Forced migration, citizenship, and space: the case of Syrian Kurdish refugees in İstanbul

Kılıçaslan, Gülay

doi:10.1017/npt.2016.8

Cited by 18 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…On the other hand, in some other neighborhoods where Kurdish forced migrants settled in the 1990s, Syrian Kurds were welcomed and more easily became part of neighborhood networks (Kılıçaslan 2016). Yazidis, however, with their double difference of religion and ethnicity, got the worst treatment.…”

Section: Sparing Giftsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The gift of hospitality and the (un)welcoming of Syrian migrants in Turkey

Alkan

2021

American Ethnologist

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As of 2020, Turkey was home to 3.6 million Syrian migrants who fled violence in their country after the uprisings of 2011. Although they are not recognized as refugees, Syrian migrants have been granted the right to self‐settlement in Turkey. The Turkish state has promoted this reception as a form of hospitality and generosity. The state's elevation of hospitality has been criticized, however, for reinforcing inequalities. More broadly, the concept of hospitality itself has been scrutinized for its immediate affinity to hostility. But as revealed by ethnographic work with Istanbul's neighborhood aid networks, “hospitality” at the grassroots level is governed by principles of the gift. In everyday interactions, it can catalyze a cycle of reciprocal returns that may lead to long‐term relationships. Countering the argument that hospitality is always paired with hostility, this ethnography shows that it can also turn strangers into relatable Others. [gift, hospitality, neighborhoods, reciprocity, Syrian refugees, Istanbul, Turkey]

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Section: Sparing Giftsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The gift of hospitality and the (un)welcoming of Syrian migrants in Turkey

Alkan

2021

American Ethnologist

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“…Displaced Syrians in Turkey are highly diverse in terms of their socio-economic and cultural backgrounds and their displacement and post-displacement experiences. The majority of them fled to cities and towns in southeast Turkey due to several reasons: their hope to return to Syria; the similarity in social and cultural norms; the existence of relatives from the same tribes, or families; and the Arab ethnic origin of many of the Turkish inhabitants of southeast border areas (Orhan 2014; Kilicaslan 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The emerging intersectional performative gender of displaced Syrian women in southeast Turkey

Muhanna-Matar

2021

Gender, Place & Culture

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This article explores the interconnection between intersectionality and gender performativity.It aims to understand how the interplay between multiple identities based on gender, nationality, ethnicity, religion and sexuality contributes to shaping different forms of gender performativity within the context of Syrians' displacement in Turkey. The article presents an analysis of interview data collected from 40 Syrian refugee women living in three southeast Turkish border cities: Gaziantep, Mardin and Sanliurfa. The research used the method of personal narrative interviewing to explore changing gender practices in the context of displacement. It is argued that the emerging gender performativity of Syrian refugee women is shaped by the intersecting of their multiple identities; the interconnection between the past and the present experiences of these identities; and the different effects of identity practices over time and place on women's lived experience and social relations.

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“…Unlike the groups that took part in mob violence and lynching attempts against radical left activists and members of the Kurdish movement, the perpetrators of the violent assaults against refugees across Turkey do not belong to organized political groups. Reports and analyses of incidents of violence against refugees (Kılıçaslan 2016) indicate that having citizenship is the cross‐cutting characteristic of the perpetrators. As has been the case in many other countries receiving asylum seekers, refugees, and undocumented immigrants (Gold 2019), the degraded legal status and ambiguous position of the Syrian refugees in Turkey play a fundamental role in the constitution and reinforcement of hierarchies between the host community and the Syrians, which contributes to the emergence of an environment of violence against the latter.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Governance through discipline in the neighbourhood: Syrian refugees and Turkish citizens in urban life

Saraçoğlu

Bélanger²

2021

Canadian Geographies / Géographies canadiennes

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The regulation of refugees via discipline takes place not only in camps but also in urban life where refugees' use of space may be structured and restricted.• Syrians' liminal status lays the foundation for the construction of their presence as an anomaly that is to be disciplined by host citizens in urban life. • The discipline in the neighbourhood not only depoliticizes the Syrian refugees, but also the host community.In this paper, we contend that the regulation of refugees by means of discipline is not limited to camps; it also takes place within the context of urban life. This is particularly relevant for Turkey, where only 1.5% of the 3.7 million Syrian refugees live in the camps while the rest are dispersed across Turkish cities. Our fieldwork conducted in the city of İzmir indicates that the processes of governing refugees extend into the neighbourhoods through "informal" disciplinary techniques deployed by citizens. The disciplinary techniques could take various forms, such as socio-spatial distancing and corporal violence. The discipline in the neighbourhoods sets limits on the Syrians' collective presence in the city and inculcates the possible results they could face if they attempt to breach these limits. The disciplinary actions of the host community unfold in the context of the Turkish state's legal regulations and discursive strategies that circumscribe Syrians to a specific political position relative to the state and, by extension, to the citizens. The process of disciplining refugees in the neighbourhoods depoliticizes Syrian refugees by obstructing their collective will to contest their precarious status and the exploitative working conditions.

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Forced migration, citizenship, and space: the case of Syrian Kurdish refugees in İstanbul

Abstract: The influx of hundreds of thousands of people from Syria

Cited by 18 publications

References 15 publications

The gift of hospitality and the (un)welcoming of Syrian migrants in Turkey

The gift of hospitality and the (un)welcoming of Syrian migrants in Turkey

The emerging intersectional performative gender of displaced Syrian women in southeast Turkey

Governance through discipline in the neighbourhood: Syrian refugees and Turkish citizens in urban life

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