Immigrants In Turkey Research Articles

Analysıs of the 6 February 2023 Turkey earthquake as a challenge ın dısaster sociology under the guıdance of Bruno Latour and Terrestrıal

Current studies in disaster sociology, which were initiated and developed mostly in the USA upon the request of the army, are far from meeting the needs today. Today, more than ever, new theoretical and methodological approaches that are not human-centered are needed. The research, a part of which is presented here, aims to render invisible the damages and losses suffered by those who are marginalized by the powerful, in disasters in general and earthquakes in particular. The main question of this research is how to address the damages suffered by soil plants and animals, including immigrants in Turkey, due to the disaster on 6February 2023.(Based on this, the main question of the study is how to address the damages of the natural environment, including plants, animals and soils, as well as Syrian immigrants in Turkey, who were affected by the earthquakes centered in Kahramanmaraş on 6February 2023, which we experienced most recently, will be addressed with an antipositivist approach.) For this purpose, unlike classical sociological approaches, based on relational sociology, how immigrants, plants, animals and soil are affected together during the uncertainty and complexity in daily life has been analyzed based on available written and visual documents. The findings were discussed with a holistic view, based on the ‘One World’ terminology suggested by relational sociologist Bruno Latour. It has been revealed that due to the earthquake turning into a major disaster, the resident population has become openly or secretly immigrants, and they have been marginalized like other creatures, especially international immigrants, most of whom are Syrians, have been blamed, excluded and rendered invisible. While the research results reveal the inadequacy of classical essentialist sociological approaches based on the basic duality of nature and society, they also show that ‘differences’ and ‘uncertainties’ come to the fore in daily life instead of linear determinations. In addition, while the importance and contributions of interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary studies with concepts such as ‘liminality’ and ‘turning point’ are exhibited, on the other hand, some suggestions are made based on Bruno Latour’s ‘One World’ approach.

Cultural Sensitivity of a Group of Nursing Students' and Attitudes Toward Refugees.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the attitude of nursing students in providing health care to refugees due to cultural differences and to reveal individual factors (age, gender, marital status) affecting negative attitudes. This cross-sectional descriptive correlational study was conducted to determine the intercultural competence of nursing students and their attitudes toward immigrants in Turkey. The sample of the study consisted of 316 nursing students. The Negative Attitude Toward Immigrants Scale scores of the participants were high, however, the intercultural competence level of the health professionals was positive. A weak negative statistically significant relationship was found the Negative Attitude Toward Immigrants Scale and the Cross-Cultural Competence of Healthcare Professionals Scale (r = -.247, p = .000). Our study revealed that nursing students have negative attitudes toward immigrants, and factors such as gender and caring for patients from a different ethnic origin, discomfort in providing care impacted their attitudes.

An analysis of number sense skills of Syrian immigrant students by gender and duration of stay

Considering the negative situations faced by the migrating societies, it is known that the language and culture factors exert a stronger influence on the mathematics course than the other undesirable conditions. From this perspective, it is known that the mathematical performance of individuals is likely to increase by placing the concept of number sense in the center. Therefore, the present study aimed to examine the number sense skills of Syrian immigrant students with reference to gender and duration of stay as an immigrant as well as to determine their conceptual awareness of number sense-related components. The descriptive correlational design was used in this study in which 152 immigrant students participated. Web-based two-tier test was used in the data collection process, and descriptive statistical values and t-test for independent samples in the analysis of the data. As a result, it was found that male students compared to female students, as well as those who had been immigrants in Turkey for a long time compared to those for a shorter time showed higher number sense performances, though most of the students were at a low number sense level. In addition, the differences appeared significantly in relation to the variables of gender and duration of stay as an immigrant. A surprising result is that most students preferred number sense-based solutions as the basis for their answers. It can thus be concluded that the number sense performances of Syrian immigrant students are lower than expected and that future studies are needed not only to focus on teachers but also on teaching methods and materials in order to take immigrant problems under control and to come up with solutions with a view to overcome such challenges.

