Business People in War Times, the ‘Fluid Capital’ and the ‘Shy Diaspora’: The Case of Syrians in Turkey

Abstract

Due to intensive conflict, a significant amount of Syrian capital flight has funnelled to Turkey since 2011. Drawing upon fieldwork conducted in five major Turkish cities which have hosted the highest number of Syrian business people, this paper first reveals the convergence of the interests of the host state and of the displaced capital owners, as well as the increasing transnationalization of Syrian economic practices. It then assesses the capacity and/or willingness of the Syrian business people to organize themselves as an interest group regarding their interests in Turkey and to assist the process of conflict resolution in Syria. Finally, the paper reflects upon whether a hybrid identity is in the making within the Syrian business diaspora in Turkey. Our findings suggest that the Syrian business diaspora in Turkey is evolving itself into a transnational business community, and developing hybrid socio-economic practices. Yet, we delineate this flourishing community as ‘shy’ because the issues concerning both domestic and Syrian politics are carefully being avoided to keep stability and unity within. This consequently hinders the Syrian business community to form itself as an interest group in Turkey focused on conflict resolution and post-conflict reconstruction in Syria.

The Ukraine/Russia conflict: Geopolitical and international business strategies

“…Military history is a popular topic that is continually discussed in the media and in cultural contexts (AkÇalI & Görmüs ¸, 2021). The same applies to international business practices but in a different way.…”

Little Aleppo: The neighbourhood experiences of Syrian refugees in Adana, Turkey, ‘poor to poor, peer to peer’

“…Şimşek rightly emphasises, for instance, that while discrimination creates a barrier to the settlement processes of Syrian refugees who lack economic resources and who are less skilled, this is not the case for Syrians who have come to Turkey with economic capital (Şimşek, 2021). Wealthier refugees have been more easily accepted thanks to their effectively immediate and positive contribution to the Turkish economy (Akçalı and Görmüş, 2021).…”

“…Turner (2015) has exposed that in Lebanon and Jordan the (non-)encampment of Syrian refugees allows these states to better manage their labour markets and labour forces (Ibid: 399). Refugees also bring their capital to the host countries, as Dinçer et al (2013: 28) and Akçalı and Görmüs ¸(2021) have demonstrated in the case of the contribution made by Syrian refugee business people to the Turkish economy.…”