A joint study by Prof. Dr. Şebnem Akçapar, a faculty member in the Sociology Department, and Dr. F. Tutku AYDIN ​​BEZİKOĞLU, a faculty member in the Political Science and Public Administration Department, has been published in the internationally respected SSCI-Indexed Turkish Journal of International Relations.

This article, which comparatively addresses the post-2022 Ukrainian migration during a two-year research period, was supported as a BAP Project  by our university. We are pleased to share it with interested readers.

Article Title: Impact of Migration Policies on Ukrainian Migrants in Turkey: Embrace vs. Provision

Abstract:

The aim of this study is to elucidate decision-making processes of Ukrainian forced migrants of diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds relocated in Turkey in the wake of the Russian-Ukrainian War since 2022. We examine trends in prospective plans, including return, settlement, migration to third countries, and identify key factors influencing social integration in Turkey. To this end, extensive field research was conducted in five provinces in Turkey – İstanbul, Ankara, İzmir, Eskişehir and Antalya – between 2022 and 2024. This study employed qualitative method consisting of in-depth interviews with a wide range of stakeholders, including Ukrainian diplomatic representatives, migrant organizations, Turkish provincial migration management officials, and post-2022 Ukrainian migrants who were residing in Turkey under various statuses. The findings indicated that decisions between permanence and transience were determined by the state’s migrant and asylum policies along the embrace and provision continuum. In addition, active involvement of ethnic organizations of Ukrainians in migration processes appear to act as a factor that either triggers or hinders social cohesion.