The hierarchy of others and migration: A qualitative study on Syrians in Turkey

Due to its strategic location, Turkey has experienced intense migration movement and has gained experience in this regard. It is known that these movements, which continued both in the Ottoman and the Republican periods, caused the formation of we (us) and other (they) in the social sphere. Particularly, the crises in the Middle East after 2001 caused a serious increase and diversity in the mass migration movement to our country. The Syrian civil war, which started in 2011, has been interpreted as a crisis for all countries, especially neighboring countries. However, Türkiye followed an open-door policy in the face of this crisis and built a special status called Temporary Protection in order to combat this massive influx. Therefore, the Syrians, who are the main actors of the mass migration in recent years, constitute the new "other" in Türkiye. In this study, it is aimed to measure the social distance of the Syrians, the new other of the country, with the Afghan and Iraqi groups, which are thought to have gone through similar processes, from a hierarchical point of view. In addition, the context in which Syrians define Afghans and Iraqis has been tried to be examined. In other words, it is desired to determine the view, perception and distance of the other to the other. In this direction, 23 Syrians, who reside in Istanbul, were interviewed within the framework of the interview technique. As a result of the interviews, it has been determined that the Syrians have different attitudes towards the Afghans and Iraqis. While Afghans are viewed negatively, Iraqis are approached more moderately. Another important outcome of the study is that Syrians often use expressions with reference to the dominant group such as "we are like you" or "we live more in harmony". In this context, they marginalize Afghans and Iraqis. Consequently; While Afghans constitute the lowest level in the Syrians' other hierarchy, Iraqis are ranked higher based on their common history, culture and living practices.