Morgül is a political and cultural sociologist whose research focuses on populism, national identity and international migrants' reception by and integration into their host societies.
Kerem Morgül, assistant professor of sociology, spoke with The New York Times about Syrian refugees in Turkey, following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria.
The Jan. 17, 2025 New York Times article, “Syrians in Turkey Agonize Over a Return Home” details the history of the relationship between Syria and Turkey, while examining the state of Syrian refugees in Turkey after the fall of Assad’s regime in November 2024.
Morgül is a political and cultural sociologist whose research focuses on populism, national identity and international migrants’ reception by and integration into their host societies. He spoke on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s approach. to refugees, including the Turkey’s 2018 economic issues. According to the New York Times, Erdogan casted blame on Syrians for the amount of money the government was spending on them, even though the cost was also subsidized by the European Union.
“(Erdogan) says, ‘We fed them, we clothed them, we sheltered them — we spent so much money,’ to claim that Turkey is now the big power under his rule with an active role in a global humanitarian crisis,” Morgül told The New York Times. “But what is the implication of this to people on the ground? A lot of Turkish people actually became more anti-Syrian when they heard this. They were like: ‘Hey, we are poor. Why didn’t we get any of those things?’”