Social Exclusion of Syrian Refugees and Tactics of Resistance: The Case of Ankara

The anti-government protests that began in Syria in 2011 as part of the Arab Spring resulted in a civil war which led to over 3.6 million Syrian refugees residing in Turkey. Syrian refugees have become an important issue, both in Turkey and around the world. The main purpose of this study is to analyse the dynamics of the social exclusion of Syrian refugees in Turkey, and the tactics of resistance to this exclusion developed by the refugees. In this context, Bourdieu's field theory and Michel de Certeau's concepts of 'strategy' and 'tactics' are utilised as theoretical frameworks in the exploration of the everyday life of Syrians in the Altındağ district in Ankara, Turkey. The study adapts a qualitative research methodology, utilising face-to-face interviews with a total of thirteen Syrians living in Altındağ district in Ankara, for the expression of subjective perceptions of Syrians in everyday practices of social exclusion. The data obtained has revealed that Syrian refugees face economic, spatial, and cultural exclusion, while also experiencing hardship in accessing social services, and that these problems are closely related to one another. Morever, it was found that the refugees developed resistance practices or tactics to combat the dynamics of social exclusion.