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Abstract
This research aims to determine the perceptions of international university students towards Turkish citizens through metaphors. The study group of the study, in which the basic qualitative research design was used, consisted of 139 international university students studying at Kütahya Dumlupinar University. The study group was determined by easy case sampling, one of the purposeful sampling types. Data “Turkish citizen is like ...; because…” was collected through a form containing the sentence. The data were analysed using the content analysis technique. As a result of the research, it was determined that international university students produced 65 valid metaphors about Turkish citizens. 24 of them were stated by more than one student, and 41 of them by only one student. The most produced metaphors were listed as sun, lion, brother, ant, sea, and hero. It has been determined that the perception of Turkish citizens in the minds of international students is structured within the framework of positive and negative features, but the perceptions towards Turkish citizens are mostly positive. Therefore, two themes were created as “Turkish Citizens with Positive Characteristics” and “Turkish Citizens with Negative Characteristics”. In addition, under the theme of Turkish citizens with their positive characteristics, eight categories were determined as "Turkish Citizens as Protective and Helpful People", "Turkish Citizens as Affectionate and Good-Natured People", "Turkish Citizens as Hardworking and Productive People", "Turkish Citizens as Knowledgeable and Cultured People", “Turkish Citizens as Strong and Prosperous People”, “Turkish Citizens as Beautiful People”, “Turkish Citizens as Patriotic People” and “Turkish Citizens as Quick and Active People”.