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Between Tian Shan and the Strait of Formosa: Turkic Émigré Networks in Asia at the Advent of the Cold War
Abstract
With the triumph of Soviet expansion after the Russian Revolution, many opposition Turkic political activists recognized that domestic avenues for change within Russia had become exhausted. Resigned to defeat, they became dispersed over a wide geography in exile. While much has been written on Turkic émigré networks in Europe, less attention has been granted to corresponding networks in the east. Communities of Turkic peoples sprang up in Japan, while other communities entrenched themselves within the Turkic populations of China. They assumed that China’s proximity to Central Asia would provide them with a springboard to continue to resist Soviet expansion. However, facing communist revolution for a second time, many émigré activists were drawn into domestic Chinese politics. They embedded themselves in the cause of Chiang Kai-shek; eventually finding themselves in exile for a second time in Taiwan. With the advent of the Cold War, Turkic émigrés in Asia sought to carve out space in the emerging international discourse as the west strove to broaden the global front against communism. Conversely, while previously unheeded by successive Turkish governments, émigré Turkic communities suddenly became relevant in Turkey for the purposes of domestic discourse and as an instrument of foreign policy in the broader Cold War context. This paper looks at the transnational Turkic émigré networks in Asia in the context of the Cold War, with a focus on how previously marginal political movements gained international recognition in changing political circumstances. Anti-communist émigré networks were given impetus due to the establishment of new fora in which they could advocate for their cause. This paper also looks at how this unfolding situation was perceived in Turkey, which served as a central node in the Asian Turkic émigré networks.
Discipline
History
Geographic Area
Central Asia
China
Turkey
Sub Area
None