Thesis: Becoming a 'Citizen' in a De Facto State: A Qualitative Exploration of Affective Citizenship, Categorical Inequalities, and Political and Civil Engagement among Turkish Cypriot Youth
Supervisor: Professor Heather Hamill
I am a DPhil student in Sociology at St Cross College, University of Oxford.
Through ethnographic fieldwork, in-depth interviews, and archival research in northern Cyprus, my research examines how Turkish Cypriot youth, raised in a de facto, internationally unrecognised state, make sense of the emotional, symbolic, and practical meanings they attach to citizenship categories.
It also explores how they navigate legal ambiguity, confront both intra- and international forms of categorical discrimination and inequality, and position themselves within overlapping political frameworks, including the de facto TRNC, the Republic of Cyprus, Turkey, and the broader international order.
More broadly, my aim is to offer new insights into how contested sovereignties are lived, negotiated, and emotionally experienced by young people.
Research Interests: Nationalism and ethnicity; political and civil violence; death, dying, and suicide; religion, religious groups, and secularisation; film and media studies
Previous Education: BA Economics & BA Sociology, Koç University; MSc Sociology, University of Oxford
