Wolfgang Sobotka, member of the Austrian People's Party (OVP) and since 2016, Austria's Interior Minister. Wikicommons/Michael Kranewitter. Some rights reserved.Last month’s presidential referendum in Turkey triggered a fierce debate about the voting pattern of Turkish citizens living in Europe. The high level of electoral support given to the constitutional amendments in countries like the Netherlands and Germany sparked a controversy among the European public that revolved around questions of ‘loyalty’ and ‘integration’. Who are these voters loyal to? Do they belong in Europe or do they belong in Turkey? Why do they display such support for authoritarianism in Turkey despite living in more liberal European countries?
Deeming the referendum results a sign of “failed integration” some politicians asked that these voters return back to Turkey if they are such ardent supporters of President Erdogan. Some right-wing politicians even suggested putting an end to the policy of dual citizenship to force these voters to make a choice between their “loyalties”. While the German chancellor Merkel said that Germany has no intention of cancelling dual citizenship anytime soon, the Austrian interior minister Wolfgang Sobotka suggested that those illegally holding dual passports should be fined 5,000 euros.
Yet, for all the attention it drew, except for a few insightful opinion pieces, this topic has ended up being discussed in broad strokes that ignore the complexity of the issue at hand. First of all, despite the media’s insistence on highlighting the Turkish diaspora’s support for constitutional amendments as all-encompassing a closer look at the results display that the Turkish citizens in Europe are actually quite divided in their stance. As the table below displays, despite the overwhelming majority of Yes voters in countries like Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Austria, the majority of voters in the UK, Switzerland and Sweden voted No (a pattern that is also visible in the USA and Canada).
