DISOWNING CITIZENS: ARBITRARY REVOCATION OF CITIZENSHIP AND STATELESSNESS IN THE PATERNALIST TURKISH STATE A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY YEŞİM MUTLU IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY NOVEMBER 2019 I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last Name: Yeşim Mutlu Signature: iii ABSTRACT DISOWNING CITIZENS: ARBITRARY REVOCATION OF CITIZENSHIP AND STATELESSNESS IN THE PATERNALIST TURKISH STATE Mutlu, Yeşim PhD., Department of Sociology Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Ayşe Gündüz Hoşgör November 2019, 276 pages The aim of this study is to understand the concept of citizenship, on the basis of its negation, in a word statelessness, through focusing on the practice of citizenship revocation that is one of the most forgotten fields of the citizenship studies both in general and in Turkey. Starting out with this aim, the practice of involuntary loss of citizenship within the context of Turkey, analyzed in association with national identity and perceived (dis)loyalty. The analysis presented within the context of this study is fundamentally derived from two sources: First one is the Council of Ministers' notices on revocation of citizenship, published between 1950-2015 in the Official Gazette. The second one is the interviewees', who were rendered de jure or de facto by the Turkish state, experiences, which were narrated in the semi- structured in-depth interviews, on the survival strategies and coping mechanisms. In addition to these, this study aimed at, by working through the relevant articles in the Turkish Nationality Laws as well as their change in time and examining which citizens or citizen groups were deprived of the shield of citizenship in which time periods, providing a socio-historical analysis concerning the issue. Hereby, this study bring that the practice of involuntary loss of citizenship could only be understood via iv the concept of statelessness, and that its, in line with the needs of the ruling elites, being turned into a political weapon is associated with the Turkish state's paternalistic structure up for discussion. This study, additionally, purports that the practice of citizenship revocation in Turkey is as much related to Turkey's problems of democratization and freedom of thought and expression as it is to national identity and (dis)loyalty. Keywords: (Arbitrary Revocation of ) Citizenship, De Facto and De Jure Statelessness, Turkish State, National Identity, (Dis)Loyalty v ÖZ YURTTAŞLARINI REDDETMEK: PATERNALİST TÜRKİYE DEVLETİNDE VATANDAŞLIĞIN KEYFİ OLARAK KAYBETTİRİLMESİ VE VATANSIZLIK Mutlu, Yeşim Doktora, Sosyoloji Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi: Prof. Dr. Ayşe Gündüz Hoşgör Kasım 2019, 276 sayfa Bu çalışmanın amacı, hem genel olarak hem de Türkiye özelinde, vatandaşlık çalışmalarının en unutulmuş alanlarından biri olan, vatandaşlığın kaybettirilmesi pratiğine odaklanarak, vatandaşlık kavramını, vatansızlık üzerinden anlamaya çalışmaktır. Bu amaçtan yola çıkılarak, Türkiye özelinde vatandaşlığın irade dışı kaybettirilmesi pratiği, temel olarak ulusal kimlik ve algılanan sadakat(sizlik) ile ilişkilendirilerek analiz edilmiştir. Çalışma kapsamında sunulan analizlerin kaynağını, 1950-2015 arasında Resmi Gazete'de yayımlanan, vatandaşlığın kaybettirilmesine yönelik Bakanlar Kurulu kararları ile Türkiye devleti tarafından de facto ve de jure vatansız bırakılmış kişilerle yürütülen yarı yapılandırılmış derinlemesine görüşmelerde aktarılan hayatta kalma ve başa çıkma stratejilerine yönelik deneyimler oluşturmaktadır. Bunların yanı sıra, bu çalışma Türkiye Vatandaşlık Kanunları'ndaki ilgili maddelerin ve bunların zaman içerisindeki değişimlerine bakarak, hangi dönemlerde, hangi vatandaş veya vatandaş gruplarının vatandaşlık zırhından mahrum edildiğini inceleyerek, bu meseleye dair sosyo- tarihsel bir perspektif sunmayı amaçlamıştır. Böylelikle bu çalışma Türkiye'de vatandaşlığın irade dışı kaybettirilmesi pratiğinin ancak vatansızlık kavramı ile anlaşılabileceğini ve bu pratiğin, yönetici elitlerin ihtiyaçlarına göre politik bir silaha vi dönüşmesinin Türkiye devletinin paternalist yapısıyla ilişkili olduğunu tartışmaya açmaktadır. Bu çalışma, ayrıca, Türkiye'de vatandaşlığın kaybettirilmesi pratiğinin ulusal kimlik ve sadakat(sizlik) ile ilişkili olduğu kadar Türkiye'nin demokratikleşme ve düşünce ve ifade özgürlüğü sorunları ile de ilgili olduğunu iddia etmektedir. Anahtar Kelimeler: Vatandaşlığın Keyfi Olarak Kaybettirilmesi, De facto ve De jure Vatansızlık, Türkiye Devleti, Ulusal Kimlik, Sadakat(sizlik) vii To Cemal Kemal Altun1 & Alan Kurdi2 1 Member of Dev-Genç, Kemal