The process of the formation of the Syrian social capital in Ankara

The Syrians began to take refuge in Turkey following the eruption of the civil war in 2011. In response to the emerging humanitarian crisis caused by the civil war, Turkey has implemented an open door policy based on respect for basic human rights. Moreover, the immigration policies concerning the Syrians seeking refuge in Turkey was formulated in a way that treated the refugees as "guests" and sought to host them in temporary accommodation centers. However, in a short period of time, the emigration of Syrians to Turkey turned into a sudden mass influx, the likes of which were rarely seen in history. Because of the inadequate capacity of temporary accommodation centers, the mass influx was firstly directed to the border provinces, and pursued a course of continued spread all over Turkey. As of today over 3.5 million Syrians, the vast majority of whom live in urban areas, maintain their lives under temporary protection status in different provinces of Turkey. In the case of Turkey, the state, which is considered to be the most important macro structural actor in international migration and civil society literature, has lost its restrictive role through the open door policy and mass asylum activities in this process. The objective of this thesis is to understand, through a sociological point of view, the dynamics of community among Syrians in Ankara -whose numbers are estimated to be over 90.000- alongside the interactions between them and the NGOs whose actions and activities have concentrated on Syrians during this process. In this context; Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 18 participants: managers, employees and beneficiaries of two different NGOs operating in the neighborhoods where the Syrians living in Ankara established their own habitats. As a result of the field research; it has been concluded that migration networks from certain districts of Aleppo to certain neighborhoods of Ankara have become operational, evolving into immigrant networks after the migration and becoming homogenous in every field of life - it is these migration networks that constitute the Syrian social capital in Ankara, together with a number of socio-cultural norms. Furthermore, this research reveals that the two different NGOs interviewed have made significant contributions to the Syrians throughout their interactions with the community during this process.