Diaspora Mobilization and Identity Construction of Ukrainian Immigrants in Turkey: “Ukrainians Started to Become More Ukrainian”

Abstract The article analyzes the role of Ukrainian associations on construction of immigrant identity in Turkey at the intersection of diaspora politics and diaspora-lived experiences. Ukrainian immigrant associations – whose numbers and members rapidly increased after Russia’s annexation of Crimea – became critical players in immigrants’ ethno-national identity construction. This aligned with the Ukrainian government’s changing diaspora policy and shaped immigrants’ relationship with the homeland. The associations, therefore, facilitated diaspora activism from above and below. These associations are mainly engaged in activities related to the teaching of Ukrainian language, history, and culture so that immigrants can distinguish themselves from Russians and discover their own uniqueness. They also consider the migrant status of Ukrainians in Turkey and develop an awareness of ethno-national identity by negotiating transnational identities.

Surviving in the Digital Space: Digital Literacy of Syrian Immigrants in Turkey

Turkey is one of the countries hosting the largest number of Syrian immigrants in the world. Integration
 of Syrian immigrants is one of the problems Turkey has to overcome. Many studies around the world
 show that digital communication tools can be used effectively by immigrants in many integration processes
 such as language learning, learning about culture and socialization. In this study, which was carried out
 as a project of The Scientific And Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TÜBİTAK), we aimed to
 determine the digital literacy levels of Syrian immigrants, which is a prerequisite for their integration by
 using digital tools. We applied a digital literacy scale adapted to Arabic to Syrian immigrants. The study,
 which was conducted both online and face-to-face, investigated the general digital literacy status of Syrian
 immigrants and their digital literacy levels according to variables such as gender, age, education level,
 income level, access to the internet, and Turkish citizenship status. Both at the general level and at the level
 of all variables, the digital literacy of Syrian immigrants was determined to be “Below Average / Weak”.
 Especially in European countries, public policies have started to be established to increase the digital literacy
 levels of isolated groups such as immigrants. In order to overcome the immigrant integration problem in
 Turkey through digital communication, public policies should be established to increase the digital literacy
 levels of immigrants.

Assessing the Psychometric Qualities of the Refugee Post-Migration Stress Scale: A Study of Syrian Immigrants in Turkey

The aim of this study is to adapt the Refugee Post-Migration Stress Scale (RPMS) to Syrian immigrants living in Türkiye and to determine the factors associated with RPMS. In this context, the WHO-5 Well-Being Index was administered with RPMS to 250 participants living in Mardin, one of Turkey's border provinces with Syria, for the study's first phase. In the second stage, RPMS and Multidimensional Perceived Social Support Scale were administered to 409 Syrians together with the demographic information form prepared by the researchers. According to the CFA results applied in the first stage, the psychometric properties of the adapted version of the scale were found to be satisfactory. In the second study, it was found that social support was negatively related to the post-migration stress levels of the participants and PMS differed significantly in terms of marital status, educational status, social support, income and employment status, language proficiency, hope for the future, and ethnicity variables. Study implications and limitations are discussed.

Factors Associated with the Prevalence of Postpartum Anxiety Disorder and Depression in Syrian Migrant Women Living in Turkey: A Cross-Sectional Study.

The global migration trend has brought attention to the mental health of immigrant populations, especially postpartum women. The prevalence of postpartum anxiety and depression among these populations remains a growing concern. This study aimed to explore the factors associated with postpartum anxiety and depression among immigrant women, with a special emphasis on Syrian migrants in Turkey. A cross-sectional design was employed, enrolling postpartum women who visited the Strengthened Migrant Health Center in Istanbul between July and December 2022. Data were collected using a three-part questionnaire comprising sociodemographic details and scores from the Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale (EPDS) and Beck Anxiety Scale (BAI). The average age of participants was 25.73 years. The mean EPDS and BAI scores were low at 1.27 and 3.85, respectively. Notably, 97.1% of women scored below the EPDS cut-off point of 13. EPDS scores showed a significant relationship between income levels and COVID-19 vaccination status, while BAI scores were significantly associated with educational levels. There was an inverse correlation between EPDS scores and the number of cohabitants in a household. The observed low rates of postpartum depression and anxiety could be attributed to the accessible health services and psychosocial support for immigrants in Turkey. It would be useful to conduct multicenter and comprehensive epidemiological studies on migrant puerperas.

