ABSTRACT
Turkey is one of the world’s most important migration countries in all of its forms, including emigration, transit migration, short-term refuge migration, and long-term immigration. Due to several armed internal and international crises in the Middle East, Turkey has become the country with the biggest number of forced migrants during the 2010s. Which paths did these migrants take to get to Turkey? Which sorts of organized violence did they encounter before leaving their home countries, on their way to Turkey, and in Turkey? Which sociodemographic and event-based elements influence their future goals for moving forward (to where?), returning to their countries of origin, or staying in Turkey for an extended length of time? This chapter is based on a longitudinal study of 350 Afghan, Iraqi, and Syrian forced migrants who lived in Turkey in 2020. We analyze the violence-related experiences of migrants and examine corresponding sociodemographic characteristics based on some basic data about the condition of migrants and refugees in Turkey. We identify critical events that affected the various types of trajectories from a longitudinal viewpoint. Finally, we identify forced migrants’ future goals and evaluate the primary components that explain their biographical projects.
