Instrumentalisation of political transnationalism for anti-immigrant purposes: A comparative analysis on the Alternative for Germany and the Party for Freedom

Populist radical right-wing parties (PRRPs) marginalise migrants in their political campaigns, reinforcing anti-immigrant rhetoric at both the discourse and programmatic levels. In recent years, the novelty is that PRRPs also problematise migrants’ engagement in origin-country politics while courting selected migrant groups perceived as ‘desirable’. This article seeks to understand how PRRPs instrumentalise political transnationalism for their anti-immigrant policy agendas through the cases of the Party for Freedom (PVV) and the Alternative for Germany (AfD), aiming to contribute to the literature scrutinising the recent unconventional strategies of PRRPs in the party competition. It examines 75 texts based on the public statements by politicians of the PVV and AfD regarding Turkish political transnationalism in Western Europe. The findings show that while PRRPs mainly oppose political support for Erdoğan, they seek to appeal to migrant groups who are critical to the homeland government.