The voluntary loss situations of Turkish citizenship

The origin of the legal and political bond between an individual and the state, known as citizenship, can be traced back to Ancient Greece. Approaches to citizenship have undergone significant changes throughout history, especially in the last century. In the past hundred years, attitudes towards citizenship have become widely accepted internationally. These attitudes acknowledge the right of individuals to avoid statelessness, to hold dual or multiple citizenships, and to have the freedom to change their citizenship. The subject of this study is essentially the freedom of individuals to change their citizenship. Indeed, no one should be forcibly subjected to citizenship. In Turkish law, to prevent the forced retention of citizenship, certain institutions have been established to allow voluntary loss of citizenship. These institutions are fundamentally divided into two categories: renunciation of citizenship and relinquishment of citizenship by exercising the right to choose. The institution of renunciation of citizenship was first regulated in positive terms by the Ottoman Nationality Law of 1869 in Turkish law. With the Republic, the option of relinquishing citizenship by exercising the right to choose has also been included in positive regulations. According to the system of the current Turkish Citizenship Law numbered 5901, the first place is given to renunciation of citizenship. In addition to the individual's will, the authorization of the competent authority (the state) is required for renunciation, making it the natural form of voluntary loss of citizenship. In the procedure of relinquishing citizenship by exercising the right to choose, the individual's will plays a decisive role, and the competent authority is only required to make a determination. Ultimately, it should be noted that relinquishing citizenship by exercising the right to choose is an easier way to relinquish citizenship compared to obtaining permission to renounce citizenship. However, while obtaining permission to renounce citizenship requires only having acquired Turkish citizenship in anyway, the procedure for relinquishing citizenship by exercising the right to choose is limited to specific individuals specified in the Law.