Organized by the Jean Monnet Chair in Legal Aspects of Migration Management in the European Union and in Türkiye, the Migration Talks-VIII conference was held on the 4th of May, 2026. Speakers included: Prof. Dr. Bülent Turan (Koç University), Prof. Dr. Janet Molzan Turan (Koç University), Dr. İbrahim Yiğit (Florida State University), Dr. Hamed Abdollahpour Ranjbar (İstinye University), Khaled Elazab, MA (Clark University), Yomna Nassar, MA (Koç University), and Farah Amayreh (Koç University).
The research is conducted with Syrian and Afghan refugees living in Istanbul, Turkiye to explore and examine effects of stigma and microaggressions in these populations. Based on a survey of 156 young Syrian adults living in Türkiye for many years, the research found that Turkish identity denial was associated with higher depressive symptoms and lower psychological well-being, mediated by perceived and anticipated stigma. Furthermore, a challenged sense of belonging was an independent parallel mediating mechanism by which identity denial was associated with psychological well-being and depressive symptoms. It is also explored the concept of identity denial in the context of refugee stigma using the new scales. Even after many years of immigrating, immigrants can have their new cultural identity (in this case, their Turkish identity) denied or unacknowledged.
