Being Syrian Refugee Women: The Case of Fatih District

Yıldız Technical University | January 2015 – December 2015

This undergraduate research, conducted in collaboration with Sümeyye Zengin, examined the everyday experiences of Syrian refugee women in Istanbul’s Fatih district, often referred to as “Little Damascus.” Drawing on qualitative methods and insights from NGOs, we conducted semi-structured interviews with Syrian refugee women from diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds to investigate how gender and displacement intersect in urban exile. The study revealed that women embedded in solidarity networks—whether familial, communal, or organizational—tended to experience more rapid and stable processes of adaptation. These findings offered an early contribution to understanding how informal support structures shape integration outcomes within refugee communities.