Fall 2017 JPI

TURKEY’S HISTORY OF IMMIGRATION AND THE CASE OF SYRIA
The history of immigration to Turkey is one that was stagnant for most of its history. From
the initial years of the republic until the 1980s, the migrants Turkey received were predominantly
people of Turkish origin who used to live outside of Turkey. This changed in the last four decades
with increasing numbers of immigrants from different ethnic groups and nationalities. A significant
portion of the migration toward Turkey after the 1980s was irregular, and Turkey did not have
sufficient legal regulations that could deal with the situation. The law on refugees was amended in
1994 and once again in 2013, yet still the status of refugee is granted exclusively to Europeans. As a
result, Turkey has been reluctant to produce effective immigration politics in response to the new
situations. 15 However, this did not constitute a “crisis” until the Syrian civil war with the unprecedented
number of people who came over a short time.
Turkey kept an open door to Syrian asylum seekers partly because it was not predicted that
the civil war would go on for a long time. However, after ceasefire negotiations failed in 2012, the
number of asylum seekers increased rapidly. 16 As of October 2016, Turkey hosts 3.1 million Syrian
asylum-seekers, more than any other country currently hosts. 17 Turkey’s response aimed for temporary
protection of the newly arriving asylum-seekers and upheld the nonrefoulement principle and
providing humanitarian assistance. In practice however, these goals were not achieved for all asylumseekers.
The situation was slightly improved by the aid of NGOs, however many asylum-seekers in
Turkey today still live in very difficult conditions without jobs, healthcare, or education for their
children.
In March 2016, Turkey and the EU struck a deal on the refugee crisis. It required Turkey to
secure its borders to keep migrants from going into the EU and to take back the illegal immigrants in
Greece who had already used Turkey as a stepping stone. In exchange, Turkey would receive six billion
euros in refugee aid to be used to improve conditions for asylum seekers in the country. The EU
would also grant Turkey the revival of accession talks and abolish the Schengen visa for Turkish
citizens. 18 The deal decreased the number of immigrants that made their way into the EU, however it
also gave Erdogan the opportunity to threaten the EU with opening Turkey’s borders whenever he
was not pleased with the deal. This arrangement ultimately made Turkey the final destination for many
Syrian asylum-seekers, although their legal status in Turkey was still temporary.
Many asylum-seekers believe that due to the current situation in Syria, they will never be able
to go back to their country. What started out as a temporary escape for many has to become a
permanent. Yet, because this is not recognized by the state and they are still in the “asylum-seeker”
status, many people in Syria live precarious lives.
THE PUBLIC RESPONSE
Syrian asylum-seekers were mostly eager about the citizenship news, but this optimism was
not shared by Turkish citizens. While Turkey has suffered from increasing polarization since the
15 İçduygu, Ahmet, and Damla B. Aksel. "Turkish Migration Policies: A Critical Historical Retrospective." Perceptions XVIII, no. 3 (Autumn 2013):
167-90.
16 İçduygu, Syrian Refugees in Turkey, 6-7.
17 The European Commission. Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection. "Turkey: Refugee Crisis." News release, September 2016. Accessed December
14, 2016. http://ec.europa.eu/echo/files/aid/countries/factsheets/turkey_syrian_crisis_en.pdf.
18 "Europe's murky deal with Turkey" in The Economist. May 28, 2016. Accessed December 18, 2016.
http://www.economist.com/news/europe/21699466-eu-gambling-its-reputation-secure-its-borders-europes-murky-deal-turkey.
JPI Fall 2017, pg. 23