Özet:
Over the last few decades, we have been seeing global processes of increased human
mobility due to the alterations in political and financial realms. Transformations along
this line have been predominantly reflected on two broad areas. The first one is related
to the spatial reconfiguration of cities and concomitant integration of global markets
into the local. The second domain concerns how these displaced individuals relate to
the new community and make a place for themselves. However, this process of
reconstruction has been explored, to large extent, in terms of reasons for migration, or
financial, and cultural effects. In the case of pensioner foreign residents exhibiting
distinctive features compared to other migrants, their lives have been extensively
studied lately, but in their own entirety, excluding other constituents in the locality.
However, with the growing interest in the ‘space’ as an active participant in social life,
individuals’ experiences need to be explored through the concept of ‘belonging’. In
this context, the major aim of this thesis is to explore how the residents of Fethiye,
including not only foreign residents, but also in-state immigrants and the local people,
work towards constructing their belonging to the city. ‘Spatial belonging’ is reinterpreted
by employing concepts like place-making, performativity, and the politics
of belonging among many others. To this end, semi-structured interviews were
conducted with a number of residents from each group. It has been found out that
almost all the informants believe that they belong to the city. Foreign residents tend to
apply place-making strategies while concurrently trying to remanufacture their
Britishness in communal spaces. However, their belonging seems to be disturbed by
recent residency policies. On the other hand, the locals are observed to be involved in
maintaining their space and culture amid financial and cultural changes by inventing
mechanisms. Finally, in-state immigrants consisting of mainly pensioners seem to be
socially and financially integrated.
