A thematic analysis of YouTube comments on 2020 Turkish–Greek border crisis: The case of Euronews

Yıl 2023, Cilt: 5 Sayı: 8, 259 - 288, 01.04.2023

Apak Kerem Altıntop , Melek Aylin Özoflu , Yasin Özbey

Öz

Following the heavy military losses in Idlib, Syria, Turkey opened its Greek border to European-bound asylum seekers and migrants on February 27th, 2020, paving the way for a political tension and border crisis between Turkey and the EU. This research investigates the anti-refugee and anti-immigrant discourses articulated within the comments on the YouTube channels of the official EU website Euronews both in English and Turkish communicating about the Turkish–Greek Border crisis that erupted in March 2020. To this end, it analyzes a large dataset of comments taken from the most interacted videos respectively on 15th May 2020 in English (V1) and 16th June 2020 in Turkish (V2). The number of comments is 2255 (C1) for the former, and 817 (C2) for the latter. The comments were analyzed through the qualitative data analysis software MAXQDA.2022. While the themes communicating about the crisis revolve around the debates of religion, national security and conceptualization of refugees and migrants within the C1, sending the refugees, negative features of the refugees and hate speech are prominent in the C2. The themes of social welfare and daily practice are prevalent in both C1 and C2. Consequently, refugees in C1 are mostly perceived in terms of security and/or economic considerations, while in C2 they are seen as people who benefit from social welfare but do not contribute to the state and society. In both C1 and C2, refugees are considered an economic burden and undesirable actors.

Anahtar Kelimeler

EU, Turkey, Refugee, Migrant, Thematic Analysis, 2020 Turkey-Greece Border Crisis

A thematic analysis of YouTube comments on 2020 Turkish–Greek border crisis: The case of Euronews

Öz

Suriye'nin İdlib kentinde yaşanan ağır askeri kayıpların ardından Türkiye, 27 Şubat 2020'de Yunanistan sınırını Avrupa'ya giden sığınmacılara ve göçmenlere açmış, bu durum Türkiye ile AB arasında siyasi gerilim ve sınır krizine dönüşmüştür. Bu araştırma, AB'nin resmi web sitesi Euronews'in YouTube kanallarında Mart 2020'de patlak veren Türk-Yunanistan Sınır krizi hakkında hem İngilizce hem de Türkçe olarak yapılan yorumlarda dile getirilen mülteci ve göçmen karşıtı söylemleri incelemektedir. 15 Mayıs 2020'de İngilizce (V1) ve 16 Haziran 2020'de Türkçe (V2) tarihlerinde en çok etkileşim alınan videolardan alınan geniş bir yorum veri setini analiz etmektedir. İlki için yorum sayısı 2255 (C1), ikincisi için 817'dir (C2). Yorumlar nitel analiz programı olan MAXQDA.2022 aracılığıyla analiz edilmiştir. Krizle ilgili iletişim temaları din, ulusal güvenlik ve C1 içindeki mülteci ve göçmenlerin kavramsallaştırılması, mültecilerin gönderilmesi, mültecilerin olumsuz özellikleri ve C2'de nefret söylemi öne çıkmaktadır. Sosyal refah ve günlük uygulama temaları hem C1 hem de C2'de yaygındır. Sonuç olarak, C1'de mülteciler çoğunlukla güvenlik ve/veya ekonomik kaygılar açısından algılanırken, C2'de sosyal yardımlardan yararlanan ancak devlete ve topluma katkısı olmayan kişiler olarak görülmektedir. Hem C1 hem de C2'de mülteciler ekonomik bir yük ve istenmeyen aktörler olarak görülmektedir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

