Political party positions towards Syrian refugees in Turkey: An overview between 2011 and 2021

The current thesis presents a comparative study of Turkish political parties' policy decisions regarding Syrian refugees in Turkey between 2011 and 2021 and tries to reveal similarities and differences in their policy choices on Syrian refugees. While doing so, it aims to explore the contributions of mainstream international relations theories (MIRTs) to explain the factors influencing policy decisions of political parties regarding Syrian refugees, along with other factors like national security/domestic politics, economy/social development, and the international refugee regime. Having built upon existing literature and research on the drivers of forced migration governance, this thesis designs an analytical framework that sheds light on the factors behind the policy positions of the five largest political parties in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (GNAT) on Syrian refugees. The proposed analytical framework comprises four dimensions: international politics of forced migration, national security and domestic political agenda, national economy and social development, and the international refugee regime. To utilise this analytical framework, data for the study has been collected through semi-structured elite interviews with political party officials responsible for their parties' foreign policy vision and migration agenda and through various forms of political communication strategies used by political parties, including party programs, election manifestos, reports and policy notes, and public statements. The data collection process has been complemented with secondary data based on desk research and analysis of laws and regulations related to asylum. The findings of the current study indicate that policy decisions of political parties regarding Syrian refugees in Turkey could not be adequately analysed without putting them into the context of domestic and international politics. In this regard, the four-dimensional analytical framework offers a comprehensive and multifaceted sense of understanding of party-based approaches towards Syrian refugees in Turkey. Given the insights of international relations theories into how refugee policies are formulated, the current thesis reveals the importance of linking the discipline of international relations with the literature on refugee/forced migration studies.