Dr. Rabigül Erkmen: Between Being a Citizen of the World and a Stranger in One’s Own Home
At the beginning of August 2026, the Warsaw Observatory of Culture published an article by researcher, writer, and human rights activist Dr Rabigül Erkmen, who is nearing the conclusion of her ICORN residency in the Polish capital.
The article traces Erkmen’s journey from East Turkestan to her university years in Beijing, exploring the conflicting experiences of estrangement and belonging she encountered as a Uyghur woman. It reflects on her search for a safe space in academia, her often turbulent and dangerous journeys back to East Turkestan, and the realities of state surveillance.
The article then follows Erkmen’s pursuit of both a doctoral degree and a sense of identity in Turkey during a particularly difficult period, when members of her family were detained in internment camps by the Chinese authorities. It also examines the transnational repression she experienced in Turkey as a consequence of her human rights advocacy. Erkmen reflects on the fragility of identity as defined by official documents and the inner conflicts this can create.
Turning to exile and her ICORN residency in Warsaw, Erkmen writes about the uncertainty of living between what may be a temporary refuge and a permanent future. She shares her reflections on how exile and migration are experienced differently across first-, second-, and third-generation migrant communities, and on the varying degrees of connection that bind people to their homelands.
The article explores themes of belonging, identity, estrangement, longing, and loss, and considers what these concepts mean for a person who has moved across diverse geographical, intellectual, social, and cultural contexts. Throughout, a recurring thread is the enduring experience of being a stranger, both in the world and, at times, in one’s own home.
You can read the article here.
Rabigül Erkmen
Rabigül Erkmen is a researcher, writer, and an advocate for human and women’s rights,with a special focus on Uyghur language, culture, and the plight of the Uyghur people in China. She holds a PhD in Turkology from Hacettepe University in Ankara. Her PhD thesis analysed Uyghur manuscripts which are part of the Gunnar Jarring Collection at Lund University, Sweden.
In September 2024, Rabigül arrived in Warsaw, Poland, to take up the city’s first ICORN residency. Over the past two years, Erkmen has continued her advocacy and academic work on Uyghur issues while participating in numerous local, national, and international events focused on human rights and freedom of expression.
