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1. PARADOXICAL PERCEPTIONS ON SYRIANS’ FORCED MIGRATION TO TURKEY: A CASE STUDY OF ISTANBUL MUHTARS

Author:
H. Deniz GENÇ and Merve ÖZDEMİRKIRAN-EMBEL
Publication Date:
02-2019
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Alternative Politics
Institution:
Department of International Relations, Abant Izzet Baysal University, Turkey
Abstract:
As one of Syria’s neighbors, Turkey has become a refuge for more than 3.5 million forced Syrian migrants. Though many of them are living in Turkey’s border cities, in or around the refugee camps, many others have already dispersed to other cities. Among these cities, Istanbul has the largest Syrian community. Drawing on a qualitative field work in Istanbul’s neighborhoods, this study explores the Syrian migration to Istanbul and reports the attitudes towards this movement of the local neighborhood and village headmen, known as muhtars in the Turkish local administrative system. As the study shows, their attitudes towards forced Syrian migrants are paradoxical, marked both by feelings of disturbance, worry and uneasiness, and at the same time welcome and support. The study concludes by discussing historical and cultural reasons for these paradoxical attitudes by relating them to the understanding of hospitality in Turkish society to show how socio-psychological explanations of attitude formation towards Syria’s forced migrants seem more appropriate.
Topic:
Migration, Regional Cooperation, United Nations, Diaspora, and Refugees
Political Geography:
Europe, Turkey, Middle East, Asia, Istanbul, Syria, and Ankara

2. TURKISH MEDIA’S RESPONSE TO THE 2015 ‘REFUGEE CRISIS’

Author:
Fulya MEMİŞOĞLU and H. Çağlar BAŞOL
Publication Date:
02-2019
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Alternative Politics
Institution:
Department of International Relations, Abant Izzet Baysal University, Turkey
Abstract:
In 2015 the forced displacement of Syrians entered a new phase with the sharp rise in the numbers of refugees arriving at Europe’s shores mainly through the Eastern Mediterranean route. Grabbing widespread media and public attention, this unprecedent refugee influx and its surrounding events are commonly dubbed as ‘Europe’s refugee crisis’, which as some scholars highlight, is a ‘re-contextualised’ version of already existing processes of politicisation and mediatisation of immigration. This paper intends to contribute to the debate on ‘mediatisation of refugee crisis’ by giving an insight on the role of Turkish media in telling its readers what to think about the ‘refugee crisis’ during this period of particular significance. The paper relies on a content analysis of front-page articles from three Turkish newspapers (Birgün, Hürriyet and Yeni Akit) between July and November 2015. By limiting our analysis to ‘small data’, we look closely how these newspapers on different sides of the political spectrum react to the spread of the refugee crisis to Europe and its implications on Turkey. We highlight the type of coverage and the definition of issues in this particular media content. Overall, we find that the highly mediatised coverage of the Aylan Kurdi incident triggered a significant discursive shift as it has in other national contexts. While all the three newspapers –regardless of ideological stance– were responsive to the spread of the refugee crisis into Europe, news coverage about topics such as socio-economic vulnerabilities of refugees, issues of legal status and social integration in the domestic context was minimal within our period of analysis. We also assert that the way the three newspapers frame the ‘refugee crisis’ especially in relation to domestic or foreign politics shows significant variation. While we find that issues related to border security and border violations received the most intense coverage during the analysis period, we highlight that the coverage is embedded in a humanitarian narrative rather than a security narrative.
Topic:
Migration, United Nations, Mass Media, Diaspora, European Union, Media, and Refugee Crisis
Political Geography:
Europe, Turkey, Middle East, Asia, and Syria

3. ETHICAL COMMITMENTS AND RAISON D’ETAT IN RENTIER STATES: ASYLUM-SEEKER POLICIES IN THE GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL AND CENTRAL ASIAN REPUBLICS DURING THE REFUGEE CRISIS

