On July 1, 2026, Sezer Idil Göğüş successfully defended her dissertation, titled "A New Diaspora? Reconfigurations of the Political Positioning of Turkish Descendants in Germany and Turkey's New Diaspora Politics." She was thereby awarded the degree of Dr. phil. in ethnology from Goethe University Frankfurt.
In her dissertation, Göğüş examines the institutional forms and political concepts generated and utilized by the Turkish government and people of Turkish descent regarding political activities in Germany. The dissertation begins with the realignment of Turkish foreign policy during the AKP era, which was reflected by increased engagement with Turkish citizens living abroad and their descendants.
This engagement manifested itself in various areas, such as the introduction of the right to vote abroad for Turkish citizens, the promotion of institutional structures, and policies that emphasize ties to Turkey beyond territorial borders. Simultaneously, the AKP government increasingly drew upon the concept of the "diaspora," which emphasizes identity-forming affiliations with a community outside the country of origin.
Against this backdrop, Gögüs analyzes how individuals of Turkish descent in Germany engage in politics and the activities that have emerged in the context of this new diaspora policy. She focuses particularly on selected migrant organizations, including pro-AKP and pro-Erdoğan groups, which have gained prominence in Germany in recent years. The dissertation demonstrates how these organizations navigate the tension between the expectations of integration within German society and the transnational, diaspora-related demands of the Turkish AKP government.
The dissertation was supervised at PRIF by Dr. Sabine Mannitz. At Goethe University, Prof. em. Susanne Schröter served as the thesis advisor.