PhD defence

From Exiled Government to State-Led Diaspora: Azerbaijani Migrant Organisations in Istanbul and Moscow, 1920-2020

• C. Billur Ada

Date

Wednesday 28 October 2026

Time

13:00 - 14:00 hour

Address

Academy Building
Rapenburg 73
2311 GJ Leiden

Supervisor(s)

• Prof.dr. L.A.C.J. Lucassen
• Prof.dr. T. Atabaki

Summary

This study focuses on the development of Azerbaijani migrant organisations in Istanbul and Moscow from the 1920s to 2020. It examines the role of the sending state in Turkey and Russia and asks whether the Azerbaijani diaspora was primarily a post-Soviet political project or had deeper historical roots. The thesis focuses on three groups: Azerbaijani refugees in Istanbul during the 1920s, post-Soviet Azerbaijani migrants in Istanbul, and post-Soviet Azerbaijani migrants in Moscow.

The thesis shows that the development and political activities of Azerbaijani migrant organisations were influenced by the historical roots of the diaspora, including the transnational networks established by 1920s refugees across the Ottoman Empire (later Turkey), Europe, Iran, and Soviet Azerbaijan, as well as by the Soviet legacy and the political opportunities available in these two cities. It demonstrates that inconsistent, non-transparent, and unequal migration policies in authoritarian receiving states made migrants’ political, kinship, and religious networks crucial to their ability to remain and participate politically. It also shows that relations between sending and receiving states, connections to political elites, and the acceptability of migrant political activity in the receiving states influenced the extent of the sending state’s influence over migrant organisations and communities.

Overall, this thesis contributes to the literature on immigrant organisations, migration policies in non-liberal states, and the transnational activities of authoritarian sending states. By focusing on Turkey and Russia, this thesis shifts attention from the predominantly liberal receiving states examined in the literature to authoritarian receiving states, which remain relatively understudied, and shows how their political contexts influenced migrant organisations and the extent of sending-state influence.

PhD dissertations

Approximately one week after the defence, PhD dissertations by Leiden PhD students are available digitally through the Leiden Repository, that offers free access to these PhD dissertations. Please note that in some cases a dissertation may be under embargo temporarily and access to its full-text version will only be granted later.

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