Author:
Farkhad Alimukhamedov, Laurent A. Lambert, and Hisham Bin Hashim
Publication Date:
10-2018
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Alternative Politics
Institution:
Department of International Relations, Abant Izzet Baysal University, Turkey
Abstract:
The international migrant crisis made headlines during summer 2015 and challenged the national asylum systems of many countries worldwide. Going beyond academic circles, hot debates on migrants and the role of asylum highlighted the gap and paradoxes that exist between claimed values of solidarity on the one hand, and the restrictive policies and regulations towards asylum seekers on the other hand. This paper documents this tension in oil and gas exporting states, particularly in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the Central Asian Republics (CAR). It questions the claimed regional, ethnic and/or religious ties and the borders that have been closed to most asylum seekers from Syria and Afghanistan, who are presently living in poorer (oil and gas deprived) neighboring countries. This paper argues that in a time of low oil revenues and fiscal difficulties, rentier states give priority to the Raison d’Etat over any form of transnational solidarity and commitment to international human rights agreements and charters. New and creative institutional arrangements are needed to deal with the global refugee crisis, as traditional solidarities are, in both regions as well as in other rentier countries, victims of the modernization of politics and its uncaring redefinition of state interest in times of low oil revenues.
Topic:
Migration, Oil, United Nations, Refugees, Gas, and transnationalism
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, Central Asia, Middle East, Asia, and Syria

4. CODE OF CONDUCT AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO REFORMATION OF THE UN SECURITY COUNCIL

Author:
Mehmet Halil Mustafa BEKTAŞ
Publication Date:
06-2017
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Alternative Politics
Institution:
Department of International Relations, Abant Izzet Baysal University, Turkey
Abstract:
The United Nations Security Council's (SC) intermittent failure to perform its main duty of maintaining international peace and security has led to a longstanding debate about its reform. The ongoing Syrian crisis has resulted in a significant number of casualties, and has cost the international community heavily. The SC has thus become the subject both of severe criticism and of calls to take action. The inertia that results from an insistence on the use of the veto power has stimulated politicians to develop alternative methods. In this regard, some argue that there must be a Code of Conduct for the Council in order to enable it to react in cases of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Proponents of a Code of Conduct for the SC have naturally directed their attention to the veto power, the main suggestion being that it must be restricted in these extreme circumstances. Three main initiatives have consequently been developed and have received a considerable degree of support from states. Yet their deficiencies, including a specific procedural trigger and a process by which an alternative course of action could be initiated should one or more of the permanent five Council members (P5) refuse to refrain from using their veto power, have largely been overlooked. The current proposal aims to examine these initiatives and make suggestions to remedy these shortcomings. It first outlines previous efforts to reform the Council, then examines the suggested Code of Conduct, and finally proposes a new Code of Conduct and explains why a procedural trigger and a backup procedure must be provided. To the best of the author's knowledge, there is no academic work on the Code of Conduct for the Council; there are only a few comments by politicians. This study will therefore make a contribution to the literature.
Topic:
Genocide, International Cooperation, United Nations, and UN Human Rights Council (HRC)
Political Geography:
Middle East and Syria

5. THE INTERCONNECTION BETWEEN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS AND THE CLIMATE CHANGE NEGOTIATIONS: THE PARIS AGREEMENT CASE

