ABSTRACT
The Syrian refugee phenomenon is unquestionably one of the world’s greatest tragedies of the past decade. Because of Turkey’s closeness to Syria and other sociopolitical considerations, the patterns of life for Syrian refugees in Turkey differ significantly from those in other nations. Over the past 12 years, however, the social and economic traits that Syrian refugees have developed in major cities like Gaziantep have been remarkable. In this chapter I look at how their living situation in Turkey has changed and how the residents and the Syrian refugees have interacted in Gaziantep’s downtown area. The focus here is on the presence and effects of the Syrian refugee issue in this city and the resulting dynamics and outcomes. In addition, I discuss the formation of the so-called “refugee paradox” and how the hierarchical processes that include refugees are viewed as coping mechanisms.
