalisation of Turkey's diaspora engagement policy since the Justice and Development Party's rise to power in 2002, the Turkish diaspora's new role as an agent of diplomatic goals, and how Turkey's growing sphere of influence affects intra-diaspora politics and diplomatic relations with Europe. The book is based on fieldwork in Turkey, France and Germany, and interviews conducted with diaspora organisation leaders and policymakers.

Diasporas have become transformative for relations at the state-to-state level and blur the division between the domestic and the foreign. A case study of Turkey's diasporas is significant at a time when emigrants from Turkey form the largest Muslim community in Europe and when issues of diplomacy, migration and citizenship have become more salient than ever.

Reviews

'Diaspora diplomacy is an impressive study and an important contribution to the scholarship on diaspora engagement and diplomacy. It offers a compelling account of Turkey-diaspora relations under the AKP government, as well as more general insight into state-diaspora and diaspora-diaspora interactions. These empirical and theoretical accomplishments make the book an essential reading for anyone interested in diaspora diplomacy in general and Turkey's diaspora diplomacy in particular.'
Jonathan Grossman, Mediterranean Politics

'Arkilic provides a welcome contribution to diaspora and diplomacy studies and to International Relations (IR) more generally. The book gives ample empirical evidence to challenge the domestic-international binary that has shaped the IR discipline for decades. The author skilfully interweaves different levels of analysis, from the sub-national to the national, transnational and international, to provide a nuanced context for the rise of the Turkish diaspora as a diplomatic agent.'
Paula Sandrin, International Affairs 99: 2, 2023

'Ayca Arkilic takes the reader on a journey starting from the early days of Turkish migration to Europe in the 1960s and ending in the early 2020s. She demonstrates the growing efficacy of "diaspora diplomacy" under the Justice and Development Party (AKP) that has ruled Turkey since 2002. Using first-hand data collected from French and German cases, she reveals how the AKP has instrumentalised the Turkish diaspora in Europe to accomplish its foreign policy objectives, at the expense of fragmenting it in a way that favours Sunni-Islamic narratives and groups.'
Ayhan Kaya, Professor of Politics and Jean Monnet Chair of European Politics of Interculturalism, Istanbul Bilgi University

'Diaspora diplomacy is an indispensable book for anyone interested in the decades-long effort of Erdogan's government to institutionalise and mobilise parts of the Turkish diaspora in Europe in support of the country's foreign policy interests. Ayça Arkiliç innovates in various ways: focusing on internal variation within the Turkish diaspora; highlighting the adverse consequences of diaspora diplomacy on Turkey's relations with destination countries, but also for "non-conforming" diaspora segments; and, finally, by examining diasporan agency.'
Harris Mylonas, Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, George Washington University

1 Introduction
2 'From guest workers to brothers and sisters': The transformation of Turkey's diaspora engagement policies
3 'You are our ambassadors': Turkey's changing relations with its diaspora in France
4 'The creation of a new Turkey will start in Germany': Turkey's changing relations with its diaspora in Germany
5 'Selective engagement': Mobilising a fragmented diaspora and the limits of diaspora diplomacy
6 'Let us learn from them': France's response to Turkey's changing relations with its diaspora
7 'Islam does not belong to Germany': Germany's response to Turkey's changing relations with its diaspora
8 Conclusion
Index