AB, Türkiye, Mülteci, Göçmen, Tematik Analiz, 2020 Türk-Yunan Sınır Krizi

Kaynakça

• Agencies, D. S. with. (2020, March 27). Migrants end wait at Turkey-Greece border for Europe. Daily Sabah. https://www.dailysabah.com/politics/migrants-end-wait-at-turkey-greece-border-for-europe/news
• Asghar, M. Z., Ahmad, S., Marwat, A., & Kundi, F. M. (2015). Sentiment Analysis on YouTube: A Brief Survey (arXiv:1511.09142). arXiv. http://arxiv.org/abs/1511.09142
• BBC. (2020). Greece suspends asylum applications as migrants seek to leave Turkey—BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-51695468
• Communication From the Commission to the European Parliament, The Council, The European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions a European Agenda on Migration, (2015). https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?qid=1485255362454&uri=CELEX:52015DC0240
• Connor, P. (2016). Number of Refugees to Europe Surges to Record 1.3 million in 2015. Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project. https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2016/08/02/number-of-refugees-to-europe-surges-to-record-1-3-million-in-2015/
• Cortinovis, R. (2021). Pushbacks and lack of accountability at the Greek-Turkish borders.
• European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) |. (2022). https://ecre.org/
• EU-Turkey statement, 18 March 2016. (2016). https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2016/03/18/eu-turkey-statement/
• Fact Check: Did the EU-Turkey Deal Bring Down the Number of Migrants and of Border Deaths? (2016). https://blogs.law.ox.ac.uk/research-subject-groups/centre-criminology/centreborder-criminologies/blog/2016/09/fact-check-did-eu
• Fargues, P., & Fandrich, C. (2012). The European response to the Syrian refugee crisis: What next? Greece has ‘no right’ to suspend asylum applications, UN. (2020, March 3). InfoMigrants. https://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/23142/greece-has-no-right-to-suspend-asylum-applications-un
• Greenhill, K. M. (2016). Open arms behind barred doors: Fear, hypocrisy and policy schizophrenia in the European migration crisis. European Law Journal, 22(3), 317–332.
• How is the migrant crisis dividing EU countries? - BBC News. (2016). https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34278886
• İçduygu, A., & Aksel, D. B. (2014). Two-to-tango in migration diplomacy: Negotiating readmission agreement between the EU and Turkey. European Journal of Migration and Law, 16(3), 337–363.
• Interview of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on CNN TV station and journalist Richard Quest | Ο Πρωθυπουργός της Ελληνικής Δημοκρατίας. (2020). https://primeminister.gr/en/2020/03/06/23497
• ISIS militants seize towns in Syria’s Aleppo province. (2014, August 13). France 24. https://www.france24.com/en/20140813-isis-militants-seize-towns-syrias-aleppo-province
• Jamieson, A. (2020). Refugees reach Greek border as EU demands Turkey uphold commitments. Euronews. https://www.euronews.com/2020/02/27/at-least-22-turkish-soliders-killed-in-syria-airstrike
• Kirişci, K. (2014). Syrian refugees and Turkey’s challenges: Going beyond hospitality. Brookings Washington, DC.
• Nestoras, A. (2015). The view from Europe’s borders: Greece and the CSDP as a security provider. In The Common Security and Defence Policy: National Perspectives (pp. 61–84). Academia Press.
• Özoflu, M. A., & Kahraman, S. (2019). Rethinking European integration process in the light of crises introduction. Köz-Gazdaság-Review of Economic Theory and Policy, 14(1), 53–67.
• Oztig, L. I. (2020). The Turkish–Greek Border Crisis and COVID-19. Borders in Globalization Review, 2(1), 78–81. https://doi.org/10.18357/bigr21202019843
• Parliament, E. (2020). Proposals to extend the list of EU crimes to all forms of hate crime and hate speech I Legislative Train Schedule. European Parliament. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/legislative-train/theme-a-new-push-for-european-democracy/file-hate-crimes-and-hate-speech
• Press corner | European Commission. (2020). https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/statement_20_380
• Shanahan, M. K. (2017). Journalism, online comments, and the future of public discourse. Routledge.
• Spijkerboer, T. (2016). Europe’s refugee crisis: A perfect storm. Border Criminologies, 10.
• UNHCR. (2022). Syria emergency. UNHCR. https://www.unhcr.org/syria-emergency.html
• UNHCR - UNHCR statement on the situation at the Turkey-EU border. (2020). Retrieved 2 January 2023, from https://www.unhcr.org/news/press/2020/3/5e5d08ad4/unhcr-statement-situation-turkey-eu-border.html
• What Happened at the Greece-Turkey Border in early 2020? (2020). Verfassungsblog. https://verfassungsblog.de/what-happened-at-the-greece-turkey-border-in-early-2020/