Forced migration and adaptation in the context of identity and relevance: The case of Ankara Önder district

Thechaosenvironment in Syria has causedTurkeytoencounterone of themostimportantimmigrationevents in itshistory. As a result of forcedmigration, overthreemillionmigratedtoSyrianTurkey. Most of themigratingSyrianslive in cities, exceptthecamps.As thepoliticaluncertainty in Syriacontinues, theplace of theSyrians in Turkey in society is considered as a matter of increasingimportance. Themostimportantissueabout post-migration is theintegrationprocess in theregion. Inparticular, theinfluence of identityandbelongingemotions on integrationprocess is theresearchtheme of thisstudy. As a dynamicconcept, identity has a structurethat is constantlyevolvingandinfluencedbyenvironmentalfactors in variousdimensions. Inthis sense, the presence of theSyrians in societywiththeirownidentitiesandculturalassetsrequires a viewpointthatdoes not alienatedifferentcultures. Inthescope of thisstudy, a fieldsurveywascarriedout in ordertorevealthethoughts of theSyrianpeopleaboutthesocialcohesionprocessexposedtotheforcedmigration. In Önder District, one of themostintensiveregions of theSyrianswhomigratedto Ankara afterthewar, a surveywasconductedwith a samplegroup of twohundredandseventy-sixpeople. Inaddition, qualitative data wereobtainedbyconductinginterviewswithnon-governmentalorganizationsengaged in studiesrelatedtotheSyrianslocally. The data obtainedfromthefieldstudyultimatelydeterminedtheexistence of variouselementssuch as thelanguagedifferencesthattheSyrianswerewillingtoadapttotheidentityandbelongingfeelings, andthesolutionproposal.