The discourses of Syrian forced immigrants on social exclusion

This article aims to examine the interpretative repertoires which are the sources of the discourses of forcibly displaced Syrian refugees living in Istanbul on social exclusion. Participants of the study are 12 Syrian individuals (10 women nad 2 men) between the ages of 21-57, living in Istanbul. Semi-structured in-depth interviews have been conducted with the each participant. Interviews have been recorded with the consent of the participants and transcribed in order to be analyzed with discourse analysis. As a result of analysis, it has been reached to the seven interpretative repertoires; 'separation', 'affirmation of Turkey', 'justification', 'obligation', 'discrimination depends on identity', 'lack of contact', 'language barrier'. Acorrding to the findings, most of the participants refuse social discrimination to praise Turkish people or Turkey, whereas fewer of the participants define discrimination especially based on their desadvantageous financial status in Turkey. It has been stated by the participants that they do not feel the social discrimination since the fact that they do not speak the language of the host country or not going out enough to socialize. They further state that "bad Syrians" face discrimination while they call themselves "good Syrians". Participants also believe that they should assimilate to social habits of Turkey and once there is an unpleasant event they should stay numb and not to react in order to avoid being returned to Syria. 4 It can be said that in such ways discrimination will be justified by the participants. Keywords: Social Exclusion, Forced Displacement, Forced Migration, Discourse Analysis, Interpretative Repertoires