This 12-month project of £18,250 is funded by the LSE Urgency Grant Scheme which aims to fund world-class research activities for unexpected and transient opportunities created by unpredictable, discrete and abrupt events such as pandemics, conflicts, environmental impacts and abrupt policy change.
Project Members:
Yaprak Gürsoy, Professor of European Politics and Chair of Contemporary Turkish Studies, European Institute, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
Buğra Güngör, Assistant Professor of International and Comparative Politics, American University of Central Asia (AUCA)
Friedrich Püttmann, PhD Candidate, European Institute, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
Project description:
The 7.5-7.8 magnitude earthquakes that hit southeast Turkey and north of Syria on 6 February 2023 were an unexpected and abrupt event. The affected region in Turkey was inhabited by 15 million people and nearly 2 million Syrian refugees, which was roughly 18% of Turkey’s population. More than 50,000 people have been confirmed dead, with nearly 3 million people displaced and 40,000 refugees returning to Syria.
This project aims to understand the impact of these unprecedented disasters on Turkish social attitudes. Besides its focus on potential changes in Turkey, the project also seeks to contribute to the literature on the consequences of collective traumas and natural disasters for social group formation and political preferences, including voting intentions. Through a public opinion survey and empirical evidence collected in the aftermath of the earthquakes, the project analyses the immediate effects of varying experiences of the earthquakes on collective identities, political views, voting intentions, attitudes toward political parties and the Syrian refugees in Turkey.
Related Publications:
Contemporary Turkish Studies at LSE, "After the Earthquakes: Turkish Elections, Politics and Foreign Policy in 2023", 8 June 2023, public event transcript written by Dr Arzu Kırcal Şahin.