This special issue of Migration Letters is dedicated to bringing new insights into the narratives produced about migration that occurred in the past, a research area at the intersection of migrant knowledge and historical memory studies. More specifically, the collection discusses historical narratives that represent people that emigrated to or from Turkish geography in the 19th and 20th centuries. Turkey has been at the centre of a dynamic and intercontinental hub of human movements recorded in history, which were mostly triggered by wars, interstate agreements, economic activities as well as disasters. Therefore, the edition does not confine itself to “Turkish migrants” but explores historical narratives -e.g. individual memories, official records and other oral or written documents– depicting the migrants and their movements concerning the geography of the modern and Ottoman Turkey. It also prioritises the introduction and integration of new archival and oral history sources into the scholarship. The edition aims to gather contributions about:
- historical narratives surrounding migrants and their migration,
- traumas of migration in individual and group memories,
- knowledge about migrant groups expelled from or finding refuge in Turkey,
- historical texts about guest workers leaving Turkey for the Western labour markets,
- new archives on the migration history of Turkey and sources of oral history interviews.

Selected papers must be original unpublished work which are not also under review elsewhere for publication. After the pre-selection the authors will be informed by 31 March 2022. Full papers must be maximum 4,500 words (excluding abstracts, references, and graphics) are to be submitted by 1 April.
The manuscripts will be subject to a double-blind peer review to be accepted into the final publication in Migration Letters.

Abstract submission deadline: 1 March 2022

Full paper submission deadline: 1 June 2022

Presentation of full papers at The Migration Conference 2022: 7-10 September 2022 [Online or Face to Face)

Publication of the special issue: November 2022 (tentative)

If you have any queries you may contact: caner.tekin@rub.de 

Special Issue Editors:

Dr Caner Tekin, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Zentrum für Mittelmeerstudien, Germany

Prof Ibrahim Sirkeci, International British Business School, United Kingdom