An Examination of Turkish Newspapers: Lack of Public Awareness on the Subject of Syrian Refugees

Teaching English to Migrant Children in Istanbul

by Bahar Filiz | Ozyegin University

 “When I saw the announcement for the research assistant position with the RESPOND project, I felt both excited and curious. I did not have accurate information about Syrian refugees’ situations in Turkey or the opportunity to communicate with them. I felt that there was probably a considerable amount of misunderstanding between Turkish citizens and Syrian refugees due to a lack of clarification about the Syrian refugees’ position in Turkey. So, becoming research assistant was a chance to broaden my perspective on this topic. I hoped I could learn about how Syrian refugees and the government are dealing with the migration-related issues in Turkey. Over the course of 7 months, I learned a lot and by discussing what I learned in this blog post, I hope I can educate other people in Turkey and increase understanding between Syrians and Turkish citizens.’’

One of my duties was to conduct research in four influential newspapers between 2018-2020 (Hürriyet,Sabah,Milliyet and Cumhuriyet). These newspapers do not represent every perspective in Turkish media but are able to show some prominent voices. My research was guided by the following questions : (1) What are the attitudes of newspapers towards the Syrian refugees in Turkey, (2) Do Turks have access to the informative and dependable news about Syrian refugees and (3) How are the migration policies of the Turkish state explained in newspapers? As I began reading newspapers, I quickly saw that representations of Syrian refugees were similar in all of them. I realized that the topics that the newspapers covered were nearly the same. After scanning papers to isolate main topics, I identified three sub-areas to examine the coverage in a more detailed and structural way, namely migration-integration policies, building safe areas for Syrian refugees in Syria and employment and educational opportunities in Turkey.

 Firstly, all of the news mentioned the migration and integration policies by emphasizing the projects that government or non-profit organizations have established. In general, the news paid most attention to the beneficial parts of the policies. They did not question how the policies were carried out in the practice and whether or not the policies lead to successful consequences. For instance, one news story stated that the Directorate of Religious Affairs and the Ministry of National Education would provide ‘’social integration’’ education to staff members by explaining the contents of the lectures that will be given to their personnel who are in contact with the Syrians. However, they did not discuss how the lectures would solve the Syrian refugees’ problems (Milliyet,2019). Finally, new stories offered no criticism of integration and migration policies. For all these reasons, the public is not aware of the significance of integration and migration policies and the lack of raising the awareness of public contributes to uncertainty.  

In new stories, the safe area that was created by Turkey for Syrian refugees was reflected as a humanitarian act in the news. The stories claim that the safe area will be a new living area with all of the needed facilities for Syrian individuals. Statements of political leaders are frequently quoted in the news when discussing this issue. For instance, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said ‘’Water, housing, electricity, health and education is essential. When a safe zone is established, everyone needs to put their hands under the stone to meet such needs’’(Sabah,2019). Moreover, Vice President Fuat Oktay said "We need to build the necessary infrastructure, temporary and permanent shelter, hospitals, schools in the safe zone. Our projects are ready, but for the realization of the projects, we need the support of all actors in the region, especially the European Union (EU)" (Milliyet,2019).

As we can see, the safe area is perceived as a need for Syrian refugees rather than providing their integrations into Turkey and there is at obvious call for help from other countries in order to cover the expenses. Overall, the news about the safe zone is portrayed as a burden of Syrian refugees on Turkey, while news that are about integration policies mentioned a brother-sisterhood and the willingness to accept refugees in Turkey. Thus, there are conflicting attitudes and changing government attitudes, depending on whether the topic is integration or the safe area for Syrian refugees.

 When it comes to job facilitation for Syrian refugees, negative attitudes can be seen frequently in the newspapers in part due to the economic slowdown in Turkey. Even many Turkish citizens cannot find a job in the current economic situation. Unemployment in Turkey is a significant issue for Turkish citizens, and some people feel that their jobs are being stolen from them by Syrians. Interestingly, the newspapers provided almost no information about how the Syrian refugees earn their livelihood in Turkey. Actually, Syrian families have economic disadvantages in Turkey; Syrians usually cannot find a proper job and tend to be perceived as an unqualified labor force. Informing the public about the employment of Syrian refugees could help to combat some negative approaches and feelings towards Syrian refugees.

Education is perceived as a significant tool in order to integrate Syrian refugees into the Turkish population. The Ministry of Education provided the schooling for children of 62 percent of Syrian children living in Turkey. According to the Ministry data, out of 1.4 million Syrian children, 648,592 children are going to school (Hürriyet,2019). Moreover, in Sarıkaya, the Provincial Director of National Education, states: "Our goal is to integrate Syrian immigrant students into the national education system and ensure their integration with our students. 3,204 students were included in the system " (Hürriyet,2014). Despite a lot of efforts, education policies are not sufficient enough for integrating Syrian children.

In terms of language, Syrian children are bilingual, and some families prefer their children to speak Arabic instead of Turkish, meaning it will be hard to teach Turkish to Syrian children.

 To sum up, the questions that I asked myself at the beginning of the research were answered but my exploration lead to new critical and deeper questions. Syrian refugees’ situations can be seen as a delicate topic; that is why newspapers pay attention to what the politicians say rather than criticizing what they say or the policies that they developed. From my point of view, if there is more news that is informative about Syrian refugees, then more people may develop empathy and understanding about the problems Syrian refugees are facing. More information can extinguish the feeling of threat that Turkish citizens have with regards to Syrians.