This study was conducted via metaphor analysis in order to investigate the perceptions of prospective social studies teachers who took Middle East Issues course. The participants consisted of 114 students who were enrolled in the Social Sciences Education undergraduate program of the Faculty of Education at Adıyaman University in 2016-2017 academic year. The study used qualitative research methods and designed through phenomenological approach. The data were analyzed via metaphor analysis. The

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... ata analysis showed that the participants developed 108 valid metaphors towards Middle East and these metaphors were grouped under 5 main categories. As a result of the study, 39.8% of the metaphors described Middle East as a region that is expected to be shared by powerful countries, 28.7% as a playground of powerful countries, 21.2% as a battlefield, 8.3% as a hopeless case, and 1.8% as an important region for the world. In this context, 98.2% of the metaphors determined as negative and 1.8% of the metaphors determined as positive.