The establishment of the Ukrainian diaspora in Turkey through migrant associations: ‘We feel as part of the diaspora from now on.’

ABSTRACT

Policies of the migrant sending and migrant receiving counties are effective in the emergence of diasporas. However, this article argues that a third country could also impact diaspora formations. This study’s primary data source is the interviews held with the representatives from 15 Ukrainian associations formed recently in Turkey. The findings reveal that anti-Russian sentiment and emerging national awareness led the Ukrainian migrants in Turkey towards a diasporic organization. The development of these organizations has been influenced by the initiatives of the Ukrainian government to grow its own diaspora and to activate Ukrainians abroad through ethnonationalism, the positive response to these diasporic activities in return among the migrants, the formation of a sample organization model by the World Ukrainian Congress, and the closeness between Ukraine and Turkey. Finally, the Ukrainian associations have discovered certain areas to focus on the diaspora development and accordingly that they have developed their institutional capacities.

KEYWORDS:

• Ukrainian diaspora
• Russia-Ukraine conflict
• diasporic organizations
• hometown associations (HTAs)
• Turkey

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Professor Ioannis N. Grigoriadis, journal’s editor-in-chief and Ümit Erol Aras, journal’s editorial assistant, for their invaluable feedback, the reviewers for their time and detailed comments, and finally the representatives of the Ukrainian associations in Turkey for their sincere involvement.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Migrants, used to be labelled as traitors that escape to another country by their homeland governments, are viewed as national heroes nowadays (see also Durand 2004; Martinez 2003, 17, 44). Perceptions of governments too witnessed shift as governments’ views of diasporas have grew increasingly positive.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ayla Deniz

Ayla Deniz is assistant professor at the Ankara University (Turkey). She has written extensively about transnational migration and feminist geography.

E. Murat Özgür

E. Murat Özgür is a Professor of Geography at the Ankara University (Turkey). His fields of academic specialization are population geography and urban geography.