Building immigrants' settle identity: Syrian craftsmanship in Gaziantep

Gaziantep, the city we live in, is a city that has witnessed the consequences of migration from every angle. When Gaziantep, which has "hosted" internal and external migrations throughout history, is mentioned -especially in the processes after 2011- Syrian immigrants come to mind. In the capitalist world system, every individual has one thing in common: to continue existence. While talking about five million Syrian immigrants in our country today, the strategies of "Syrians" to continue their lives and meet their needs in the labor market; It affects in many different ways that "they" can reconstitute their identity from the Syrian social structure, with which they have previously developed a sense of belonging, under the cultural, economic and political hegemony of another society. The exclusion they are exposed to in social life and the position of being a second class have reflections in economic life as well. The feeling of being second class (otherness) gained in economic life appears as an effort to adapt as an acceptance and to establish relations with the local people. Keywords: Otherness, artisan culture in Gaziantep, Syrians, identity/self, capitalism