Turkish Migration, Identity and Integration

Turkey to reach the West. In the meantime, it is turning into a country of immigration for EU professionals and retirees. There are also regular and irregular migrants from former Soviet Bloc coun-tries arriving in the country. Additionally, Turkey is becoming a safe haven for asylum-seekers originating from neighboring countries of the Middle East and beyond. Turkey's transition from being a predominantly migrant-sending country to a migrant-receiving country, and its ongoing effort to become a member of the European Union, are gen-erating pressure to reform Turkish immigration policies, a big challenge that Turkey has to face in the very near future. Historical Trends in Emigration and Immigration 1923-1960s: Creating the Turkish nation-state The Republic of Turkey is the successor to the Ottoman Empire, which was partitioned by the Allied Powers after World War I. The dissolution of the Ottoman Empire began with the Young Turk Revolution that reversed the suspension of the Ot...

Turkish Migration Policy, 2016

Due to the large-scale migration from Turkey to Europe in general and Germany in particular Turkey has primarily been regarded as a migrant-sending country until recently. This image of Turkey characterizes, however, just one aspect of the Turkish migration history. Only since 2011 with the large influxes of Syrians and, there is a shift in the perception of Turkey as a destination country. Throughout history though, Turkey has always been a host country for sizeable inward population movements. There were several waves of population movements in the aftermath of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire: According to Karpat, between 1860s and 1922, around 4 million people migrated to Ottoman territories while later, about 1.5 million Muslims “were forced to take refuge in the Ottoman domains” (more or less the territories of modern Turkey). According to the Ministry of Resettlement, then Turkey received a total of 870,000 migrants of whom 400,000 were from Greece, 225,000 from Bulgaria, 120,000 from Yugoslavia, 120,000 from Romania and 10,000 from other Balkan countries. Along with individually arranged movements, large portion of these migrations were organised as a result of the Lausanne Treaty’s compulsory population exchange which took place between 1923 and 1926. This population exchange had an important impact on the nation-building process, which involved transforming a multi-ethnic empire of diverse elements into a homogeneous state. Thus, parallel to the settlement of migrants of Muslim descent, there was the resettlement, displacement of Turkey’s non-Muslims who have been largely expelled in the first half century from the new Turkish Republic .

IMISCOE Research Series, 2015

For many centuries, Europe called the Ottoman empire “Turkey.” This applied to the registry of population movements to and from the Ottoman empire insofar as such registrations were made. The country's rulers and inhabitants, however, only took on the name Turkey (Türkiye) in 1923, upon proclamation of the republic in what is the country's present-day territory. To keep consistent with contemporary historiographic usage, references to the period of the republic must thus be to “the Ottoman empire,” rather than to “Turkey.” Given how predominant forced migrations were from the beginning of the 18th century until the empire's demise, migration movements during the Ottoman period can be classified under the headings of forced or voluntary migrations, while, during the republic, the headings of external or internal migration are appropriate.Keywords:immigration;ethnic conflict;labor supply;political economy;regional development;warimmigration;ethnic conflict;labor supply;political economy;regional development;war

Capital & Class, 1993

Immigration Policy Studies, 2019

2021

This paper is on migration and migration policy transition of Turkey. The focus is on the Turkish National Development Plans from the 1960s until today and the sociopolitical and economic context. We identify three distinct periods. The first period of the 1960s is characterized by an explicit support of out-migration to reduce population pressure and on remittances to promote economic growth. The second period from the 1970s to 2000 is marked by diaspora policies of Turkey relative to Europe, thereby acknowledging the role of the Turkish diaspora in the promotion of Turkish economic development and international relations. Since the year of 2000, Turkish migration policy turned to the promotion of highly skilled immigration, aiming at the promotion of technological progress towards a knowledge society with the support of intellectual elites. The policy transition towards the promotion of highly skilled immigration goes hand in hand with institutional and legal changes, which we specify.

2010

Mediterranean Borders: Frontline Europe in the face of migrant arrivals, 2018