Representation of Syrian asylum seeker children in the Turkish press

In recent years, The civil war in Syria and the following refugee crisis occupy a greater place in Turkish public agenda. Up until now, the number of Syrian asylum seekers in Turkey is close to 3 million and children consist of more than half of this number. As one can see in the case of Alan Kurdi, children are the most suffered group in this period. This situation clearly shows that a child-oriented approach should be developed in the attitude towards the question of asylum seekers and in policy-making for them. This study focuses on the media dimension of the issue and seeks to find an answer to the question, how Syrian asylum seeking children are represented in the Turkish press. In this regard, beginning with 2011, this study decodes the news and commentaries about Syrian asylum seeking children appeared on Hürriyet, Posta, Sabah, Sözcü, and Zaman newspapers until the end of 2016 by applying content analysis method. The findings of the analysis demonstrate that the Turkish press has a positive viewpoint towards Syrian asylum seeking children; yet, the newspapers represent asylum seeking children includes some ethic issues. Keywords: Child Asylum Seekers, Syrian Children, Alan Kurdi, Media Representations,Refugees.