Nilay Kilinc

Research Area 1

Stay at EEGA: one month April / May 2018

I am currently a postdoctoral fellow under the Pontica Magna Fellowship (funded by Volkswagen Stiftung) in New Europe College, Bucharest. I have defended my PhD thesis in December (University of Surrey, UK) and I am currently waiting to be awarded my doctoral title.

My research project: Lost and found: The Second-Generation Turkish-Germans‘ narratives of deportation and self-actualisation in the ‚homeland‘

This research examines deportation as a forced-return migration phenomenon among the Germany-born second-generation Turkish who subsequently settled in a tourism hub – Antalya in southern Turkey. The aim is to problematise the notions of citizenship and ‘home’ in relation to return and belonging. Often referred to as the “lost generation”, some members of the second generation were involved in criminal activities caused by identity struggle, integration problems and discrimination in Germany, resulting in deportation to Turkey. Based on the life-story narratives of 15 deportees (collected in 2014-15), the research explores their paths to criminality, the phase of starting a new life in Turkey and in what ways Antalya offers them an environment for self-actualisation and self-development. The premise is that tourism places allow the deportees to get employment and become integrated into the society. Moreover, they reinvent a sense of ‘home’ that they could not previously obtain either in Germany or in other places in Turkey.