Author:
İzzet Ari
Publication Date:
12-2017
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Department of International Relations, Abant Izzet Baysal University, Turkey
Abstract:
The year of 2015 was an important milestone in terms of new progresses in development and climate change areas. Adopted Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement for climate change were two successful issues because of country-driven and comprehensive processes. SDGs which replaced to Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), includes 17 goals and 169 targets. The Paris Agreement aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. There are significant direct and indirect interconnections between SDGs and the Paris Agreement. Due to negotiations of the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and SDGs continued in different platforms, both the Agreement and SDGs could not sufficiently provide input for each other. There is still room to ensure alignment between these two processes and outcomes while implementation, monitoring and reporting of the Paris Agreement and SDGs. In this paper, the key elements of the Paris Agreement, namely, adaptation, mitigation, finance, capacity building, technology transfer, cooperation and partnerships are determined, then these elements are tracked under the SDGs in order to analyze the connections and missing parts between SDGs and Paris Agreement. The findings present that the direct linkages between SDGs and Paris Agreement were not strong but, there are substantial and implicit interconnections among the Agreement and SDGs. Countries should nationalize their own SDGs targets and respective indicators in order to integrate climate change issue in their national development agenda. monitoring and reporting of the Paris Agreement and SDGs. In this paper, the key elements of the Paris Agreement, namely, adaptation, mitigation, finance, capacity building, technology transfer, cooperation and partnerships are determined, then these elements are tracked under the SDGs in order to analyze the connections and missing parts between SDGs and Paris Agreement. The findings present that the direct linkages between SDGs and Paris Agreement were not strong but, there are substantial and implicit interconnections among the Agreement and SDGs. Countries should nationalize their own SDGs targets and respective indicators in order to integrate climate change issue in their national development agenda. monitoring and reporting of the Paris Agreement and SDGs. In this paper, the key elements of the Paris Agreement, namely, adaptation, mitigation, finance, capacity building, technology transfer, cooperation and partnerships are determined, then these elements are tracked under the SDGs in order to analyze the connections and missing parts between SDGs and Paris Agreement. The findings present that the direct linkages between SDGs and Paris Agreement were not strong but, there are substantial and implicit interconnections among the Agreement and SDGs. Countries should nationalize their own SDGs targets and respective indicators in order to integrate climate change issue in their national development agenda. capacity building, technology transfer, cooperation and partnerships are determined, then these elements are tracked under the SDGs in order to analyze the connections and missing parts between SDGs and Paris Agreement. The findings present that the direct linkages between SDGs and Paris Agreement were not strong but, there are substantial and implicit interconnections among the Agreement and SDGs. Countries should nationalize their own SDGs targets and respective indicators in order to integrate climate change issue in their national development agenda. capacity building, technology transfer, cooperation and partnerships are determined, then these elements are tracked under the SDGs in order to analyze the connections and missing parts between SDGs and Paris Agreement. The findings present that the direct linkages between SDGs and Paris Agreement were not strong but, there are substantial and implicit interconnections among the Agreement and SDGs. Countries should nationalize their own SDGs targets and respective indicators in order to integrate climate change issue in their national development agenda. The findings present that the direct linkages between SDGs and Paris Agreement were not strong but, there are substantial and implicit interconnections among the Agreement and SDGs. Countries should nationalize their own SDGs targets and respective indicators in order to integrate climate change issue in their national development agenda. The findings present that the direct linkages between SDGs and Paris Agreement were not strong but, there are substantial and implicit interconnections among the Agreement and SDGs. Countries should nationalize their own SDGs targets and respective indicators in order to integrate climate change issue in their national development agenda.
Topic:
Climate Change, Development, Environment, and United Nations
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6. GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE AS WE ENTER THE ANTHROPOCENE

Author:
David Hunter
Publication Date:
02-2016
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Alternative Politics
Institution:
Department of International Relations, Abant Izzet Baysal University, Turkey
Abstract:
This paper presents an overview of the current state of global environmental governance with an eye toward highlighting the challenges that are presented by the scale and speed of environmental change that we are now witnessing. The scale of anthropogenic environmental change has led to what many now dub the Anthropocene - reflecting that humanity is changing our natural planetary systems in ways that have fundamental implications on a geologic scale. It also harkens in an era when humanity will be called on to consciously manage on a planetary level massive environmental change and the economic and social impacts that arise from this change.
Topic:
Climate Change, Environment, International Cooperation, and United Nations
Political Geography:
Africa, Europe, Asia, South America, Australia, and North America

7. INTERSECTING LIVES IN POST-MIGRATION PERIOD: THE DYNAMICS OF RELATIONS BETWEEN “HOST” WOMEN FROM TURKEY AND “GUEST” WOMEN FROM SYRIA

