This study investigates how the subjectivities of Syrian refugees are produced in the state discourse. The mass wave of Syrian immigration starting from 2011 constitutes a milestone in the migration history of Turkey. This migration movement has two distinguishing characteristics: it is the largest mass migration Turkey has experienced in terms of the number of refugees and it has an acceptance policy of a religion-based discourse of philanthropy. However, the lack of structural regulations in the immigration policy concerning the refugees persists the historical trend observed in the past examples. In this respect, the positioning of each particular migration wave and the production of the refugee subjectivities in the state discourse present a worthwhile area of study.Abstract ....................................................................................................................... iv
Öz ................................................................................................................................ vi Acknowledgements ................................................................................................... viii
Table of Contents ........................................................................................................ ix
CHAPTERS 1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 1
2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK .................................................................................... 6
2.1. Refugees and Nation-States .............................................................................. 6
2.2. Hospitality and Construction of Self and Other ................................................ 8
2.3. Gift, Giving, and Economy of Exchange .......................................................... 11
2.4. Governmentality, Sovereignty, and Refugees ................................................ 14
3. THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF TURKISH MIGRATION POLICY ....................... 20
3.1. Policies toward Asylum in the Early Republican Period .................................. 20
3.2. Mass Refugee Flows towards Turkey .............................................................. 25
3.3. Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees ................................. 29
3.4. The 1994 Asylum Regulation........................................................................... 30
3.5. The Changing Character of Turkish Asylum and Immigration Policy after the 2000s ...................................................................................................................... 31
3.6. The Mass Influx of Syrian Refugees to Turkey ................................................ 33
4. THE SYRIAN REFUGEES IN THE STATE DISCOURSE ................................................. 37
4.1. Religious Discourse on the Production of Refugee Subjectivity ..................... 39
4.2. Historical Discourse on the Production of the Refugee Subjectivity .............. 45
4.3. Pragmatic Discourse on the Production of Refugee Subjectivity ................... 51
4.4. The Discourse of Citizenship as the Game-changer ........................................ 55
5. CONCLUSION .......................................................................................................... 59
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................... 6