What are the Determinants of Attitudes Towards Immigrants in Turkey? Evidence from the World Values Survey

In this study, I aim to find the impact of social values and demographic characteristics on attitudes toward immigrants in Turkey. For the empirical analysis, wave 7 data from the World Values Survey (WVS) is used. Individual-level data from 2018 shows that religion and nationalism play a key role in increasing negative attitudes toward immigrants. As individuals' social class improves, their anti-immigrant sentiments tend to decrease. However, when there is concern about potential competition for scarce jobs in the labor market, social class jumps result in discrimination against immigrants. The logit regression coefficients for political opinion, education, age and marital status do not show robust results in different models using different measures of negative attitudes. Thus, demographic characteristics do not systematically influence opinions toward immigration in Turkey. Rather, values and socioeconomic position in society have an impact on opinions toward immigrants.

Attitudes towards Afghan refugees and immigrants in Turkey: A Twitter analysis

Data generated by social media platforms such as Twitter provide a unique opportunity to examine large-scale public communication produced spontaneously and in real-time, and consequently, contribute to comprehensively understanding the complex set of attitudes towards refugees. The present study utilises a qualitative approach to explore host members’ attitudes towards refugees on social media during the global crisis. In particular, we examine perceptions of a broader population, Twitter users, and analyse public reactions towards Afghan refugees expressed within tweets during the pandemic in Turkey as a response to the 2021 Afghan refugee influx. We analysed and coded 2,686 tweets using qualitative content analysis based on four main categories: 1) Representations of Afghan refugees and immigrants, 2) main causes for rejecting them, 3) taking action against them and their supporters, and 4) positive attitudes towards them. Results highlighted the prevalence of negative perceptions about, dehumanisation of, and racism towards Afghan refugees in Turkey mainly due to perceived realistic, symbolic, demographic, security, moral, and health threats from them. However, the findings also showed there were positive, albeit very few, attitudes towards Afghan refugees in the form of solidarity, help and empathy. We discuss these findings in relation to the existing literature on host society members’ attitudes towards refugees and immigrants and why we need to qualitatively examine these attitudes on social media.

Transformation of Condolence in the Digital Age: A Case Study on Turkish Culture

<p>The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the practice of condolence of digital immigrants in Turkey. Although digital media technologies expand communication opportunities and networks, they also cause changes in social relations between people. Versatile communication has become possible thanks to digital media technologies as opposed to non-interactive or unilateral communication of conventional media. Nowadays, it is possible to send a message to dozens of people with just one click. As such, new attitudes and behaviors are observed in the society along with the developing possibilities of digital media. The hypothesis of the study is "digital immigrants that use social media platforms in Turkey has experienced a change in the practice of condolences." In this regard, the emphasis put on the changes in condolence practices that occur across Turkey is discussed along with new Internet technologies. We conducted interviews with 15 participants among the ages of 52 and 69 between April and June 2020. According to the findings, we see that many of the participants adopt traditional condolence practices, but they do not devalue the condolence practices that occur on social media. We observed that digital condolence practices have started to coexist with traditional condolence practices, but this change should not be perceived as the traditional one is beginning to be erased or disappeared. </p>

Individual Attitudes towards Immigration in Turkey: Evidence from the European Social Survey

One of the reasons why people hold anti-immigration attitudes is the fear that immigrants “rob jobs” of natives and decrease wages. However, academic literature finds that this is not the case. Nevertheless, in various countries, people still tend to oppose immigration. Opposition to immigration was particularly high in Turkey in the early 2000s, where almost half of the respondents to the Turkish part of the European Social Survey reported they would prefer to allow no immigrants into Turkey. This is although immigration to Turkey is very low. Turkey is becoming an important destination country as conflicts in neighboring countries force many people to flee. Therefore, understanding the opposition to immigration in Turkey is crucial for managing age immigration flows efficiently. For this purpose, we investigate the determinants of attitudes towards immigration in Turkey using the European Social Survey and Turkish population census data. The findings of the ordered probit model reveal that Turkish people tend to hold more negative attitudes towards immigration where the regional share of immigrants is higher. The little chance of contact with immigrants in Turkey through a lower share of immigrants compared to other European countries seems to influence natives’ pro-immigrant attitudes negatively.

Investigating the Religion-Based Solidarity Shown by the Turkish Community to the Syrian Forced Immigrants During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Although the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced the quality of life for all humans all over the world, it was reported that the pandemic succeeded in bringing people closer to each other by activating mechanical solidarity and a sense of acknowledgment. On the other hand, the forced immigrants were more affected during the pandemic compared to other groups, but there is no evidence that the pandemic made the hosts get closer to the forced immigrants. Looking from the religion-based solidarity point of view, this paper tries to investigate if the Turkish community became closer to the Syrians during the pandemic. Using an original data set, the result of the Mann-Whitney U test shows that there is moderate evidence of the role of religion in bringing the hosts closer to the forced immigrants in Turkey, anticipating that there is a small role of religion-based solidarity in Turkey during and after the pandemic.

GÖÇMENLERE KARŞI TUTUMLARIN PARTİ TERCİHLERİNE ETKİSİ: TÜRKİYE ÖRNEĞİ

2011’de Suriye İç Savaşı’nın başlamasıyla bugüne kadar Türkiye’ye göç eden 3 milyon 750 bin civarındaki sığınmacı ile birlikte Türkiye siyasetinde göçmenlere karşı tutumlar da araştırılmaya başlanmıştır. Önceki çalışmalar göçmenlere karşı tutumların çeşitli boyutlarını analiz etmiş olsa da bu tutumların parti tercihlerine etkisi diğer ülkelere kıyasla Türkiye’de daha az çalışılmış bir konudur.
 Amaç: Bu çalışma 2018 yılında toplanan Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (2019) verisini kullanarak Türkiye’de göçmenlere karşı tutumların parti tercihine olan etkisini nicel yöntemler ile analiz etmektedir.
 Yöntem: Göçmenlere karşı tutumların parti tercihine etkisi farklı lojistik regresyon modelleri ile yapılan analizlerle ölçülmüştür. Kontrol değişkenleri olarak Türkiye siyasetinde daha önceden çalışılmış dindarlık ve sol-sağ düzlemindeki konum gibi merkez-çevre teorisine dayanan ve ekonomik oy verme davranışını ölçen değişkenler ile demografik değişkenler kullanılmıştır.
 Bulgular: Sonuçlar göstermektedir ki göçmenlere karşı olumsuz tutumlar arttıkça İyi Parti’ye oy verme olasılığı artarken, AK Parti’ye oy verme olasılığı azalmaktadır. Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi’ne oy verme tercihi ile göçmenlere karşı tutumlar arasında sadece demografik değişkenlerle kontrol edildiğinde olumlu bir ilişki varken, dindarlık ve seçmenin sol-sağ düzlemindeki konumu ile birlikte kontrol edildiğinde ise bu etki istatistiksel olarak anlamsızlaşmaktadır. Son olarak ekonomik değerlendirmeler de regresyona eklendiğinde göçmenlere karşı tutumların parti tercihine etkisi tüm modellerde istatistiksel olarak anlamsız hale gelmektedir. 
 Özgünlük: Veri setindeki diğer ülkeler ile kıyaslandığında Türkiye’de göçmenlere karşı olumsuz tutumlar oldukça yüksekken bu tutumların parti tercihini belirlemede zayıf kalması yanıtlanması önemli bir soru olarak ortaya çıkmaktadır.

). Immigrant entrepreneurship in Turkey: history, development and current market

Purpose – The aim of this study is to understand the entrepreneurial activities of immigrants in Turkey through a review of available literature and data. This article arises from the deficient immigrant entrepreneurship literature and aims to examine the history and the recent developments of immigrants and immigrant businesses in Turkey. This will provide the reader with a general overview and in-depth information about immigrant businesses in Turkey. A detailed industrial view can help to Methodology – Through an investigation of literature and secondary data, this study provides a survey on immigrant businesses. Literature review is a critical method to understand the history of migration movement and migrant entrepreneurship development in Turkey while secondary data is reasonable source to maintain qualified information about the current situation of migrant entrepreneurship. Findings – The number of foreigners residing in the Turkey has increased immensely since 2010. There is a seven-fold rise in the number of immigrants in Turkey from 2005 to 2022. This shows the rapid changes that Turkey is going under especially since the beginning of the Syrian Refugee Crisis in 2011. Turkey has quickly become a hub for foreign nationals which is influencing different facets of the country including the demographics, society, and economy. The number of firms established with foreign partners has followed a similar pattern, with a nearly five-fold increase from 2011 to 2021. Turkey is seeing an increasing interest within the immigrant communities from Asia, Africa, and MENA countries. Conclusion – Immigrants face many difficulties in establishing and sustaining a business. These difficulties can be mitigated through government policies and support programs that focus on assisting both immigrant and local community in their business endeavors. Government can support immigrant entrepreneurs by providing language learning opportunities that focus on business Turkish and culture. This will not only help immigrants to learn the language but also assist them in adaptation of the local culture which may speed up their integration process. Keywords: Entrepreneurship, international migration, regional migration, immigrants, migrant entrepreneurship JEL Codes: L26, F22, R23

From “Crisis” to “Harmony”: Syrian Immigrants in Turkey And Religion in the Context of Socio-Cultural Dimensions

Coğrafi konumu sebebiyle Türkiye ‘göç’ olgusuna yabancı olmayan ve sürekli nüfus hareketliliklerinin yaşandığı bir ülke olmuştur. Ancak 2011 yılında başlayan Suriyeli göçü, Türkiye’ye gelen nüfusun büyüklüğü ve geliş süresinin kısalığı bakımından öncekilerden farklılaşmaktadır. Bu çalışma da Türkiye’nin Suriyeli göçmenler deneyimini yerel dinamikleri çerçevesinde ve din faktörünün göz ardı edilmediği bir yaklaşımla ele almaktadır. Söz konusu süreç için literatürde yaygın olarak kullanılan ‘kriz’ nitelendirmesi eleştirilerek yeni bir ‘kriz’ tanımlaması yapılmaktadır. Göçmenlerin Türkiye’ye gelişiyle ilişkilendirilen bazen medya organlarının tek boyutlu yaklaşımlarının bir yansıması bazen de siyasi kutuplaşmanın bir parçası olarak dile getirilen toplumsal algıların varlığına ilişkin temellendirmeler üzerinde durulmaktadır. Bu bağlamda yapılan araştırmalar ve istatistiki veriler ışığında bu algıların somut karşılığının olup olmadığı ve bunlarla mücadelenin niteliği tartışılmaktadır. Ayrıca toplumdaki ‘din’ olgusuyla sosyo-kültürel yapı arasındaki ilişki, göçmenlerin uyumu süreciyle ilintilendirilmektedir. Bu çerçevede Türkiye’de yaşanan sürecin önemli aktörlerinden Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı’nın ‘göçmenlerin uyumu’na katkı niteliğindeki çalışmaları irdelenmektedir. Bunun yanında Türkiye’nin Suriyeli göçmenler deneyimini özgün kılan özellikler ele alınmaktadır. ‘Din’ faktörü ile bu özellikler arasındaki ilişki karşılıklı etkileşim ve tamamlayıcılık boyutları vurgulanarak analiz edilmektedir. Türkiye’nin Suriyeli göçmenler deneyiminin Batılı, ötekileştirici, ayrıştırıcı ‘kriz-kaos’ söylemlerinden uzak, ‘din’ faktörünün dikkate alındığı ve daha yerli bir perspektifle ele alınması çalışmanın ilgili literatüre en önemli katkılardan biridir.

Effects of the Covid-19 Pandemic Process on Migrants in Turkey

The aim of this study is to examine the effects of the pandemic process on immigrants in Turkey based on the findings of previous studies and to make policy recommendations based on the results obtained. The question of the research is “What are the effects of the pandemic process on immigrants in Turkey?” presented in the form. In order to answer this question, five sub-questions were sought in the study. In the study, in which qualitative research methods and techniques were used, the document analysis technique, which is one of the qualitative data collection techniques, was used to obtain the data to be used. In order to provide data for the study, first of all, national and international databases were searched by using keywords, word groups and subject headings that could provide data about the study subject. The documents obtained with the easily accessible sampling method were evaluated by considering the questions to be answered in the study. As a result of the evaluation, themes were created by taking into account the study areas covered in the researches. The data related to the themes created are transferred under the related theme title. Finally, quantitative data on the themes created are presented in a table. Although the data presented by the studies differ from each other, when these data are taken as a whole, it is seen that the majority of immigrants have information about Covid-19. However, the rate of immigrants accessing information through public institutions and organizations is very low. Social media and traditional media are the channels that immigrants use most in accessing information. In this process, some of the immigrants who applied to the hospital units had problems in accessing health services. A significant part of the children of immigrants did not have any problems in accessing distance education. A significant part of the immigrants had problems in accessing their livelihoods in this process. As a result of this situation, immigrants also experienced problems in accessing adequate food, shelter opportunities, energy resources and basic hygiene requirements.

