Between Hospitality and Hostility: Public Attitudes and State Policies Toward Syrian Refugees in Turkey

Abstract

This article provides an overview of the public attitudes and state policies toward Syrian refugees in Turkey between 2011 and 2020. Turkey’s policies toward refugees and the Syrian conflict have gradually changed over the course of the last nine years (2011–2020). Turkey’s legal approach to Syrian refugees has transformed from nonrecognition to recognition and from recognition to integration. Likewise, its military strategy has grown from one of limited engagement into one of active engagement in the face of ISIS attacks and YPG’s consolidation of power in northern Syria. Contrary to the generous policies adopted toward Syrian refugees during the early years of the Syrian civil war, a nativist turn and the weaponization of refugees against the European Union came to characterize the country’s approach in recent years as the country became more involved militarily in the Syrian conflict.