Views of the foreign nationals and local people on the citizenship processes: Eskişehir sample

In this study, whether the foreign nationals living in Eskişehir want to acquire the citizenship of Turkish Republic or not; and the approach of the local people who have foreign neighbours, employees or colleagues to the issue were examined. The study was designed based on the qualitative research method. For the participants of the study, purposeful sampling and snowball method were used. Accordingly, the study group consisted of 30 foreign nationals (9 Iraqis, 8 Syrians, 6 Iranians, 5 Afghanis and 2 Somalians) and 30 local people including those foreign nationals' neighbours, employers or colleagues, in total 60 people. The findings revealed that almost all of the foreign nationals in the study group want to acquire Turkish citizenship. Many of them want to acquire the citizenship of Turkish Republic since they find Turkey close to themselves due to various reasons and they aim to have better living conditions. Many of the local people living in Eskisehir are seen to be opposed to granting citizenship. They are mostly opposed to this, as that situation will subordinate their financial situation. Most of the local people who are in touch with foreign nationals in their daily lives or have similar experiences before find the issue of granting citizenship to foreign nationals favourable. Keywords: Foreign national, Citizenship, Eskisehir, Migration, Refugee, Integration