Begüm Dereli (UPF-Spain) will be presenting her work on “Syrian Youths’ Future Aspiration with holding Turkish Citizenship: Move on from Turkey or stay in Turkey?” during a CEDEM BB seminar. 

The BB will take place on Tuesday the 9^th of March between 12:00 and 13:00. The presentation will be in English. The session will be held online via Lifesize.

Link: https://call.lifesizecloud.com/6072500

Password: 1234

Abstract:

The study contributes to the literature by shedding light on the perspective of Syrian refugee youth in the acquisition of Turkish citizenship. The exceptional naturalization option in Turkey’s nationality law has opened the door to Turkish citizenship for Syrians who live in Turkey under temporary protection and have either economic or cultural capital. Syrian youth who are continuing their higher education in Turkey constitute one of the main groups affected by that option to be naturalized. This article uses a ‘bottom-up’ strategy, focusing on the meaning of citizenship from the refugees’ perspective and its relation to their future prospects. This paper asks to what extent having Turkish citizenship shapes the future aspirations of Syrian youths regarding their intentions to stay in or move from Turkey. It is based on a qualitative case study conducted in Gaziantep during the fall of 2019. The paper shows the variety of future aspirations held by highly educated Syrian refugee youths after acquiring Turkish citizenship. Findings suggest that Turkish citizenship is valued both (1) as a source of stability, security with equally accessed rights in Turkey, and (2) as a passport that makes it possible to move to other countries (generally in Europe) through regular means. The results indicated that, even though the second perspective (citizenship as a passport) is an option, Syrian youth acquiring Turkish citizenship generally intend to settle in Turkey.