Coercive Engineered Syrian Mass Migration in the EU‐Turkey Relations: A Case Analysis for Future Reference
| Published date | 01 April 2019 |
| Author | Nefise Ela Gokalp Aras |
| Date | 01 April 2019 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/imig.12566 |
Coercive Engineered Syrian Mass Migration
in the EU-Turkey Relations: A Case Analysis
for Future Reference
Nefise Ela Gokalp Aras*
INTRODUCTION
Since the end of the Cold War, the effects of international migration have become of increasing
interest to scholars of international relations. However, despite a wealth of empirical studies analys-
ing the regulation of migration and asylum by states, the existing literature has not yet provided a
coherent framework for analysing the relationship between diplomacy and cross-border mobility.
Migration and refugee research have seldom been tackled within the framework of foreign policy
decision-making (Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul, Istanbul).
1
The studies that have addressed the issue from a foreign policy perspective have been centred on
Europe, focusing on the external dimension of the EU action (Boswell, 2003; Lavenex and Ucarer,
2004; Geddes, 2009). Yet this literature is also limited by its distinct theoretical and analytical lens,
which treats immigration and asylum policy as a unidirectional flow from the EU to target coun-
tries (understood as passive recipients of policy). Moreover, this literature tends to focus only on
the EU and its Member States (MSs), even though the majority of migratory flows occur in neigh-
bouring countries. How migration features in the foreign policy of these neighbouring has been
focused, but non-member countries remain therefore under-theorized.
This article aims to fill this gap in the literature by focusing on the nexus between migration pol-
icy and foreign policy in the wider context of the European neighbourhood policy. Specifically, it
stresses the importance of cross-border population mobility in shaping diplomatic practices. It takes
the crucial case of Syrian refugees and the EU–Turkey relations as its empirical focus. First the
Syrian case is intrinsically relevant given its far-reaching consequences for both receiving countries
and the EU but also the three major hosting countries: Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan.
2
Turkey is the
most significant of these three (UNHCR, 2018), hosting over 3.6 million Syrian refugees at the
time of writing.
3
The issue has become one of Turkey’s most pressing domestic and foreign-policy
challenges and migration transit through Turkey has become an important aspect of the EU–Turkey
relations. The case study is also crucial because it showcases how management of mass migration
towards the EU must be placed within a broader context that fully incorporates the perspective of
host and transit countries rather than treating it merely as part of Europe’s so-called “refugee crisis”
(Gabrielli, 2017). Finally, European migration policy is and will continue to be framed in terms of
the EU neighbourhood policy. Thus, the EU’s relations with Turkey and other nearby African and
Middle Eastern countries provide a salient testing ground for thinking about how it likely to unfold
in future.
* Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul, Istanbul
doi: 10.1111/imig.12566
©2019 The Author
International Migration ©2019 IOM
International Migration Vol. 57 (2) 2019
ISSN 0020-7985Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Get this document and AI-powered insights with a free trial of vLex and Vincent AI
Get Started for FreeStart Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting