Looking at the neighborhood from a communicational approach: Perspectives of the residents of demi̇rtaş neighborhood of Mersin province on Syrian migrants

Demirtaş neighborhood, which shelters different immigrant groups, preserves the feature of a place where Syrian immigrants can take shelter in the city and has the characteristics of an immigrant neighborhood based on stratified and ethnic diversity. This study focuses on the perspectives, attitudes and daily interactions between Syrian migrants who migrated to the neighborhood in 2011 and beyond, and other immigrant groups and local residents. In addition to evaluating individual interactions in the everyday communicative context, it also focuses on the indirect communicative process, and examines the interaction of the community-members with Syrian migrants through the coding and decoding process. In this context, the study seeks answers to the following questions and sub-questions: What is the local people's perspective on Syrian migrants and the factors that shape those perspectives? What is the role of media and communication among the factors in the formation of this perspective? What is the role of the locals' previous migratory experiences and daily experiences regarding their perceptions of Syrian nationals? What is the socioeconomic, ethnic, communicative overview of the neighborhood as a space shaped by migration? In order to find answers to the questions, a kind of cultural mapping was carried out with the communication ethnography method. In line with the purpose of the study, in-depth interviews were conducted with 15 neighborhood residents and the participant observation is done during the year of 2019. In determining the participants, whether they have immigrated before, their identity from the neighborhood, their contact with Syrian immigrants, and their level of relationship were taken into account. During the observation process, the marketplace established in the neighbourhood was studied. Along with the network of ethnic and social relations in the neighborhood, the relationship of the neighbourhood with communication tools can shape their communication and perspective with Syrians. It has been observed that the media has shaped the long-term attitude and perspective on individuals in the context of Syrian immigrants, both in negative and positive terms. The unique socio-cultural environment of the neighborhood occurs in the contact, communication and hierarchical relationship of social groups. The differences between us and them, ethnic labels and group stigmas at different levels, cultural distancing, categorization, stereotypes, virtual social identity constructions, irrational arguments, and a distorted perspective instrumentalized by the media are among the findings that have been found to be very effective in the communication practices among the inhabitants.