Immigration, identity, belonging: Swedish Turks in terms of intercultural communications

When European countries allowed labour force immigration after the 2nd World War, Turkey sent immigrants. The immigrant workers from different regions of Turkey started immigrating to many different European countries in the early 1960s. At the beginning the Turkish immigrants in most of the European countries were in the status of guest worker; after the 1970s, especially by family reunification, they have started to be transferred into permanent resident status. Only after becoming permanent residents in European countries, Turkish immigrants started to face different types of problems. One of the leading problems of these is based on cultural contents. The issue of immigrants becoming resident makes the integration matter and its type and contents a current issue. As much as the immigrants, the host society and the strategies of the governments affect the type, content and dimensions of the integration. The immigration experience of the immigrants and the acculturation process they live after it brings many changes in socio-cultural terms. Among these changes, the identity and belonging perceptions shaped according to the interaction processes with the host society has become more important.In this study; the integration of the immigrants, identity and belonging perceptions, intercultural communication conditions are analysed on a sample of Swedish Turks. The main subject of the study is the integration situations, identity and the belonging perceptions, intercultural communication practical, the main social problems of the Turkish immigrants who settled in Sweden in the period of migration flow which started in the 1960s, intensified in the 70s and remains today. Being a European country the immigration politics of Sweden and the social positions of the immigrants are also studied.In the study, the data collection devices of questionnaire and interview techniques according to the survey method are used. The survey was carried out in Stockholm, the capital city of Sweden in 2011, 1st July ? 20th September. 612 questionnaires were obtained. And in-depth interviews were held with a sample group of 30 people. According to the findings, the Swedish Turks? identity and belonging perceptions differ between generations. Whereas the first and second generation immigrants? identity and belonging perceptions remain Turkish, in third and fourth generation immigrants, dual belonging and multi-identities are formed. Also, Swedish Turks have different aims regarding integration. A close relation is determined between these aims and identity definitions. Most of the Swedish Turks aim to live in harmony with Swedish society while conserving their own cultural, religious and national values. Nevertheless, their ability to achieve the harmonious balance of two different cultures is remarkable. The aim of marginalisation and assimilation is quite less. According to the research, the intercultural communication between Swedish Turks and Swedes is limited. Keywords: Immigration, Identity, Belonging, Intercultural Communication, Sweden, Swedish Turks.