Communicational migration policy of Turkey; An analysis on twitter data

Turkey is home to an increasing number of immigrant population for a wide variety of reasons. The increase in the hosted population brings with its new responsibilities and practices for Turkey. In this context, one of these new responsibilities is to ensure communication between the citizens of the host country and the immigrants is well established. The fact that today's technologies are developing to respond to the demands of the new age also affects the way they meet the public's need to receive news. Social media platforms, which are one of the basic elements of digital communication, are often preferred by immigrants and citizens of the host community to receive news, to request and to express ideas. Social media platforms are environments suitable for instant and two-way-communication due to their structure. In connection with the technological developments experienced, social media is also preferred due to this aspect. Social media platforms are preferred not only by individuals but also by institutions. It is seen that both the institutions responsible for migration management and a wide range of institutions, from ministries to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, are active on social media. Institutions use social media not as a place to spend time, but as a communication and promotion platform. For example, the official Twitter account of the Presidency of Migration Management is used for purposes such as providing information flow and announcing events. In this context, the study focuses on the digital communication strategies and public relations strategies used within the scope of Turkey's migration policy. In accordance with the content analysis implemented on Migration Administration's official Twitter account, it is represented that current digital communication and public relations are based on one-way communication and social media platforms are used in accordance with the traditional public relations models. In accordance with the research and literature review conducted, suggestions on eliminating the deficiencies of these described communication strategies and new strategies were presented in the final part of the study. Keywords: Migration, Communication, Public Relations, Digital Public Relations, Twitter