Dr. Ergün Özgür’s panel proposal has been accepted by the 19th IMISCOE (International Migration Research Network) Annual Conference on “Migration and Time: Temporalities of Mobility, Governance, and Resistance”, which will take place between June 29 - July 1, 2022, in Oslo. IMISCOE is the largest interdisciplinary research network in migration, integration and diversity studies. It consists of 61 research institutes from European countries and many disciplines. The panel's title is “Syrian and Afghan Refugees in Turkey and Abkhazia: Displacement, Repatriation, Transnational Solidarity vs Discrimination, Hate speech”. Dr Özgür will present her current research on “Displaced Syrian Circassian Diaspora in Istanbul (Turkey) and Sukhum (Abkhazia): Transnational Solidarity”.  

 

Panel at 19th IMISCOE Annual Conference: Migration and Time: Temporalities of Mobility, Governance, and Resistance: June 29 - July 1, 2022, Oslo.

This panel aims to contribute to comparative migration, refugee and diaspora studies with four research studies in Turkey and Abkhazia. According to UNHCR, 3.6 million Syrian refugees live in Turkey as of September 2021. They were accepted as 'guests' because of Turkey's reservation on the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol. With the 'Law on foreigners and international protection (6458)' in 2013, they were called 'the Citizens of the Syrian Arab Republic under temporary protection'. The runaway Afghans from the Taliban regime have contributed to Turkey's refugee population since summer 2021. In Abkhazia, as the Circassian diaspora's descendants abroad, Syrian Circassians were accepted as 'repatriates'. And the international humanitarian organizations call them 'persons in the refugee-like situation' providing support under emergency response to the Syrian crisis. Whatever name the others call them, being displaced is their reality. The two articles in this panel discuss the perceptions, discrimination and hate speech towards displaced Syrian and Afghan citizens in society and conventional - social media. They looked at their economic integration, citizenship differences, and changes during the pandemic (Covid -19) and after the new Afghan refugee wave. The other two articles concentrate on the transnational solidarity of kinship networks and the state institutions' role in bringing and resettling the Syrian Circassian diaspora in Turkey and Abkhazia and the contribution of the international humanitarian organizations. They discussed solidarity in avoiding hardships and negative attitudes, the new hierarchies, changing borders, and the transformation of intra-group identities that emerged among the Circassian diaspora.

 

 

Panel Proposal: Ergün Özgür, Dr. Einstein Guest Researcher, Freie Universität Berlin & Associated Fellow, ZMO)

Panel chair / discussant: Ayhan Kaya, Prof Dr.

Istanbul Bilgi University, Department of International Relations, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities;

Jean Monnet Chair of European Politics of Interculturalism;

European Institute and Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence.

Panel Contributors 

The Implications of COVID-19 on Vulnerable Groups: The Case of Syrians and Afghans in Ankara, Turkey.

Omar Kadkoy, Graduate Student, Middle East Technical University – METU & Policy Analyst, Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey – TEPAV.

A comparative Analysis of Hate Speech Towards Syrian and Afghan Refugees in Turkey

Julie Alev Dilmaç, Associate Professor Dr. Galatasaray University & Associate member- PHILéPOL-Paris Descartes.

Özker Kocadal, Assistant Professor Dr. Cyprus International University.

Changing Borders and Transformation of Intra-group Identities: The Case of Syrian Circassians in Turkey

Eylem Akdeniz Göker, Assistant Dr., Altınbaş University, Istanbul.

Displaced Syrian Circassian Diaspora in Istanbul (Turkey) and Sukhum (Abkhazia): Transnational Solidarity

Ergün Özgür, Dr. Einstein Guest Researcher, Freie Universität Berlin & Associate Fellow, ZMO.