In social, economic and political terms, Turkey is playing a key role in the Syrian refugee crisis. The number of refugees crossing its border is now in the millions, which makes Turkey conspicuous as both a destination and a transit country. The social adaptation process is an important component of the refugee crises given that Syrian migrants are not temporary but permanent. Since Turkey has the largest number of refugees compared to any other (western) country, it is important to understand how Syrian refugees are perceived by Turkish citizens. By taking the significant influence of media on the integration process into account, the main purpose of this article was to document how Syrian refugees are represented in the media. To achieve the aim, 1,054 news articles published in the summer of 2015 by Turkey’s three largest active news agencies were examined by conducting content analysis. We evaluated temporal milestones and spatial importance in Turkish pattern of reporting refugee-related news and compared the positions of the news agencies. Our findings highlight three issues. Based on the major three codes (refugee policy, illegal crossings, refugee as victim) it is obvious that Syrian refugees in Turkish media are represented as victims struggling to survive. While integration and migration policies are an important part of the solution for the Syrian migration crisis, these topics are the three most reported in the news. Last, but not least, the big chunk of news about humanitarian aid proves that Syrian refugees are evaluated by media in human terms.
Turkey as a country has been hosting the most refugees in the world since 2015. Although it has experienced distinctive immigration in past years, the Syrian refugee flow has increased in significance in terms of quantity and quality, with the number now expressed in millions. Thus the aim of this study is to display the similarities and differences of Syrians' migration and integration processes in comparison to other forced migrants. To reach this aim, 32 in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted in Istanbul, the city that has received the most migrants. We have studied refugees' routes and their social networks using content analysis. Kunz' s models are confirmed with our sample by analyzing arrival paths to Istanbul and a typology for Syrians in this context is developed. Then, the study reveals no family network among non-Syrians migrants' settlements, even though migration is a family decision for Syrians. Moreover, having relatives is seen as an opportunity to build networks and to get a job in order to become involved in their new environment, with Istanbul set as the destination. In addition, labor market participation has been identified as the primary subject for evaluating the integration process. Relations with employer and work-related problems are significant parts of the integration phase and challenging for both groups. Furthermore, informal work conditions have resulted in not only discrimination but also problems such as wage payment issues, skill mismatching, child labor, and more importantly work accidents.
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