Senses of Belonging and Identity within North American Turkish Diaspora in the post-9/11 Era

The Turkish diaspora is growing rapidly in North America. Despite the vast number of studies investigated social integration and the identity construction of Turkish immigrants in European countries, Turkish communities in the United States and Canada attracted lesser attention in the academic literature. This paper seeks to understand the identity formation and acculturation attitudes of Turks and their perceptions of rejection and acceptance from their respective societies in a post 9/11 context through interviews with Turkish opinion/community leaders living in the United States and Canada. KEYWORDS: Acculturation, Identity Formation, Islamophobia, Turkish Diaspora, Turkish-Americans, Turkish-Canadians.