This article deals with the policy of the Justice and Development Party (JDP) in Turkey with regard to Syrian ‘refugees’. Initially referred to as ‘guests’, they were subsequently granted the official status of ‘temporary protection’. The article also covers efforts to incorporate the Syrians into some areas of Turkish society (the job market, healthcare, citizenship, the housing market, social prominence and marriage relationships). It is argued that the JDP's policy towards the Syrians is based on ideological–sectarian reasons. It also contends that Turkey has struggled to deal with the mass influx from Syria into Turkey, since it did not have the proper legal infrastructure to deal with mass refugee influxes. This has rendered the management of the refugees' stay in Turkey problematic and confused. This study provides a novel contribution to the study of the Syrian refugee issue by scrutinizing the JDP's nation-building project and the partial integration of Syrian refugees into Turkish society as an unexpected result of this policy.
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October–December 2015
Research Article|
October 01 2015
Partial integration of Syrian ‘escapees’ under the rule of Turkey's Justice and Development Party (JDP)
Burak Gümüş
;
Burak Gümüş
*
1Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Trakya University, Edirne, Turkey
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Deniz Eroğlu
Deniz Eroğlu
1Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Trakya University, Edirne, Turkey
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*
Email: burakgumus@trakya.edu.tr
Contemporary Arab Affairs (2015) 8 (4): 469–487.
Citation
Burak Gümüş, Deniz Eroğlu; Partial integration of Syrian ‘escapees’ under the rule of Turkey's Justice and Development Party (JDP). Contemporary Arab Affairs 1 October 2015; 8 (4): 469–487. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/17550912.2015.1080965
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