The subject of this study is the relationship of acculturation processes and religion among Syrians who have come to Kayseri as a result of forced migration. In the study, in which phenomenological research technique, which is one of the qualitative research methods, is used, maximum diversity sampling and snowball sampling, which are sub-strategies of the purposeful sampling, have been adopted and in-depth interviews have been conducted to get richer data. For the purposes of the research, interviews have been conducted with 23 people, the youngest of whom are 14 and the largest is 52 years old in Kayseri, and the interviews have continued until the data richness required for the research was considered. In the interviews, semi-structured interview forms were used. It is thought that Syrians have more knowledge and experience in daily life in terms of cultural adaptation and are in a more suitable age range in terms of conveying their lives and interviews were made with this age group.
The main research problem is “what is the relationship between acculturation and religion in Syrian refugees?” In this study, the issue of Syrian refugees was tried to be positioned in the focus of cultural adaptation psychology in terms of migration psychology, on the other hand, the situation was tried to be evaluated from the perspective of psychology of religion. In addition to the interviews, observations were made in places such as temporary education center, home visits, Syrian-intensive neighborhoods. During the interviews, they were informed that they would be recorded with the voice recorder and that their identity information would not be revealed in any way and they were asked to examine the interview form before the interviews. Anonymous names were given to the interviewees to protect confidentiality.
According to results of the research most of the participants think that Western countries are in bad condition in religious and spiritual matters, although the economic conditions are better. Therefore, it has been understood that many participants to remain in Turkey because of religious and moral reasons. In general, participants have worse impressions than migrating to Arab countries than Europe. In this context, the participants state that Arab countries seriously exclude themselves and tend to act positively towards the Europeans, while also avoiding this understanding and tolerance from their fellow countrymen. Therefore, most of the participants, Turkey is seen as the most suitable country to live for and it can be stated that this situation is a motivating issue for cultural harmony.
Participants state among the reasons to prefer to Turkey that asylum seekers are treated well in Turkey and the Turks are Muslim. In this context, it can be expressed that these positive perceptions on Turkey positively affect asylum seekers’ motivation to communicate with the Turkish people and to adapt culturally. Therefore, it is possible to say that religion has an effect that facilitates the cultural harmony of refugees. It is also understood that the asylum seekers’ experience and perception on both the negative attitudes of Arab countries towards Syrians and Europeans’ negative attitudes of religion and spirituality are effective to migrate to Turkey. Therefore, a significant majority of asylum seekers see Turkey as the most suitable country both in terms of living religious values comfortably and in terms of social acceptance and attitudes of the state.
Religion, as an important resource of quest for meaning in religious experiences and perceptions, is effective in making sense of the difficulties experienced. In this respect, it is seen that many interviewees explain and interpret the events that have been passed with certain concepts appreciation that are accepted by God such as qaza (judgeship) and qadar (fate). In addition, it has been observed that situations such as hugging religion and resorting in Allah have a beneficial effect on individuals in their efforts to survive against what is experienced. It is also understood that some religious practices can be made with the social pressure is also understood abandoned in Turkey because of the presence of a more liberal society structure in Turkey than in Syria. In this regard, both living in Turkey and events experienced in here has the meaning potential in terms of religion and thus this is an issue that may be effective in terms of cultural adaptation.
Bu çalışmada Türkiye’ye zorunlu göç eden Suriyelilerde kültürel uyum ve din ilişkisi nitel araştırma yöntemi ile ele alınmaktadır. Çalışmada, öncelikle mülteci, sığınmacı ve geçici koruma statüleri açıklanmaya çalışılmıştır. Sonrasında ise çalışmanın amacına ve araştırma sorularına uygun şekilde din ile dini inanış ve yaşantıların göç ve kültürel uyum üzerinde nasıl bir etkisinin olduğunu değerlendirilmeye çalışılmıştır. Buna göre Suriyeliler, Avrupa’ya gitmek konusunda ikilem içerisindedirler. Batılı devletlerin ekonomik refahından etkilenmelerine rağmen kültürel, sosyal ve dini farklılıklar isteksizlik uyandırmaktadır. Ancak ortak birçok özelliğe rağmen yaygın ülke milliyetçiliği ya da asabiyet sebebiyle Arap ülkelerine dair görüşleri oldukça olumsuzdur. Suriyelilerin Türkiye’ye göç etmelerinin nedenleri arasında daha önce göç edenlerin etkin bir rol üstlenmesi, coğrafi yakınlık ve sığınmacılara karşı daha olumlu tavır yer almaktadır. Göç ve uyum süreçlerinde karşılaşılan zorluklarla mücadelede dini inanç, bir tür sığınak olarak görülmektedirler. Ancak Türkiye’deki toplumsal yapının etkisi sebebiyle bazılarında bağlılık ve ibadet etme sıklığının azaldığı da anlaşılmaktadır. Türklere dair algılarda Türklerin yalanı sevmedikleri, sünnete Araplardan daha fazla önem verdikleri, dini değerler konusunda çok titiz oldukları düşünülmekte ise de kadın-erkek ilişkilerinin İslam’a uygun olmadığı, dindarların azınlıkta kaldığı, İslami emirler arasında farklı uygulama biçimlerinin olduğu vb. görüşlerin hakim olduğu görülmüştür. Psikolojik açıdan iç savaşın ve göç ettikten sonra karşılaştıkları ağır ekonomik ve sosyal durumların Suriyeliler üzerinde derin izler bıraktığı, dramatik ve travmatik bazı tecrübelerin psikolojilerini oldukça etkilediği ve bunlarla baş edebilmek için tıbbi desteğe ihtiyaç duydukları anlaşılmıştır. Sığınmacıların geleceğe yönelik duygu ve düşünceleri kapsamında ise; a. katılımcılardan bazıları Suriye’ye dönmek istemedikleri, b. Bazılarının dönmek istedikleri, c. bazılarının savaş bittiğinde her iki ülke ile de ilişkilerini sürdürmek istedikleri ve görülmektedir.
