Transnational Political Mobilization Through Religion: Evidence from Turkish Organizations in Germany and France

The Turkish emigration history that started around 1960s to this day has followed different patterns containing different ethnic and religious components mainly in Germany and France. This situation following the remote enfranchisement enabled in 2012 has brought about a unique form of mobilization by/for Turkish political parties within the diaspora. Out-of-country branches of the pro-Kurdish Halkların Demokratik Partisi (Peoples’ Democratic Party – HDP) were shaped mainly by the political refugee diaspora that are mostly gathered under the organizations called the Kurdish cultural centers. These cultural centers starting from the 1970s by and large showed their support for each pro-Kurdish party that have been formed in Turkey. However, despite unlike the in-country support that the HDP got from various left winger fractions, there is a monopoly of the Kurdish movement stance in the diaspora favoring the HDP. Looking at the specific case of Turkey originated diaspora associations that have no direct affiliation to the Kurdishness in Germany and France showed their open support for the HDP. I ask: how and why these groups use this party in order to become part of the Turkish electoral process from their host countries? The paper is largely based on the data collected through participant observation and in-depth interviews that were carried out with the AABF and FUAF2 members who have engaged with the HDP mobilization through local Alevi community centers respectively in Germany and France at different scales during the June 2015 and November 2015 Turkish General Elections. The fieldwork took place throughout the 2015 Turkish general electoral period in Germany, primarily in the North Rhine-Westphalia and Hesse states, and in the regions of Grand Est and Île-de-France, France. Additional participant-observation was conducted during party election campaigns, such as participation in meetings, marches, rallies, and working at the polling stations, throughout the 2015 electoral period.