Reshuffling Ethnic Composition of Cities by Migration in Syria

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.59670/ml.v19i5.2261

Keywords:

Syria, Arab Spring, Forced Migration, IDP, Sykes Picot, Federal State of Syria

Abstract

It is argued that the Arab Spring increased the motivation for democracy and led to clashes between the regimes and the citizens. Nevertheless, this expectation turned into a Civil War in Syria in 2011, causing the destruction of cities and displacing nearly half of the population. After the civil war, which started in 2011, there have been major ethnic shifts in Syria. Some Sunni Arabs, Kurds, Turkomans, Nusayris and Christian people, minorities in their areas, are forced to leave their homes. So the ethnic composition of the country is changed. This article draws attention to a potential crisis in the Middle East due to large shifts in ethnic populations. The Arab Spring and civil war in Syria triggered a process of federalisation in Syria as ethnic composition of cities and governorates shifted by forced migrations. IDP mobility in Syria is viewed from the perspective of Assad’s “Useful Syria” doctrine and the ethnic structure that is tried to be created within the framework of the safe de-escalation zones created in the Astana process.

Author Biography

Zeynep Banu Dalaman, Istanbul Topkapı University

Dr. Zeynep Banu Dalaman is a sociologist and a political scientist. She graduated from the Department of Sociology at Bogazici University. She accomplished her MA on Middle-East Politics at Sciences-Po Paris and her Ph. D. on “Feminist Alternative Media and Women’s Organizations” at Istanbul University. She has participated in several political activities for many years and performed much important fieldwork. From 2008 to 2010, she worked as the political advisor for Mayor of Sisli, Mustafa Sarigul. Zeynep Banu Dalaman officially stood as a candidate to Mayoralty of Beyoglu from the Democratic Left Party (DSP) in the local elections of 2009. Dalaman has worked as the director of the Centre for Studies on Turkey (CST) and the coordinator of Women Studies at Istanbul Aydin University from 2010 to 2017. She is on the advisory board of the London-based Turkey Research Center. She worked as the Director of the Vocational School of Altınbaş University for three years between 2017-2020. In 2017 she has founded Research Center on Gender and Women’s Studies at Altinbas University. She’s a member of KA.DER (Association for Support of Women Candidates).

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Published

2022-09-29

How to Cite

Dalaman, Z. B., & Lehimler, H. M. (2022). Reshuffling Ethnic Composition of Cities by Migration in Syria. Migration Letters, 19(5), 717–729. https://doi.org/10.59670/ml.v19i5.2261

Issue

Vol. 19 No. 5 (2022)

Section

Articles

License

CC Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0