Visiting Speaker - Dr Sedat Benek, Harran University

Since March 2011, more than 5 million people have fled Syria.  With three million people, Turkey is the country with the highest number of asylum seekers.  According to the Migration Administration data, as of June 2017, the Syrians in Turkey, after Istanbul (485.227), are mostly settled in Sanliurfa city (428.838 people).  The Syrians in Şanlıurfa have integration problems while informal workers put a stress on the local labour market, in particular on the following economic sectors: cosmetics, hairdressing, food, jewelry, hospitality and catering.  The stress caused by unemployment, lower wages, and the risk of losing business is high.

This presentation specifically addresses the influence of the Syrians over the small artisan labour market in Sanlıurfa with the dimension of social integration.  It constitutes the first step of the research Project entitled "Investigation of the influence of the Syrians in terms of social integration on the small trades labour market: Sanliurfa Sample".

Dr. Sedat Benek was born in 1971 in Hosin village, Hilvan, Sanliurfa/Turkey.  He graduated from the University of Uludag, Department of Geography in 1994.  He did his MA at the University of Harran in 1998, and he’s done his Ph. D. in 2005 at the University of Ankara.  He is currently working at Harran University Geography Department as an Associate Professor.  He has been working on regional development, borders, mainly Turkey-Syrian border, migration, refugees, and Turkey-Syrian relationship.  Benek has written about 40 scientific articles/papers/books.  He worked as an expert/coordinator in more than 20 research projects. He also worked as a director/screenwriter/consultant in cinema sector (documentary/film/serial).  The most important studies of Benek in cinema sector are: “Road Map of Landless” (Documentary film, 13 part, TRT Kürdi TV), “The Border Story” (Documentary film, 39 part, TRT Kürdi TV) and Kevok (short film, 15 minutes).