Int'l conference on Xenophobia in Media held in Turkiye

Participants at the international Conference on Xenophobia held in Turkiye

Monowara Begum Moni

A two day long International Conference on Xenophobia in the Media was held in Sakarya, is a  province  in North West of Turkey, on the coast of Black Sea.

The Sakarya University of Turkey and the Centre for Media, Human Rights, and Peacebuilding (CMHRP) in the UK have hosted an international conference under the title “Xenophobia in the Media” with a special focus on the issue of rising xenophobia against immigrants and refugees around the world. 

The conference was held in hybrid format (online and in Turkey at Sakarya University) from 30 to 31 May 2022.

The Turks conquered the city of Sakarya in the 13th century. There was intensive immigration from Caucasia and the Balkans in the 18th and 19th centuries. The last massive Immigration was in 1989.

Xenophobia means fear or hatred of that which is perceived to be foreign or strange. It is an expression of perceived conflict between an ingroup and an outgroup and may manifest in suspicion by the one of the other's activities, a desire to eliminate their presence, and fear of losing national, ethnic, or racial identity.

The conference was intended to climax a series of workshops for journalists in Turkey in May 2022 entitled ‘Capacity building for Turkish Journalists on Journalism of Tolerance’ organized jointly by Sakarya University and CMHRP with the support of the U.S. Mission Turkey Grants Programme.

The participants discussed and understand the dynamics of the xenophobia construction in the media around the world with a special focus on Turkey, the effect of xenophobic discourse of the media and how it works, the nexus between xenophobia construction of the media and the social, economic and political conditions, and the impact of xenophobic discourse of the media on immigrants and host communities.

The organizers intend to establish a network for cooperation and coordination between academics, researchers and journalists studying on media, refugees and xenophobia in Turkey and other parts of the world.

The negative effect of Xenophobia in the Globalization has furthermore led to xenophobia and racism through jobs being deported. Numerous Americans have lost their jobs to cheaper labour in other countries. Thus, contributing to xenophobia; a fear of ‘them’ – ‘them’ being the ‘job-thieves’. This leads to an “us versus them” concept, especially American xenophobia is rooted in this specific concept.

The speakers discussed how the Jews in Europe had been victims of discrimination and persecution since the Middle Ages, often for religious reasons. Christians saw the Jewish faith as an aberration that had to be quashed. Jews were sometimes forced to convert or they were not allowed to practice certain professions.

The Turkish journalists expressed, how they make experiences with the Syrian refugees in Turkey. They described some tragic stories with the Asylum seekers and refugees. In understanding xenophobic attitudes towards asylum seekers through the framework of new racism, scholars have observed that physical markets of ethnicity are rarely evoked in mainstream migration discourse.

The conferences intend to fight against Xenophobia further to make a better world.