Gazing Toward and Beyond the Borders: Syrian Refugees and Organizations Supporting Them in Turkey

We investigate the meanings of borders for Syrians based in Turkey and for the efforts of the civil society organizations supporting them. We look at how being placed within specific borderscapes determines Syrians’ everyday lives and CSOs’ activities in Istanbul and Gaziantep. The scholarly literature usually explores experiences of borders and the consequences of bordering practices for migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers while focusing solely on those of the country in which the foreigners currently reside. We point out that while people’s experiences and CSOs’ actions greatly depend on regulations, policies, and the implementation thereof, in this case, of the Turkish refugee regime, they also depend on people’s gaze at and beyond the borders toward Syria and Western countries; they are also affected by what was, is, or could be happening on their other sides. Rather than viewing borders as static lines, we approach them as an element of borderscapes and explore how they influence people’s general situation as well as their day-to-day social relations affecting their identities and group formation. We demonstrate that these borderscapes shape the processes of becoming and belonging even long after the physical border has been crossed and continually impress the work of the CSOs that provide the support in this field.