Author:
Selin Altunkaynak
Publication Date:
10-2016
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Alternative Politics
Institution:
Department of International Relations, Abant Izzet Baysal University, Turkey
Abstract:
Turkey undertakes an important role in responding to the Syrian humanitarian crisis by hosting the largest number of refugee population around the world through opening its borders to Syrian refugees subsequent to the conflict in Syria after 2011. Turkey has been managing the refugee phenomenon at the beginning with a discourse of 'guest'. The temporary protection regime for Syrian refugees in Turkey ratified in October 2014 on the one hand, and the discourse of 'guest' on the other, constitute significant basis to the sociological aspect of the matter at hand. By nature, the terms 'host' and 'guest' imply an element of temporariness. Against this backdrop, there is a pressing need to focus on the fact that over 2.5 million refugees settled in the urban areas will not be returning shortly to their country of origin even if the war is over now. This study, based on gendered perspective, aims to explore the factors determining the perception of the insider for the outsider and vice versa within the scope of Simmel's 'stranger' typology. Following Simmel's definition of the stranger, in this article I consider Syrian refugees as people who comes today and stays tomorrow. The methodology of this study is based on in-depth interviews with refugee women from Syria and native women in Turkey as well as focus group meetings in Hatay and Gaziantep provinces, conducted in the framework of my PhD thesis.
Topic:
Gender Issues, Migration, United Nations, and Refugees
Political Geography:
Europe, Turkey, Middle East, Asia, and Syria

8. THE NEO-OTTOMAN TURN IN TURKEY'S REFUGEE RECEPTION DISCOURSE

Author:
Sophie Kloss
Publication Date:
10-2016
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Alternative Politics
Institution:
Department of International Relations, Abant Izzet Baysal University, Turkey
Abstract:
Host societies typically draw boundaries towards immigrants on the basis of specific axes of diversity that are important to their self-understanding. This article analyzes Turkey's self-definition and resulting treatment of immigrants in the context of the current refugee influx by evaluating choices and justifications of political decision-makers. It argues that the highlighting of religious brotherhood towards Syrian refugees and the use of religious arguments to justify hospitality point to a recurrence of religion as key variable of identification in Turkish society and provides evidence for a neo-Ottoman turn. Also, it suggests that Syrian refugees in Turkey are mainly treated as temporary guests who are tolerated, rather than seen as permanent members of society. therebye, Turkey highlights a boundary towards outsiders and protects a homogenous core, thus employing aspects of an assimilationist mode of immigrant incorporation. Overall, this research outlines how the underlying self-image can find relevance in political decision-making such as the treatment of immigrants and thus sheds light on how boundaries and social categories are created and dissolved. It furthermore provides an indication of the state of contemporary Turkish society, which constitutes a foundation for future assessment on the direction it might be heading. this research outlines how the underlying self-image can find relevance in political decision-making such as the treatment of immigrants and thus sheds light on how boundaries and social categories are created and dissolved. It furthermore provides an indication of the state of contemporary Turkish society, which constitutes a foundation for future assessment on the direction it might be heading. this research outlines how the underlying self-image can find relevance in political decision-making such as the treatment of immigrants and thus sheds light on how boundaries and social categories are created and dissolved. It furthermore provides an indication of the state of contemporary Turkish society, which constitutes a foundation for future assessment on the direction it might be heading.
Topic:
Migration, United Nations, Refugees, and Diversity
Political Geography:
Europe, Turkey, Middle East, Asia, Syria, and Ankara

9. IDENTITY PROBLEMS IN TURKEY: ALEVIS AND AKP

Author:
Özgür ÜŞENMEZ-Levent DUMAN
Publication Date:
10-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Alternative Politics
Institution:
Department of International Relations, Abant Izzet Baysal University, Turkey
Abstract:
As successive Turkish governments have attempted, AKP too is trying to solve the perennial Alevi problem as part of its broader agenda regarding the question of minorities. However, this paper argues that there are two fundamental obstacles facing Turkey's conservatives in reaching a meaningful solution. First, there is the ontological issue that AKP itself does not represent a radical break with the country's tumultuous past in terms of perception toward Alevis. Secondly, there is the ideological issue that the Sunni majority, who are at the core of AKP's concept of oppressed Muslims, are hardly sympathetic to Alevi rituals or omplaints. Decades long effects of Turkish-Islamic synthesis did not bode well for that effort also. So, any recognition of equal status on religious grounds for Alevis would create a backlash for the ruling party among its rural electorate.
Topic:
Human Rights, Religion, United Nations, and Secularism
Political Geography:
Europe, Turkey, Asia, and Ankara