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Abstract

Due to its geographical location between the continents of Europe and Asia, the Republic of Turkey currently hosts millions of refugees. According to UNHCR figures, nearly 4.5 million people of foreign nationality live in the country. Of these, between 300,000 and 500,000 are Afghans, with the remainder belonging to other nationalities. It is estimated that approximately between 170,000 and 180,000 Afghan nationals have legal status. Changes in the Afghan government, increasing economic and political instability, and the ongoing war in Iran are forcing Afghan youth to seek better lives abroad. Because Iran also has a population of Afghan refugees numbering in the millions. For them, Turkey is a major destination and a key transit country for migration to Europe. A significant number of Afghan refugees have used Turkey not as their final destination but as a stepping stone to European countries and other destinations. However, the presence of Afghan refugees in Turkey dates back to the 1980s. A significant number of Afghans fleeing the Soviet-Afghan War and subsequent civil war sought refuge in Turkey. Although the Turkish state has accelerated so-called voluntary return and deportation policies targeting Afghan citizens in recent years, it continues to grapple with refugee-related challenges for multiple structural reasons. Afghan refugees who have fled Afghanistan and sought refuge in Turkey but are unable to move to a third country face numerous problems. The most prominent of these is the issue of integration. While the older generation struggles with integration into Turkish society, the younger generation remains alienated from their own cultural values. This paper is based on oral interviews addressing the problems faced by Afghan refugee families living in Manisa, Turkey, including access to education and healthcare, language barriers, unemployment, and social exclusion.

Keywords: Turkey, Afghanistan, refugees, migration, Manisa, cultural alienation, integration problems