A thematic analysis of YouTube comments on 2020 Turkish–Greek border crisis: The case of Euronews

Year 2023, Volume: 5 Issue: 8, 259 - 288, 01.04.2023

Apak Kerem Altıntop , Melek Aylin Özoflu , Yasin Özbey

Abstract

Following the heavy military losses in Idlib, Syria, Turkey opened its Greek border to European-bound asylum seekers and migrants on February 27th, 2020, paving the way for a political tension and border crisis between Turkey and the EU. This research investigates the anti-refugee and anti-immigrant discourses articulated within the comments on the YouTube channels of the official EU website Euronews both in English and Turkish communicating about the Turkish–Greek Border crisis that erupted in March 2020. To this end, it analyzes a large dataset of comments taken from the most interacted videos respectively on 15th May 2020 in English (V1) and 16th June 2020 in Turkish (V2). The number of comments is 2255 (C1) for the former, and 817 (C2) for the latter. The comments were analyzed through the qualitative data analysis software MAXQDA.2022. While the themes communicating about the crisis revolve around the debates of religion, national security and conceptualization of refugees and migrants within the C1, sending the refugees, negative features of the refugees and hate speech are prominent in the C2. The themes of social welfare and daily practice are prevalent in both C1 and C2. Consequently, refugees in C1 are mostly perceived in terms of security and/or economic considerations, while in C2 they are seen as people who benefit from social welfare but do not contribute to the state and society. In both C1 and C2, refugees are considered an economic burden and undesirable actors.

Keywords

EU, Turkey, Refugee, Migrant, Thematic Analysis, 2020 Turkey-Greece Border Crisis

A thematic analysis of YouTube comments on 2020 Turkish–Greek border crisis: The case of Euronews

Abstract

Suriye'nin İdlib kentinde yaşanan ağır askeri kayıpların ardından Türkiye, 27 Şubat 2020'de Yunanistan sınırını Avrupa'ya giden sığınmacılara ve göçmenlere açmış, bu durum Türkiye ile AB arasında siyasi gerilim ve sınır krizine dönüşmüştür. Bu araştırma, AB'nin resmi web sitesi Euronews'in YouTube kanallarında Mart 2020'de patlak veren Türk-Yunanistan Sınır krizi hakkında hem İngilizce hem de Türkçe olarak yapılan yorumlarda dile getirilen mülteci ve göçmen karşıtı söylemleri incelemektedir. 15 Mayıs 2020'de İngilizce (V1) ve 16 Haziran 2020'de Türkçe (V2) tarihlerinde en çok etkileşim alınan videolardan alınan geniş bir yorum veri setini analiz etmektedir. İlki için yorum sayısı 2255 (C1), ikincisi için 817'dir (C2). Yorumlar nitel analiz programı olan MAXQDA.2022 aracılığıyla analiz edilmiştir. Krizle ilgili iletişim temaları din, ulusal güvenlik ve C1 içindeki mülteci ve göçmenlerin kavramsallaştırılması, mültecilerin gönderilmesi, mültecilerin olumsuz özellikleri ve C2'de nefret söylemi öne çıkmaktadır. Sosyal refah ve günlük uygulama temaları hem C1 hem de C2'de yaygındır. Sonuç olarak, C1'de mülteciler çoğunlukla güvenlik ve/veya ekonomik kaygılar açısından algılanırken, C2'de sosyal yardımlardan yararlanan ancak devlete ve topluma katkısı olmayan kişiler olarak görülmektedir. Hem C1 hem de C2'de mülteciler ekonomik bir yük ve istenmeyen aktörler olarak görülmektedir.

Keywords

AB, Türkiye, Mülteci, Göçmen, Tematik Analiz, 2020 Türk-Yunan Sınır Krizi

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