Adem Muzaffer Erol is a PhD candidate in the Department of Jewish Studies and Religious Studies at the University of Potsdam, working under the supervision of Professor Sina Rauschenbach. He obtained his Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science from Akdeniz University in Turkey. He later completed his Master’s degree in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology of the Middle East at Marmara University, where his thesis focused on Civil-Military Relations in Israel. In addition to his doctoral studies, he serves as the coordinator of the Sephardic Perspectives Research and Reading Group at the Selma Stern Center.

His doctoral research investigates the post-2008 migration of Sephardic Jews from Turkey to Israel and explores their integration processes within Israeli society. While existing literature on Turkish Jewish migration to Israel and identity construction often employs concepts such as “unseen Israelis” or “Turkish diaspora”, it generally overlooks the developments in the 2000s. Erol’s dissertation critically engages with the concept of the “unseen”, proposing that its Turkish counterpart is encapsulated in the Ladino term “Kayades”, meaning “silence.” He argues that Kayades represents a complex, multi-layered identity strategy and introduces a theoretical model to conceptualize it, thereby contributing a novel perspective to the field.

Since 2016, the term Avlaremoz—Ladino for “Let us talk”—has gained prominence among Turkish Jews. Erol contends that just as Kayades and unseen share conceptual parallels, Avlaremoz similarly corresponds to new patterns of identity construction emerging after 2008. This allows for a comparative analysis of different waves of migration to Israel. His central research question is: if Kayades corresponds to unseen in the Israeli context, how is Avlaremoz manifested in the post-2008 migratory experience, and what are its sociocultural expressions within Israel? He addresses this question through qualitative data gathered via in-depth interviews conducted with Turkish Sephardic immigrants in Israel.

Erol’s broader research objective is to shed light on how migration motives and integration experiences of Turkish Sephardic Jews have evolved over time. While the migration of this community to Israel is not a new phenomenon—predating the establishment of the Israeli state—his study seeks to illuminate the transformations in both migration drivers and integration trajectories, particularly in the post-2008 period.