SPARK’s Gaziantep Youth Entrepreneurship Programme (GYEP) provides many important lessons about how entrepreneurship can encourage integration amongst migrant and settler populations. There was an equal split between Turkish and Syrian youth applying and taking part in the programme which aimed to achieve changes in the lives of the Syrians and Turkish through awareness rising, empowerment, job creation and income generating activities. Here, participants from GYEP told us how they felt about their business training which they received through SPARK and how it helped them integrate.

Student voices

GYEP provided training in the form of workshops and lectures in business skills and entrepreneurship and was rounded off with a business competition at which students could pitch their ideas. One of the winners of the competition, Moustafa Ghazal, a 20 year old Syrian male who arrived in Turkey two years ago thanked the jury during the award ceremony: ‘Two years ago I arrived in Turkey, I had nothing, I didn’t know anyone, I had no money and I had no future. But this training helped me get into university, and gave me the opportunity to participate in other programmes. With the GYEP I made new friends, I have better knowledge and I have gained confidence again that I am capable and can do something on my own and realize my dreams.’

Turkish students also expressed appreciation for the training such as 22 year old Turkish male Resat Surucu who gained a new perspective during the project: ‘I learned how to prepare and present a presentation, ‘I learned how to be an entrepreneur and how to realize a business idea. I met new friends both from Turkey and Syria.’

The project was particularly successful at targeting resentment from the Turkish youth toward the Syrians by encouraging a sense of togetherness as this testimony from a 19 year old food engineering student Shaimaa Asami shows, ‘I am a [Syrian] student at Gaziantep University participating in the GYEP programme. I gained many new skills like learning how to write a proper business plan. We met so many professional people in many aspects and we benefited from their experience. Another point was the interactive sphere that we lived in together as one team so I worked together with people from both countries.’

 Turkish context

Turkey has experienced an influx of Syrian migrants crossing the border close to Gaziantep which has resulted in over-burdened social services and cultural tensions. It is important that integration is encouraged to quell the conflict and stabilise the region. Syrian youth already play a crucial role in managing emergency and humanitarian needs in both Syria and Turkey and after the conflict has ended their contribution to the reconstruction of their country will be indispensable. The demand, then, for education is high but supply is limited.

SPARK has started to fill this gap and the success of the programme can be seen is seen in the high quality of the business plans which were submitted to the jury. Some even had the potential to attract further investors and the external consultants Target, an independent monitoring company involved in the programme, have decided to provide additional training to the winning teams even offering to support one of the business ideas in gaining further capital.

As Shaimaa Asami says: ‘This programme is an opportunity for me to start getting in the business world on my own and making my own money during the difficult war situations.’