Working Paper 8

This Working Paper delienates the construction of diasporic spaces by Bosniak communities residing in İstanbul and İzmir. Based on an ongoing multilocal anthropological field research conducted by Thomas Schad, a PhD Candidate in Berlin Graduate School Muslim Cultures and Societies, Free University Berlin, this research extensivey discusses the rediscovery of the Balkans by the contemporary Turkish State and the AKP Rule. Deriving from the findings acquired in ethnographic field studies in three Bosniak neighborhoods and hometown associations in İstanbul and İzmir, this research explores the emerging “third space” between Turkey and Bosnia. It investigates the role of late and post-Ottoman Muslim migration (Muhacirlik) in Turkish cultural diplomats’ rediscovery of the lost Ottoman lands, and how contemporary neo-Ottomanism, conversely, is perceived by Bosniaks in Turkey and beyond.

On behalf of the European Institute, I would like to thank Thomas Schad for his invaluable contribution to the Institute.

Prof. Ayhan Kaya
Director, European Institute
Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence