Skip to content
1981
Diaspora, Rethinking Praxis and Theory in Communication for Development
  • ISSN: 2632-5853
  • E-ISSN: 2632-5861
file format pdf download PDF

Abstract

This study conducts a secondary analysis of national survey data and examines online public discourses regarding Turkish presidential candidates during a contentious election campaign. We explore the relationship between Turkish citizens’ attitudes toward the 3.2 million registered Syrians and the refugee-related messages conveyed by key politicians. Our findings indicate that a majority of Turkish citizens have negative attitudes toward Syrian refugees. Additionally, the discourse shared by presidential candidates on their social media accounts reflects these prevailing negative public sentiments and lacks cohesion or communication for development (C4D) messaging. Based on C4D principles, we suggest that the absence or miscommunication of refugee integration and development initiatives by government institutions may have heightened tensions between the host community and the Syrian diaspora in Türkiye.

Funding
This study was supported by the:
  • BAGEP Award of the Science Academy (Emel Ozdora, 2002 and Ozen Bas, 2024)
© 2025 The Author(s). Published by Intellect Ltd.
This article is Open Access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC-ND), which allows users to copy, distribute and transmit the article as long as the author is attributed, the article is not used for commercial purposes, and the work is not modified or adapted in any way. To view a copy of the licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1386/gdm_00047_1
2026-01-24
2026-04-13

Metrics

Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/gdm/6/1/gdm.6.1.103_Ozdora.html?itemId=/content/journals/10.1386/gdm_00047_1&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

References

  1. Adetunji, A., Silva, M., Tulsiani, N. J. and Adediran, M. (2023), ‘“Like a broom tied together”: A qualitative exploration of social cohesion and its role in community capacity strengthening to support integrated health in Nigeria’, PLOS Global Public Health, 3:10, n.pag., https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgph.0002508.
     [Google Scholar]
  2. AK Parti (@Akparti) (2023), ‘Cumhurbaşkanımız @RTErdogan: Tek vasfı sığınmacı düşmanlığı, yabancı yatırımcı düşmanlığı olan birini yanına alarak tüm bu gerçekleri ters yüz edebileceğini düşünen bir zihniyetle karşı karşıya bulunmamızda ayrı bir facia’, X, 25 May, https://x.com/Akparti/status/1661744596244922370. Accessed 26 October 2025.
  3. Altındağ, O. and Kaushal, N. (2021), ‘Do refugees impact voting behavior in the host country? Evidence from Syrian refugee inflows to Turkey’, Public Choice, 186:1–2, pp. 149–78, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11127-019-00768-3.
     [Google Scholar]
  4. Anon. (2007), World Congress on Communication for Development: Lessons, Challenges, and the Way Forward (English), Washington, DC: World Bank Group, http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/290941468138271611/World-congress-on-communication-for-development-lessons-challenges-and-the-way-forward. Accessed 26 October 2025.
     [Google Scholar]
  5. Aydemir, N. (2023), ‘Framing Syrian refugees in Turkish politics: A qualitative analysis on party group speeches’, Territory, Politics, Governance, 11:4, pp. 658–76, https://doi.org/10.1080/21622671.2021.2012247.
     [Google Scholar]
  6. Beltrán, S. L. R. (1993), ‘Communication for development in Latin America: A forty years appraisal’, in D. Nostbakken and C. Morrow (eds), Cultural Expression in the Global Village, Southbound: Penang, pp. 9–31.
     [Google Scholar]
  7. Bogardus, E. S. (1933), ‘A social distance scale’, Sociology & Social Research, 17, pp. 265–71.
     [Google Scholar]
  8. Cederberg, M. (2013), ‘Public discourses and migrant stories of integration and inequality: Language and power in biographical narratives’, Sociology, 48:1, pp. 133–49, https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038512470041.
     [Google Scholar]
  9. CHP (@herkesicinCHP) (2023a), ‘Bay Kemal sözünden dönmez, Suriyeli göçmenleri iki sene içinde göndereceğim. Irkçılık yapmadan hepsini güven içinde ülkelerine göndereceğim. Verdikse bir söz, yerine getireceğiz’. Millet İttifakı Cumhurbaşkanı Adayı Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu Erzincan’da konuştu’, X, 7 May, https://x.com/herkesicinCHP/status/1654969718401380361. Accessed 27 October 2025.
  10. CHP (@herkesicinCHP) (2023b), ‘Millet İttifakı Cumhurbaşkanı Adayı Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu: “Ülkenin sınırlarına, namusuna sahip çıkmadın Erdoğan. Yetmedi ithal oy için Türkiye Cumhuriyeti vatandaşlığını haraç mezat sattın. Buradan ilan ediyorum, iktidara gelir gelmez tüm mültecileri evlerine göndereceğim”’, X, 18 May, https://x.com/herkesicinCHP/status/1659296389929529384. Accessed 27 October 2025.
  11. Cox, F. D., Fiedler, C. and Mross, K. (2023), ‘Strengthening social cohesion in conflict-affected societies: Potential, patterns and pitfalls [Policy brief]’, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS), March, https://doi.org/10.23661/ipb3.2023.
  12. Cukier, W., Ngwenyama, O., Bauer, R. and Middleton, C. (2008), ‘A critical analysis of media discourse on information technology: Preliminary results of a proposed method for critical discourse analysis’, Information Systems Journal, 19:2, pp. 175–96, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2575.2008.00296.x.
     [Google Scholar]
  13. De Coninck, D. and Matthijs, K. (2020), ‘Who is allowed to stay? Settlement deservingness preferences towards migrants in four European countries’, International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 77, pp. 25–37, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2020.05.004.
     [Google Scholar]
  14. De Coninck, D., Rodríguez-de-Dios, I. and d’Haenens, L. (2021), ‘The contact hypothesis during the European refugee crisis: Relating quality and quantity of (in) direct intergroup contact to attitudes towards refugees’, Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 24:6, pp. 881–901, https://doi.org/10.1177/1368430220929394.
     [Google Scholar]
  15. Dimitrova, D. and Ozdora-Aksak, E. (2023), ‘What a difference context makes: Comparing communication strategies of migration NGOs in two neighboring countries’, Journal of Borderlands Studies, 38:6, pp. 939–56, https://doi.org/10.1080/08865655.2022.2161065.
     [Google Scholar]
  16. Dr Sinan Oğan (@zaferpartisi) (2023), ‘Biz geldiğimizde tüm sığınmacı ve kaçakları göndereceğiz. Sığınmacılar ve kaçaklar kalsın diyenler size; Sığınmacılar ve kaçaklar gitsin diyenler bize oy verecek!’, X, 30 April, https://t.co/enrFBeCyTU. Accessed 27 October 2025.
  17. Easterly, W., Ritzen, J. and Woolcock, M. (2006), ‘Social cohesion, institutions, and growth’, Economics and Politics, 18:2, pp. 103–20, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0343.2006.00165.x.x.
     [Google Scholar]
  18. Erişen, C. (2018), ‘Causes and consequences of public attitudes toward Syrian refugees in Turkey’, Contemporary Research in Economics and Social Sciences, 2:1, pp. 111–39.
     [Google Scholar]
  19. European Court of Auditors (2024), ‘The facility for refugees in Turkey’, 24 April, https://www.eca.europa.eu/ECAPublications/SR-2024-06/SR-2024-06_EN.pdf. Accessed 26 October 2025.
  20. Fairclough, N. (1992), ‘Discourse and text: Linguistic and intertextual analysis within discourse analysis’, Discourse & Society, 3:2, pp. 193–217, https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926592003002004.
     [Google Scholar]
  21. Freire, P. and Horton, M. (1990), We Make the Road by Walking: Conversations on Education and Social Change between Myles Horton and Paulo Freire, Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  22. Goldschmidt, T. and Rydgren, J. (2018), ‘Social distance, immigrant integration, and welfare chauvinism in Sweden. SSOAR: Open access repository’, WZB discussion paper, No. SP VI 2018-102, https://www.ssoar.info/ssoar/bitstream/handle/document/65658/ssoar-2018-goldschmidt_et_al-Social_distance_immigrant_integration_and.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y. Accessed 26 October 2025.
     [Google Scholar]
  23. Hubbard, B. and Timur, Ş. (2024), ‘With fists and knives, mobs attack Syrian refugees in Turkey’, New York Times, 2 July, https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/02/world/middleeast/syrian-refugees-turkey-attacks.html. Accessed 26 October 2025.
     [Google Scholar]
  24. Inyang, M. J. P., Alegu, J. C. and Maku, B. S. (2020), ‘Development communication process and theories: An overview’, GNOSI: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Human Theory and Praxis, 3:1, pp. 61–75, https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3883592.
     [Google Scholar]
  25. Jayakody, C., Malalgoda, C., Amaratunga, D., Haigh, R., Liyanage, C., Witt, E., Hamza, M. and Fernando, N. (2022), ‘Approaches to strengthen the social cohesion between displaced and host communities’, Sustainability, 14:6, n.pag., https://doi.org/10.3390/su14063413.
     [Google Scholar]
  26. Lahdelma, I. (2020), ‘Refugees and local politics: Elite and citizen responses to asylum seekers’, doctoral dissertation, Oxford: University of Oxford.
     [Google Scholar]
  27. Leino, M. and Himmelroos, S. (2020), ‘How context shapes acceptance of immigrants: the link between affective social distance and locational distance’, Ethnic and Racial Studies, 43:10, pp. 1890–908, https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2019.1665696.
     [Google Scholar]
  28. Liszowska, D. (2020), ‘Migration crisis and its impact on the internal situation in Turkey’, Studia Europejskie (Studies in European Affairs), 24:3, pp. 64–83, https://doi.org/10.33067/SE.3.2020.4.
     [Google Scholar]
  29. Makovsky, A. (2019), Turkey’s Refugee Dilemma: Tiptoeing Toward Integration, Center for American Progress, 13 March, https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/security/reports/2019/03/13/467183/turkeys-refugee-dilemma/. Accessed 26 October 2025.
     [Google Scholar]
  30. Nicolson, M. and Korkut, U. (2022), ‘The making and the portrayal of Scottish distinctiveness: How does the narrative create its audience?’, International Migration, 60:5, pp. 151–64, https://doi.org/10.1111/imig.12944.
     [Google Scholar]
  31. Ogan, C., Willnat, L., Pennington, R. and Bashir, M. (2014), ‘The rise of anti-Muslim prejudice: Media and Islamophobia in Europe and the United States’, International Communication Gazette, 76:1, pp. 27–46, https://doi.org/10.1177/1748048513504048.
     [Google Scholar]
  32. Ogan, C., Pennington, R., Venger, O. and Metz, D. (2018), ‘Who drove the discourse? News coverage and policy framing of immigrants and refugees in the 2016 US presidential election’, Communications, 43:3, pp. 357–78, https://doi.org/10.1515/commun-2018-0014.
     [Google Scholar]
  33. Ozdora-Aksak, E. and Dimitrova, D. V. (2022), ‘Walking on a tightrope: Challenges and opportunities for civil society organizations working with refugees and migrants in Turkey’, VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 33:2, pp. 374–85, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-020-00312-8.
     [Google Scholar]
  34. Quebral, N. C. (2006), ‘Development communication in the agricultural context (1971, with a new foreword)’, Asian Journal of Communication, 16:1, pp. 100–07, https://doi.org/10.1080/01292980500467657.
     [Google Scholar]
  35. Reeskens, T. and van der Meer, T. (2019), ‘The inevitable deservingness gap: A study in the insurmountable immigrant penalty in perceived welfare deservingness’, Journal of European Social Policy, 29:2, pp. 166–81, https://doi.org/10.1177/0958928718768335.
     [Google Scholar]
