Friend or Foe: Cultural Fusion Theory and Media Coverage of Syrian Refugees in Turkey

Abstract

Using principles of Cultural Fusion Theory (Croucher & Kramer, 2017), this study focuses on representations of Syrian refugees in mainstream Turkish newspapers to determine: (a) how the host culture media portrays newcomers; and (b) what the implications of these portrayals are in terms of an effective cultural fusion between the two communities. The study entailed content analysis of five Turkish newspapers. A keyword search of the words Syrian (Suriyeli) and refugee (mülteci) were entered into the archives of these newspapers. The search yielded a total of 2,887 news articles and 373 commentary items. The results display the significance of Cultural Fusion Theory principles and challenges that exist to achieve effective cultural fusion.