Altun was arrested in Berlin, where he found asylum, in allegation of being involved in the death of Minister Gün Sazak before September 12 and he wanted to be repatriated to Turkey. Upon this, Kemal Altun ended his life by jumping from the 6th floor of the administrative court in Berlin on 30 August 1983. After the death of Kemal Altun, the deportation order of thousands of refugees in Germany was suspended for a long time. 2Alan was a three-year-old Syrian boy of Kurdish ethnic background whose image made global headlines after he drowned on 2 September 2015 in the Mediterranean Sea, as a result of the Syrian war. viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The researching and writing of this dissertation has been one of the most significant academic as well as personal challenges that I ever had to face. Certainly, this situation was not independent from the socio-political crisis Turkey passes through and the personal experiences. But I was lucky enough that there were many people who supported me in this process. Without the support, patience and guidance of them, this research would not have been possible. First and foremost I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor Ayşe Gündüz Hoşgör for her encouragement, patience and emotional support that she has provided throughout this process. During my years as her doctoral student, I have repeatedly knocked on her door with many different thesis topics and confusion; at times like these, she not only patiently listened to me, but also helped me to calm down and be able to go on. I must separately thank my committee member Mesut Yeğen, from whom I learned a lot. He not only provided full support and help, whenever I needed throughout my time as a PhD student, but also was very encouraging. I also thank other members of my dissertation committee, Doğa Elçin, Çağatay Topal and Cenk Saraçoğlu for their valuable comments and recommendations, all of which made this dissertation better. I also want to express my gratitude to Kerem Altıparmak for reading some parts of the thesis and providing guiding comments, and for never leaving my emails full of questions unanswered. Certainly, apart from the academic support, this study would not be possible without solidarity. I am very pleased that they are in my life, and truly appreciate Mehtap Tosun and Aşkın Adan for making me deeply feel what sisterhood and women's solidarity entails. Without their support and push, I would stay as a PhD student, ix until the end of my life. I feel very fortunate to met him, and owe my deepest gratitude to Murat Dirican for his patience and love as well as faith in me and in this study. Without his encouragement, love, understanding and Excel skills, life would be harder for me. My mother, Güler Aydın, got sick of waiting a sociology PhD student, who could not manage to put an end throughout all these years, I know it. But also I know that she has never gave up believing in me, and I would like to express my heart-felt gratitude to her for that. I do not believe that a thesis can be completed without emotional and logistic support. I was in luck in this sense as well. The many other people I want to thank are too numerous to mention but I must specifically acknowledge a few more. Derya Bilgiç has always been a best friend and also compassionate to me. Vahide Bilgiç never stopped worrying about my hunger, while I was writing the thesis. Without Ebru Arıcan and her meticulous search throughout the Official Gazette, this research would not be finalized. I would like to thank her for both her support and friendship. Tunca Arıcan has always been a shoulder to cry on for me and I deeply felt his support whenever I needed. When I felt the need to seclude myself to finish the thesis, Bahar Eminoğlu left her sea view house to me. Though the physical distance among us, I know that Ece Erbuğ and me, shared fellow feelings and our companionship is everlasting. I should thank Mehmet Kurt for conducting abroad one of the in-depth interviews for this study. Lastly, I want to thank friends, who opted for staying anonymous in this part, who helped me with transcription and translation. I also would like to thank TÜBİTAK for the financial support they gave for five years, and RWI for providing grants at various times during my PhD studies. Finally, I would like to express my unique gratitude to all the interviewees for accepting to share their stories and experiences with me at the expense of emotional disturbance that manifested itself through remembering and narrating. Literally, without their support and contribution, this work would not have ensued.