About me

Friedrich Püttmann is a PhD candidate at the European Institute and an associated researcher at the French Institute for Anatolian Studies (IFEA) in Istanbul.

His thesis investigates the role of religious and ethnic identity in how Turkish citizens relate to Syrian refugees, employing both ethnographic and statistical methods. Friedrich's research interests centre around immigrant integration, identity politics and religion in Turkey, Western Europe and the Balkans. His professional expertise also includes migration and foreign policy.

Prior to starting his PhD, Friedrich worked for two years as a political analyst at think tanks in Berlin and Ankara, and did a traineeship with the Turkey Division of the EU’s diplomatic service (EEAS) in Brussels. He continues to write policy papers for think tanks across Europe and regularly participates in panel discussions on Turkey and migration. In this context, he has also contributed to a research project on EU-Turkey co-operation on migration financed by the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) and a case-study on Syrian refugee integration in Gaziantep (Turkey) for the Council of Urban Initiatives, a joint project by UN Habitat, LSE Cities and UCL's IIPP.

Friedrich holds an MSc in Sociology with distinction from the University of Oxford as well as an MSc in European Studies from the LSE, where he received prizes for best dissertation and best overall performance.

He was educated in Germany and France, and worked as a TV actor during his teenage years, which led him to a one-year volunteer service at a performing arts centre in Kosovo where his film project about unity in diversity was featured on national television. He subsequently read sociology, philosophy and politics as part of a double BA in Liberal Arts at University College Maastricht and University College Freiburg as well as Boğaziçi University in Istanbul, supported by a scholarship from the German National Academic Foundation (Studienstiftung).

Friedrich's doctoral studies are funded by an LSE PhD Studentship and the Hamburg Foundation for the Advancement of Academia and Culture. For his ethnographic fieldwork in Turkey and subsequent nationally representative survey, Friedrich obtained external research grants at a total of €30,000.

Academic Supervisors

Prof Yaprak Gürsoy & Dr Natascha Zaun (Leuphana University of Lüneburg)

Püttmann, Friedrich (2020).Imagining Islam in Kosovo – The social construction of the Kosovar Muslim subject among European political actors, Southeast European and Black Sea Studies, 20(2): 307-325. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14683857.2020.1778984

Püttmann, Friedrich (2018).The Making of the Good British Muslim – How the Poppy Hijab shapes British Muslims’ Sense of Self and Belonging, Journal of Muslims in Europe, 7(3): 351-375. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/22117954-12341371

Püttmann, Friedrich (2019).Securitising the Oriental – How Islam becomes a Threat to Kosovo, Südosteuropa Mitteilungen, 59(2): 30-44. https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=790458

Püttmann, Friedrich (2018).Can the Balkan Muslims help Europe represent Islam?, Südosteuropa Mitteilungen, 58(5): 110-122. https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=739904

Püttmann, Friedrich (2018).Turkey and the European Chicken-and-Egg Problem – Towards a Value-Rational Approach to Europeanisation, Südosteuropa Mitteilungen, 58(1): 54-65. https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=637133

Püttmann, Friedrich (2016).Behind the Anatolian Revolution – Unveiling the Influence of Class on the Popularity of the Islamist Movement in Turkey, Südosteuropa Mitteilungen, 56(4): 30-43. https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=458940

Püttmann, Friedrich (2016).To be European means to be me – The Perspective of Young Muslims in Kosovo on European Identity, Südosteuropa Mitteilungen, 56(2): 46-63. https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=441869

Adar, Sinem, and Friedrich Püttmann (2022). Making EU-Turkey Cooperation on Migration Sustainable – A Greater Focus on the Turkish Host Society Is Required, German Institute for International and Security Affairs, SWP Comment 2022/C 07, 9 February. https://www.swp-berlin.org/10.18449/2022C07/

