'Us vs. Them': Stigma, discrimination, social exclusion and human rights violations in Erdoğan’s Turkey

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study highlights the experiences of Turkish asylum seekers who have been persecuted, victimized, stigmatized, labeled, discriminated against, prosecuted, segregated, and targeted following the Turkish government crackdown after the failed coup attempt in July 2016 and settled in the United States, Canada, and European countries. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, field notes, and documentation, conducted, and subsequently analyzed using the principles of Transcendental Phenomenological Analysis. After examining the most frequently repeated concepts in the interviews, the following three themes emerged: 1) labeling, 2) targeting, and 3) social pressure and psychological status. This study showed the depths of the psychological pressure, discrimination, torture, and humiliation that detained and jailed participants who were excluded from society endured. The paper ends with several recommendations for Turkey to rejoin the community of nations protecting, fulfilling, and respecting human rights.