Turkish University Students' Perceptions towards Their Syrian Classmates

Abstract

The war in Syria is five years old now. This long-lasting phenomenon has caused a historic case of mass forced migration. That is, millions of Syrians have been forced to displace and escape from the war in Syria to several transnational destinations. Hosting nearly three millions of Syrians, Turkey is a destination to which the highest number of Syrians have moved. To host her guests well, Turkey has been providing the Syrians in Turkey with several supports. Among the supports for the Syrian guests, there comes the access to higher education in Turkey. In this sense, the Turkish Government's several legislative regulations have enabled 5560 Syrians to study at universities in Turkey. Unlike conventional migration studies that just focus on migrants' adaptation to their new lives, this study examines the perceptions of non-immigrants who are local Turkish citizens. Specifically, this study explores the perceptions of Turkish university students towards their Syrian classmates. The data of this qualitative inquiry were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed by content analysis technique. The findings reveal that most participants have serious concerns about Syrians’ access to universities in Turkey. Nevertheless, they surprisingly support their Syrian classmates' participation in their classrooms.