Investigating home, identity and belonging: dual citizenship applications of Turkish migrants from Bulgaria and their children

This thesis study investigates the idea of home and the sense of belonging from an intergenerational perspective by focusing on dual citizenship applicants among Bulgaria-born Turks who migrated to Turkey between 1969-1978 and their Turkeyborn children. It relies on oral history research conducted with migrants/applicants and their children. It argues that dual citizenship applications create room for applicants to negotiate the conceptions of home and belonging by requiring regular visits to Bulgaria. By focusing on this negotiation, it explores the material and symbolic components of the idea of home, the ruptures and continuities in the relationship between Bulgaria-born migrants/applicants and their Turkey-born children, and community formation practices. In addition to past experiences and present circumstances, it introduces the notion of the future as a significant component of these processes.