Zafer Çelik

After over a decade of conflict and displacement in Syria, renewed discussions on post-war return have highlighted the conditions under which displaced populations envision and negotiate their return. In post-conflict environments, return involves more than just physical relocation; it encompasses complex issues of belonging, identity, and future planning. This research explores how education influences Syrian high school students and their parents residing in Türkiye, shaping their ideas of return, using the concept of homecoming. Using qualitative interviews with Syrian high school students and parents, the study finds that while security, economic opportunities, and social belonging influence decisions to return, access to education and future prospects emerge as the most decisive factors. The results show that students tend to conceptualize return not as an immediate decision, but as a conditional and ongoing process linked to their educational experiences. In this view, homecoming is a future-focused process driven by expectations of stability, social acknowledgement, and mobility, rather than nostalgia for pre-war life. The study enhances understanding of forced migration and return by emphasizing education as a vital element in analyzing refugee youth’s views on returning home after conflict.

The AK Party has been a leading reform actor with particular emphasis on education. AK Party governments implemented educational reforms to increase access to education, improve the quality of education and democratize the education system. Some challenges, however, persisted: Turkey still lags one year behind the OECD average PISA 2009 indicators. This article focuses on the educational policies of the AK Party governments during the last decade. The AK Party’s education reforms and policies will be examined through the lenses of access, quality, governance, finance, and democratization of education. The current problems and challenges of Turkey’s education system will also be discussed.