A COMPARISON BETWEEN TÜRKİYE’S NATIONAL ROLE CONCEPTION AND ROLE PERFORMANCE IN THE CONTEXT OF THE SYRIAN REFUGEE CRISIS (2011-2024)

Date

2025-9-11

Author

Ünaldı, Ayşe Serra

Metadata

Show full item record

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Item Usage Stats

1999
views

0
downloads

Cite This

This thesis analyzes the alignment between Türkiye’s national role conception and its role performance in the context of the Syrian refugee crisis between 2011 and 2024. Based on Holsti’s role theory, it examines how Türkiye’s self-defined foreign policy identity was translated into institutional, legal, and foreign policy practices. Methodologically, the study applies a qualitative content analysis of 77 speeches delivered by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, supported by empirical data from national legislation, international reports, and field-based findings of civil society organizations. Five key national role conceptions (Defender of the Faith, Regional Protector, Active Independent, Revisionist, and Developer) are identified and analyzed across three periods. The findings show that Türkiye’s national role conception shifted dynamically in response to domestic political shifts, regional conflicts, and global refugee governance. While the first period (March 2011–July 2016) reflects a moderate alignment rooted in moral responsibility and humanitarian rhetoric, the second period (July 2016–March 2020) shows a high degree of alignment with securitized and independent policy actions. Finally, the third period (March 2020–December 2024) presents a low alignment, characterized by the simultaneous pursuit of humanitarian actions abroad and more restrictive migration policies at home. The study concludes that Türkiye’s engagement with the Syrian refugee crisis cannot be understood only through humanitarian or geopolitical lenses, but rather through an adaptive foreign policy identity navigating between normative ambitions and strategic necessities.

Subject Keywords

National Role Conception, Role Performance, Türkiye, Foreign Policy Analysis, Syrian Refugees

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/115605

Collections

Graduate School of Social Sciences, Thesis