The role of public relations in social integration of Syrian refugees

As result of migration caused by ongoing civil war in Syria, Turkey has been hosting Syrian refugees whose number exceeds over 3.5 million. Type of migration of Syrian refugees who reside in Turkey can be classified as long-term migration and it makes social integration of refugees to Turkish society an important issue. Within this context, this study aims to understand the role of public relations in developing a perspective in society which encourages social integration of refugees. Study also aims to present a roadmap on how can public relations potentially contribute in this process. In order to realise this purpose, literature of public relations was reviewed by taking intercultural communication approaches into consideration. In addition, detailed information has been provided on migration typologies, theories of migration and approaches of integration. In research section, main problem points about Syrian refugees in digital discussions in Turkey have been investigated and breakdowns of these points have been identified. Semi-automatic content analysis approach has been adopted within this process and big data set aggregated from Twitter has been analysed by using text mining and social network analysis techniques. Findings of study have revealed that most of the negative statements about Syrian refugees on Twitter contain concerns on security and economy oriented topics and effect of fake news on public opinion exists. On the other hand, several actors who have been accepted as influencer in the context of Syrian refugee issue, Tweets sent from Istanbul and Ankara that contain negative statements about refugees receive high amount of interaction. After identifying problem points, in order to realise purpose of study, a public relations raodmap which adapts constructive and consensus-oriented public relations perspective has been designed. This public relations roadmap aims to encourage society to support integration of refugees with an emphatetic approach and create an influence on social integration process in possitive manner.