External voting can make democracies more inclusive in a world shaped by mobility, but migrants and their descendants participating in elections in their ‘country of origin’ are sometimes also criticized and raises normative concerns. For instance, European citizens of Turkish background are often disparaged for supporting authoritarian, religiously attuned populism in Turkey while benefiting from liberal-democratic rights in their countries of residence. This article examines the political orientations and electoral preferences of young dual citizens and how their political socialization develops between the Netherlands and Turkey. Drawing on in-depth interview narratives, this study focuses on a relatively homogenous group of younger people embedded in conservative Sunni Islamic networks in the Netherlands. Two rounds of interviews in 2017 and 2023 enable us to reveal continuities and changes in political orientations and preferences. The findings show the complexities and distinctive features of political socialization and the formation of electoral preferences in transnational contexts. It reveals the significance of in-group members in the early years of political socialization, and the great impact of experiences of discrimination and exclusion in the country of residence. Moreover, the development of political orientations is strongly shaped by the dynamic context in which it unfolds, which is both ethnic and transnational. Our interviewees have experienced a shift away from Turkish sources of political socialization, yet tend to have limited exposure to political information and discussions outside the ethnic in-group. We find some indications that recent deterioration in the political and economic situation in Turkey is weakening support for Erdoğan and the AKP among our respondents.
Aydemir et al. (2026) studied this question.