Education and the Politics of Cultural Survival for Uyghur Immigrants in Turkey

ABSTRACT This paper explores the challenges of language and cultural maintenance through education among one immigrant ethnic group, the Uyghurs within Turkey, where the Uyghur population has grown in recent years. Uyghurs are a Turkic-speaking Muslim ethnic minority group of some 10 million people within China, originating from China’s northwest Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Data for the paper are based on ethnographic research conducted in Istanbul, where the Uyghur population in Turkey is the largest. The paper illustrates how the local and global environment impact how culture is constructed, and that identity construction and language maintenance projects are not ideologically neutral. It contributes to the understudied link between language, ethnicity, politics, and education by exploring the ways in which the Uyghur community in Istanbul uses non-formal education to maintain and transmit their language and cultural traditions in their host environment.

“Walls”, The Ancient Issue of Humanity: Challenge of Social Work With “The Other”

The settled one marginalizes the newcomer and defines the existing problem through them. The first reaction against the other is to set boundaries by building a wall. In the second stage, reached after the walls are formed, there is now the inside and outside of the wall. Then, for the settled, the inside is identified with the good, and the outside with the bad. The starting point of this study is the settled society building walls between newcomers and themselves, and through this, othering them. Therefore, this study aims to show the processes and forms of othering of refugees and immigrants in Turkey. In line with the aforementioned purpose, the phenomenon of othering is examined through the (immigrant) “Natashas” and (refugee) Syrians. In this context, for a two-way practice, it is emphasized that the social worker should not only have a strong social inclusion policy for immigrants, but also raise the awareness of the settled society about othering.

Life and Its Meaning of First-generation Immigrant Koreans in Turkey: The Image of a Contributor

This study aims to understand the image and meaning of life by examining the lives of first-generation Korean immigrants in Turkey by conducting an oral life story survey on 9 first-generation Korean immigrants living in Turkey for 20 to 40 years. Based on the oral contents of the narrators, three questions were largely “life before immigrating to Turkey, life after immigrating to Turkey, life in the future, and the most memorable moment”.BR First, as a result of examining the life before immigration to Turkey based on the oral contents of the narrators, most of them had positive experiences with foreign countries and foreigners, and it was found that these experiences had an impact on their immigration to Turkey.BR Next, we looked at the oral contents of the narrators about their lives after moving to Turkey. First, it is understood that the reason for choosing Turkey was that they wanted to live in a foreign country with advanced culture at the time. Second, as a result of checking life as an immigrant through life in Turkey, it appears that they made a thorough effort to belong to the immigrant society. These efforts were more like conformity by actively accepting and acknowledging systems and commands, rather than adaptation.BR Finally, the narratos

Intersectional Discrimination: Definition, Scope, and Migration Research from the perspective of Intersectionality

Along with the widespread rise in immigration and the increase in the number of immigrants, academic interest in migration research has also grown. Although there are many studies conducted in various fields, the number of studies who approached migration from an intersectional perspective is rather small. The number of studies approaching migration and the social psychological processes of migrants from the perspective of intersectionality is even smaller in Turkey. Considering the large number of immigrants in Turkey, it is obviously essential to understand and study intersectionality in these particular contexts. Therefore, this article is written to explicate the concept of intersectionality and review migration studies adopting an intersectional approach. The basis of the concept of intersectionality, historical background that led to the birth of it, its subtypes as well as the importance of race, class and gender in intersectionality are among the issues discussed in this article. Moreover, with respect to migration studies from the perspective of intersectionality, studies conducted in various culturally diverse countries are outlined. The last but not the least, the prominence of conducting research on intersectionality in the Turkish context is also emphasized. In this review, we aim to present the literature to students and academics in the field as well as to provide direction for future research. Keywords: Migration, intersectionality, intersectional discrimination