Glos, Walter, and Friedrich Püttmann (2020). Flüchtling in der Türkei – Ist das Geld der EU gut angelegt? Konrad Adenauer Foundation Turkey Office, Country Report, 9 October. https://www.kas.de/en/web/tuerkei/laenderberichte/detail/-/content/eu-geld-fluechtlinge-tuerkei-abkommen

Glos, Walter, and Friedrich Püttmann (2020). Zwischen Vormacht und Fairness: Wem gehört das östliche Mittelmeer? Konrad Adenauer Foundation Turkey Office, Country Report, 15 September. https://www.kas.de/en/web/tuerkei/laenderberichte/detail/-/content/tuerkei-griechenland-wem-gehoert-mittelmeer

Glos, Walter, and Friedrich Püttmann (2020). Konflikte über Konflikte: Wie kann Deutschland mit der Türkei noch umgehen? Konrad Adenauer Foundation Turkey Office, Country Report, 12 August. https://www.kas.de/en/web/tuerkei/laenderberichte/detail/-/content/konflikte-ueber-konflikte-wie-kann-deutschland-mit-der-tuerkei-noch-umgehen

Glos, Walter, and Friedrich Püttmann (2020). Syrer, Quo Vadis? Zur Zukunft der syrischen Geflüchteten in der Türkei? Konrad Adenauer Foundation Turkey Office, Country Report, 27 February. https://www.kas.de/en/web/tuerkei/laenderberichte/detail/-/content/zukunft-syrien-fluechtlinge-tuerkei

Glos, Walter, and Friedrich Püttmann (2020). Merkel in Istanbul: Stand und Entwicklung des EU-Türkei-Flüchtlingsabkommens,Konrad Adenauer Foundation Turkey Office, Country Report, 30 January. https://www.kas.de/en/web/tuerkei/laenderberichte/detail/-/content/merkel-in-istanbul-stand-und-entwicklung-des-eu-tuerkei-fluechtlingsabkommens

Citations & Interviews

12 February 2020 – Handelsblatt
“Europa hat Angst vor einem neuen Flüchtlingsansturm”
https://www.handelsblatt.com/politik/international/migration-europa-hat-angst-vor-einem-neuen-fluechtlingsansturm/25537358.html

1 March 2020 – Die Welt
“Die Angst, dass sich 2015 wiederholt”
https://www.welt.de/politik/ausland/plus206247467/Tuerkisch-griechische-Grenze-Die-Angst-dass-sich-2015-wiederholt.html

23 February 2022 – Al Monitor
“Turkey’s quota plan for refugees alarms rights activists”
https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2022/02/turkeys-quota-plan-refugees-alarms-rights-activists#ixzz7REC5rLej

8 April 2022 – Deutschlandfunk
“Syrische Flüchtlinge in der Türkei - Schutz ohne sichere Zukunft“
https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/syrische-fluechtlinge-in-der-tuerkei-102.html

21 April 2022 – Arab News
“Turkey’s refugee problem at the center of heated debates”
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2068226/middle-east

13 June 2022 – Arab News
“Turkey introduces new restrictions on refugees”
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2102056/middle-east

29 June 2022 – Arab News
“Populist Turkish politicians stoke tensions over Syrian refugees as elections loom”
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2113401/middle-east

Own Articles & Op-Eds

3 December 2019 – AufRuhr. Das Magazin der Stiftung Mercator
“Integration informell”
https://www.aufruhr-magazin.de/europa/2810/

6 May 2022 – Tagesspiegel
“Die Grenzen der Aufnahmebereitschaft - Türkische Lektionen für den Umgang mit Ukraine-Flüchtlingen”
https://www.tagesspiegel.de/politik/die-grenzen-der-aufnahmebereitschaft-tuerkische-lektionen-fuer-den-umgang-mit-ukraine-fluechtlingen/28311036.html

Friedrich Püttmann

PhD Candidate

European Institute

About me

Academic Supervisors

Peer-reviewed journal articles

Other academic publications

Policy papers

Appearances in the media