The View of Syrian Immigrants About Turkish Citizenship and Expectations

The war that has been going on for years in Syria has turned into one of the biggest humanitarian crises of the years. The vast majority of Syrians who have been subjected to forced mass migration due to the war go towards Turkey. Turkey became a party to the Geneva convention of 1951, which imposed a geographical limitation in1961, dueto the risk of becoming a center of attraction for irregular migration movements. Despite the change in 1967, the geographical limitation has kept the evil to the present day. Therefore, Turkey considers 3.7 million Syrians who turn to temporary protection in the territory of Turkey as a guest statute. In this process, governments are implementing public policies in different areas in order to accelerate the adaptation process of Syrian migrants, whose numbers are increasing rapidly. In addition to regulations in areas such as education, health and employment, discussions about registration to Turkish citizenship are the results of the recent migration policy.One of the most important debates in recent years is the issue of citizenship, which represents the stage in which Syrians become “guests” or “temporary a into “permanence”. Citizenship debate sparks from time to time. Article 25 of the Temporary Protection Regulation. The article shows that although the residency periods of Syrian migrants in Turkey have been more than 5 years, they will not establish a basis for applying for Turkish citizenship. Research on this issue does not welcome Turkish citizens to give citizenship to Syrian immigrants. In this context, it is important to reveal what Syrian immigrants think about gaining citizenship, which is another side of the debate. This study is based on the data obtained from the in-depth interviews conducted within the scope of qualitative research with 20 Syrian immigrants who had to migrate to Batman city center with the increase of conflicts in Syria. The study examined the reasons whether Syrian migrants had requests to gain citizenship. In addition, the views of Syrians about their guests and their future expectations are included. While the primary expectations of the mass influx from Syria begins with the basic needs, these expectations have come to the fore in matters such as the right to work, the right to travel, and the right to property. The research findings show that most Syrian migrants are not uncomfortable being seen as guests but want to gain Turkish citizenship to eliminate uncertainty about the future.