Damla Bayraktar Aksel is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Bahçeşehir University in Istanbul. She holds a PhD in Political Science and International Relations from Koç University, an MA in Public Policy from Sciences Po Paris, and a BA in Sociology from Galatasaray University. Before joining Bahçeşehir, she worked as a postdoctoral researcher and coordinator at the Migration Research Center at Koç University (MiReKoc). Her research focuses on international migration, the ethics and politics of migration governance, transnationalism, diaspora and emigrant engagement policies, and EU–Turkey relations. She is particularly interested in how states construct and manage transnational ties with their citizens abroad. She has published widely in peer-reviewed journals and edited volumes, authored policy reports, and worked as a consultant and national expert for international organizations such as the IOM and ICMPD. She recently led the TÜBİTAK-funded EMIGPOL project on emigrant policy regimes. She is the author of Home States and Homeland Politics: Interactions between the Turkish State and its Emigrants in France and the United States (Routledge, 2019).

Diasporas as Contested Space: Competing Ideologies in Turkey’s and Germany’s Transnational Policies Amid Rising Populism

The project “Diasporas as Contested Space: Competing Ideologies in Turkey’s and Germany’s Transnational Policies Amid Rising Populism” examines how divergent ideological frameworks shape emigrant and diaspora engagement policies in Turkey and Germany. Framing both countries as origin states, the project analyzes how state and non-state actors construct, institutionalize, and contest narratives around transnational populations. Using qualitative methods, including policy and discourse analysis, expert interviews, and a Delphi survey to generate policy scenarios, the project maps ideological contestation in diaspora governance. This research is a response to a critical political moment marked by rising populism, where questions of identity, legitimacy, and transnational belonging have become central to how states govern beyond their borders.

Rather than treating diaspora engagement as a coherent strategy, the project examines its contested and politically contingent nature. It shifts the focus from diaspora actors to the institutional and normative struggles within countries of origin, challenging Global North-centric perspectives by analyzing both Turkey and Germany through the lens of emigrant governance. Turkish-origin populations in Germany, positioned at the intersection of these dynamics, reflect the layered implications of transnational policies. By situating diaspora governance within broader transformations, the project offers policy-relevant insights into the role of transnational populations in shaping contemporary international relations.