Özet:

In this paper, Migration-Terrorism relationship/non-relationship in the example of Mersin province is described in a paradoxical framework. While it was a small fishing town with 650 inhabitants in 1850s, the population of Mersin today has reached about 1,787,649 (according to estimated data for 2017) and become one of the largest metropolitan city of Turkey. The population of Mersin, which was 843,931 in 1980, has nearly doubled in the last 30 years (1.647.899 in 2010). So, what was the most important reason for this rapid increase? Among the most important factors is undoubtedly the phenomenon of terror. Appearing after the end of ASALA (Armenian terrorist organization), the PKK terrorist organization has been at the top of Turkey’s agenda for the last 40 years. The terror ravaging eastern and south-eastern Anatolian provinces, people’s lack of safety of life and property or evacuation of villages and settlements by security forces for security reasons have caused massive migrations. Most of the cities in Turkey have been affected by these migrations. However, the city that received the most migration and therefore most affected has been Mersin. The main reason of the rapid population growth of Mersin is the forced migration into this city from the Eastern and South-eastern Anatolia regions. The city that grew due to terrorism suffered the paradox that a part of the population it received later formed the human resource of terrorism. This paradoxical structure is not only the biggest obstacle in front of social integration in Mersin, but also the biggest cause of urban tension.

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