Case study on Syrian refugees in Turkey social rejection as the result of deviation from social contract

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The Syrian civil war is going around nine years already and causes massive displacements of Syrians internally and internationally. The official international number of displaced Syrians is currently 6.7 million and 3.6 million -estimated more with unregistered Syrians- of them seek asylum in Turkey (UNHCR, 2019). This influx of Syrian refugees created a polarization of public opinion almost in every host country. On the one hand, humanitarian principles require the world take care of these refugees, on the other hand the national security and the cost of hosting these people challenges public perception on the issue.
This study addresses the increasing social tension and anti-Syrian sentiments arising from deviation from social contract. First, this thesis argues on the existing theoretical frameworks used to explain the issue and addresses the limitations of them. By conducting a historical analysis, we concluded that current theories are not applicable to the case of non-Western societies.
In order to bring a new perspective to the issue, we used The Theory of Game and Social Contract theory to show the increasing social tension as the result of deviation from social cooperation. An extended social contract model is developed to show the relationship among government, people and immigrants. Case studies are analyzed to test the model. As the conclusion, the social tension and anti-sentiments increasing in Turkey explained as the consequences of defection from cooperation. And this also determined as the main obstacle of refugees’ integration to the host countries.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION = 1
• 1. The Syrian Civil War and Global Refugee Issues = 2
• 2. Refugee History and Current Status = 10
• CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW = 16
• 1. Existing Theories = 16
• 1) Prejudice = 17
• 2) Realistic Conflict Theory = 17
• 3) Intergroup Threat Theory = 18
• 4) Other influential factors = 20
• 5) Reduction of Prejudice and Resolution to Intercultural conflicts = 21
• 2. Limitations of Existing Theories = 24
• CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND METHODOLOGY = 26
• 1. Historical Analysis = 26
• 2. Extending social contract model and Case Analyses = 30
• 3. Theory of Games = 35
• CHAPTER 4 SOCIAL CONTRACT = 44
• 1. Eight Components of Social Contract = 48
• 1) State of Nature = 48
• 2) Consent = 49
• 3) Obligations of Citizens = 49
• 4) Obligations of Government = 50
• 5) People’s right to sanction (for stability and social order) = 51
• 6) Horizontal and vertical trust = 51
• 7) Perfectibility = 52
• 8) Universality = 53
• 2. Extended Model of Social Contract = 54
• CHAPTER 5 HISTORICAL ANALYSES OF TURKEY AND SYRIA = 56
• 1. Background on Turkey = 56
• 1) Millet System = 62
• 2) Being Turkish in The Republic of Turkey = 65
• 3) Modernization of New Turkey = 68
• 2. Background on Syria = 71
• 3. Turks and Arabs Antagonism in the History = 76
• CHAPTER 6 CASE STUDIES = 80
• Case 1. Barbershops = 80
• Case 2. Marriage convention and divorce = 82
• Case 3. Citizenship and Secularism = 84
• CHAPTER 7 CONCLUSION = 87
• Limitations = 89
• References = 90