The WHO Country Office in Turkey organized 3 media-awareness workshops to advocate for the collective responsibility of the Turkish media in promoting intercultural dialogue. The workshops aimed to enhance reporting skills to avoid misperceptions about refugees in Turkey.
As public opinion influencers, the media play an important part in supporting the integration of Syrian refugees with host communities in Turkey. In order to leverage this role, the 3 workshops, held in December 2017, took place in 3 separate locations and engaged 3 different types of Turkish media:
- local media in Gaziantep, the hub for WHO operations, located near the Syrian border;
- press and broadcast media in Ankara, where the WHO Country Office is located; and
- social media representatives from newspapers and broadcast media in Istanbul, which hosts a large number of Syrian refugees.
A positive example from the health sector: integrating Syrian health professionals in Turkey’s health system
WHO and the Turkish Ministry of Health illustrated to media representatives the trainings that they have been conducting for Syrian health professionals to help them adapt to the Turkish health system. Through this initiative, in 2017 over 1600 Syrian doctors and nurses who are refugees in Turkey completed a classroom training. Over 1200 of them also completed an on-the-job training, and about 600 were then hired by the Ministry.
The value of this initiative and the importance of the refugee integration process were reinforced during the workshops. In the words of Dr Pavel Ursu, WHO Representative in Turkey: “Syrian refugees are people who had to leave their homeland because of the war. In collaboration with the Turkish Ministry of Health, we created a model in which Syrian doctors and nurses can practice again their specialities in their new country.”
Raising awareness to change the portrayal of Syrian refugees
After more than 6 years and with over 3 million Syrian refugees living in the country, Turkish society still displays a high level of social acceptance, albeit fragile. Professor Murat Erdoğan, Director of the Migration and Integration Research Centre at the Turco-German University, shared the results of a survey, commenting, “This acceptance coexists with anxiety in the Turkish society.”
The coverage of Syrian refugees in Turkish media was critically examined throughout the workshop. Participants focused on approaches to diversity and on stereotypes to deepen awareness and understanding of different cultures. The lectures also addressed antidiscrimination features in existing journalism practises.
Professor Bülent Çaplı of Bilkent University’s Communication Faculty pointed out that “Migrants are described as a threat. Media can counter this threat and help people better understand their stories by applying ethical principles, avoiding crude stereotypes, developing good newsroom practice and engaging with the audience.”
Mr Berke Çaplı, an expert on countering violent extremism, stated: “There are only 2 options for the Turkish media: either they choose to keep publishing content that scares and alienates the Turkish public from Syrian refugees, or they become the beacon for harmony and actively use counter-narratives to lower people’s natural fears and hostility.”
Following the workshop, the majority of participants expressed their intention to report on the adaptation training for Syrian health professionals. They were also unanimously in favour of disseminating online the content of the workshops and reporting guidelines to other colleagues. Some participants also indicated their intention to conduct an academic study on the adaptation trainings.