  36. Refugees Association (2023), ‘Number of Syrians in Turkey: July 2023’, 22 August, https://multeciler.org.tr/eng/number-of-syrians-in-turkey/. Accessed 26 October 2025.
  37. Reuters (2018), ‘Erdogan says 200,000 Syrians returned to Turkish-controlled areas’, 5 June, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-election-syrians/erdogan-says-200000-syrians-returned-to-turkish-controlled-areas-idUSKCN1J125M/. Accessed 26 October 2025.
  38. Şafak-Ayvazoğlu, A., Kunuroglu, F. and Yağmur, K. (2021), ‘Psychological and socio-cultural adaptation of Syrian refugees in Turkey’, International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 80, pp. 99–111, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2020.11.003.
     [Google Scholar]
  39. SCF (Stockholm Center for Freedom) (2022), ‘Erdoğan, ally signal change of stance on return of Syrian refugees to their country’, 19 April, https://stockholmcf.org/erdogan-ally-signal-change-of-stance-on-return-of-syrian-refugees-to-their-homeland/. Accessed 26 October 2025.
  40. Servaes, J. (2007), ‘Communication for development: Making a difference – a WCCD background study’, World Congress on Communication for Development: Lessons, Challenges, and the Way Forward (English), Washington, DC: World Bank Group, pp. 209–92.
     [Google Scholar]
  41. Servaes, J. (2020), Handbook of Communication for Development and Social Change, vol. 1, Singapore: Springer.
     [Google Scholar]
  42. Shah, H. (2020), ‘Daniel Lerner and the origins of development communication’, in J. Servaes (ed.), Handbook of Communication for Development and Social Change, London: Springer, pp. 157–66.
     [Google Scholar]
  43. Simonsen, K. B. (2021), ‘The democratic consequences of anti-immigrant political rhetoric: A mixed methods study of immigrants’ political belonging’, Political Behavior, 43:1, pp. 143–74, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-019-09549-6.
     [Google Scholar]
  44. Tumen, S. (2023), ‘The case of Syrian refugees in Türkiye: Successes, challenges, and lessons learned’, Background paper for The World Development Report 2023: Migrants, Refugees and Societies, April, https://thedocs.worldbank.org/en/doc/a007833298df4b9c3735602711dd9289-0050062023/original/WDR2023-Turkey-case-study-FORMATTED.pdf. Accessed 26 October 2025.
  45. UNHCR: Global Trends (2024), 13 June, https://www.unhcr.org/us/global-trends. Accessed 26 October 2025.
  46. UNHCR: Türkiye (2024), https://www.unhcr.org/tr/en/refugees-and-asylum-seekers-in-turkey. Accessed 27 October 2025.
  47. UNICEF (n. d.), ‘Communication for development (C4D); Online course’, https://agora.unicef.org/course/info.php?id=11146. Accessed 26 October 2025.
  48. UNICEF (2020), ‘Syria crisis: humanitarian situation report’, https://www.unicef.org/media/89836/file/Syria-Humanitarian-SitRep-September-2020.pdf. Accessed 26 October 2025.
  49. van Oorschot, W. (2000), ‘Who should get what, and why? On deservingness criteria and the conditionality of solidarity among the public’, Policy & Politics, 28:1, pp. 33–48, https://doi.org/10.1332/0305573002500811
     [Google Scholar]
  50. van Oorschot, W. (2005), Immigrants, Welfare and Deservingness: Opinions in European Welfare States, Aalborg: Institut for Okonomi, Politik og Forvaltning, Aalborg Universitet.
     [Google Scholar]
  51. Wark, C. and Galliher, J. F. (2007), ‘Emory Bogardus and the origins of the social distance scale’, The American Sociologist, 38:4, pp. 383–95, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12108-007-9023-9.
     [Google Scholar]
  52. Willnat, L., Ogan, C. and Shi, J. (2023), ‘Media use and affective political polarization: What shapes public perceptions of immigrants’ deservingness?’, Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 67:2, pp. 183–205, https://doi.org/10.1080/08838151.2023.2173196.
     [Google Scholar]
  53. Zafer Partisi (@zaferpartisi) (2023a), ‘Adeta bir göçmenistan olan İstanbul Şirinevler’de halk Zafer Partisi’ne akıyor’, X, 5 May, https://t.co/a0ug6U23tb. Accessed 27 October 2025.
  54. Zafer Partisi (@zaferpartisi) (2023b), ‘Tüm sığınmacı ve kaçaklar vatanlarına dönsün, sokaklarımız daha güvenli olsun, gençlerimiz işsiz kalmasın, kadınlarımız tacize uğramasın’ diyorsan; #ZaferMeclise mülteciler evine!’, X, 10 May, https://t.co/5VBRCENjZP. Accessed 27 October 2025.
/content/journals/10.1386/gdm_00047_1
Loading
Public attitudes and politicians’ discourses regarding the Syrian diaspora in Türkiye: Implications for the C4D model
Journal of Global Diaspora & Media 6, 103 (2025); https://doi.org/10.1386/gdm_00047_1
/content/journals/10.1386/gdm_00047_1
/content/journals/10.1386/gdm_00047_1
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Article
Keyword(s): deservingness; discourse analysis; host country attitudes; refugees; social distance; Syrians

Most Cited Most Cited RSS feed

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a success
Invalid data
An error occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error
Please enter a valid_number test