Framing Syrians in Turkey: State Control and No Crisis Discourse

Abstract

The mass arrival of Syrian refugees and their continuing presence have triggered many new debates regarding migration in Turkey, which – as a result of its open‐door policy – now hosts the highest number of refugees in the world. Yet, when we investigate the ways political institutions and actors have framed migration, we observe, unlike in European discourses, the complete absence of the word “crisis”. In public statements by politicians, “control” emerges instead as a recurrent (albeit implicit) theme. Here, management of the refugee issue becomes a sign of state power, exercised through various mechanisms. Through analysis of state discourse on Syrians in the Turkish media, we find that crisis framing has been deliberately avoided, which we contend is a sign of an implicit “silencing” via media control. This choice of discourse reflects a clear policy to manage public reactions to the mass arrival of refugees.

Türki̇ye’de Suri̇yeli̇ Siğinmacilara Yaklaşimlar: Temas Ve Tehdi̇t Kuramlarinin Anali̇zi̇

“…Benzer şekilde ortak olmayan dil, din ve kültür göçmenlere yaklaşımları olumsuz etkileyebilir (Schneider, 2008). Yerel toplumsal ve iktisadi hayatın durumu da mültecilere karşı yaklaşımları yakından etkilemektedir (Hopkins, 2010;Legewie, 2013), ki genel olarak Türkiye'deki mülteciler popüler medyada yüksek suç oranlarıyla ve ekonomik krizle beraber anılmakta; ya "tehdit" ya da "kurban" temsilleriyle sunulmaktadır (Sert ve Danış, 2020).…”

“…Böyle bir durumda, Türkiye toplumunun Suriyeli sığınmacılara yaklaşımlarının anlaşılması elzemdir. Geçtiğimiz on yıllık süre içinde Suriyeli sığınmacıların Türkiye'deki durumunu anlamak için yapılan akademik çalışmalar ise iki temel alana yoğunlaştı: bir tarafta siyasi iktidarın tercihlerine ve politikalarına odaklanan ve Suriyeli sığınmacıların durumunu makro siyasi perspektifle ve bilhassa da Avrupa Birliği ile ilişkiler bağlamında ele alan çalışmalar yapıldı (Canefe, 2016;Danış, 2016;İçduygu, 2015;Sert ve Danış, 2020). Diğer taraftan da Suriyeli sığınmacıların deneyimlerine yerel düzeyde odaklanan gözlem ve yüz yüze görüşme metotları kullanan nitel çalışmalar yapıldı (Danış ve Nazlı, 2019;Eder ve Özkul, 2016;Kavak, 2016).…”

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

“…The state's discursive strategies towards the refugees have also been constitutive of their unequal position vis‐à‐vis the Turkish citizens in urban life. As the prospect of Syrians returning to their home country gradually vanished, the state has shifted towards a discourse that depicts Syrians as an unbearable “burden” for Turkey and has sought ways in the international arena to ensure their eventual return (Sert and Danış 2020). At the same time, Turkey and the European Union (EU) use refugees in their bargaining discussions about the opening or closing of borders in their tumultuous political relations (Tsourapas 2019).…”

The Syrian refugee crisis through the lenses of Turkish political discourses: An analysis of deliberations in the Turkish Parliament

“…The paper, with its extensive coding of the Turkish Parliamentary debates, reflects the divide among the five main political parties currently holding seats in the Parliament. In addition, the paper's analysis of qualitative and quantitative political discourses reveals the political parties' preferences, which has become more visible over the refugees and which form the basis of the regulated interactions between its members (Aydın-Düzgit, 2016;Demirsu & Cihangir-Tetik, 2004;Nefes, 2019;Senol Sert & Danış, 2020). This empirical analysis will reveal the issue saliency as well as the multiple dimensions within which the political debates take place.…”

“…This contentious nature of migration and integration highlight the political divisions in many European and non-European countries (Pearlman, 2020;Tsourapas & Zartaloudis, 2019). What lies at the heart of these heated discussions in countries ranging from the USA (Simmons, 2019), the European Union member states (Gattinara, 2017), Turkey (Senol Sert & Danış, 2020) to the Middle East (Tsourapas, 2017) is the fear about the loss of control over borders and its possible political, social, economic, cultural and even ethno-religious repercussions.…”