Opinions of local people toward Syrians in Turkey: Case of Kilis, Gaziantep, Şanlıurfa, Hatay and Adana

Purpose of this study titled "Opinions of Local People toward Syrians in Turkey" is try to understand the opinions of the local people in 5 cities (Kilis, Gaziantep, Şanlıurfa, Hatay and Adana) where tent cities are located toward the Syrians in the context of the intergroup relationships. The internal conflict in Syria which began in 2011 has had many significant results both for the region and Turkey. The most significant social result for Turkey is the flow of asylum seekers more than 3 million. Today there are Syrians in almost every single city particularly in border cities. Having long been in Turkey, the possibility of the Syrians to return back to their country decreases day by day. The study used of both quantitative and qualitative research techniques. The quantitative part tried to identify the perceptions of the local people living nearby the tent camps. For this purpose a questionnaire were applied on 1380 people by face-to-face interviews in 5 cities. The data were analyzed via SPSS 20. The qualitative part focused on the NGO's in the 5 cities where the tent camps are located and semi- structured in-depth interviews were conducted and the representatives of 19 NGO's were interviewed. According to the general results of the study, in parallel with the increasing population of Syrians economic and social problems have emerged in cities in scope of the research. Become permanent over time, initially seen as a guest may a negative impact of local people's opinion toward the Syrian. But when compared with similar experiences of migration, it may be considered relatively high acceptance in Turkey. For not growing more of the issue and to live Syrians and local people together in peace the study on social cohesion should begin soon.