Immigration policies of local governments, The case of Istanbul Sultanbeyli

This study aims to understand the policies provided by municipalities and how municipalities institutionalize those policies that are towards Syrians who migrated to Turkey after the Civil War which started in 2011. In this regard, the historical development of local governments was examined and later Turkey's immigration legislation discussed. In order to examine how Turkish municipalities institutionalize their policies towards Syrian residents, municipalities of the five selected provinces in Turkey which have the most number of Syrians were contacted via phone and e-mail. It was seen that most of the municipalities do not have any policies towards Syrian residents at all and the ones that provide services for Syrians, come across some problems about institutionalizing these services. In this case, as an outstanding example, Sultanbeyli Municipality established an organization for Syrian residents to provide services outside of municipal institutions via the organization.