Nineteenth International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

Abstract

The main purpose of this research is to understand whether it is possible to return to a place one has been forced to leave, and if so, what are the main reasons for returning. Despite the dominant Eurocentric return migration dynamics in the literature and the fact that return migration is largely formulated in terms of economic reasons, this research focuses on the return of Süryanis (known Assyrians) from various European countries to their homeland of Mardin-Midyat region since the 2000s in order to provide a critical, original and contemporary perspective. Their homeland is the Tur’abdin. The migrations of the Süryanis outside their homeland cover a large period from the 19th century Ottoman Empire to the 20th century Turkish Republic established by the Treaty of Lausanne. It is known that this wave of migration towards Europe reached its peak in the 1990s with the PKK-Hezbollah-state conflict in the region. However, with the democratization process of “Europeanized” Turkey, many Süryani have returned to their villages from the diaspora in Europe and started to live in the region again in the 2000s. Thus, the basic questions that the research is expected to answer are: What are the types of return migration? Is it possible to return to a place we had to leave? Are changes in the homeland influential on individuals’ migration decisions? What are the main motivations for Süryanis return migration? What are the expectations and interpretations of returning Süryanis and their reasons for returning? Is return a sustainable process for Süryanis?