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Migration in the Turkish Republic

Turkey has historically been a country of both emigration and because of the political and military conflict in south-eastern . Internal dynamics, bilateral agreements, con- and eastern . They also migrated to big cities, mostly flicts and , and political and economic interests have led to and have changed the social structure of the city to the emergence of different migratory movements at dif- significantly. ferent times. Some of these movements have been regular and some are irregular. Turkish guest-worker emigration to EMIGRANTS FROM TURKEY , emigration after the 1970s and continuing While there was movement from rural areas to the urban during the 1980s until today, student migration and emigra- centres starting from the 1950s, Turkey signed its first bilat- tion of highly-skilled people are the main migratory movements eral labour agreement with Germany in 1961 when Turkish from Turkey to various parts of the world. guest-worker migration to Europe began. This was seen as Bulgarian immigration into Turkey between 1923 and the a necessary move by the Turkish state in order to solve the 1990s, reaching a peak in 1989; immigration of asylum seek- problem of unemployment by means of encouraging migra- ers and ; trafficked and smuggled people; illegal immi- tion of the excess workforce abroad. In addition to Germany, grants and, recently, the reverse migration of the “Euro-Turks” Turkey signed agreements with , , Belgium, the (Kaya and Kentel, 2005), who are the second and third gener- Netherlands and Sweden. Turkish labour emigration was not ation children of the guest-workers, are the major immigration only directed to the European continent. A labour agreement moves into Turkey. Moreover, due to its geographical location was also signed with Australia. In 1973, labour recruitments between Europe and , Turkey is also a transit point for ceased. However, Turkish migration continued with family re- migrants from the and who want to unification procedures and in the form of refugee and asylum reach the prosperous European Union countries. Thus, Turkey flows. Due to the difficult political atmosphere in the country in and its migration policies are crucial to the EU countries which the 1970s and 1980s, many people left Turkey and became want Turkey to control its borders against illegal and transit refugees mainly in European countries. After the 1990s, Turk- migrants in line with the Geneva Convention. This is the main ish emigration to the USA (both legal, basically as student mi- reason why Turkey’s migration policy focuses on asylum seek- gration, and illegal), to and were the main ers, refugees and illegal migrants. Turkey has made progress forms of emigration. in the field of migration policy by trying to bring current policies Turkey has been dealing with Turkish emigrants through its into line with international and EU standards. embassies and consulates. There was no specific state insti- Another important migratory pattern determining Turkey’s tution responsible for . Issues related to them and social structure is constituted by internal migration dynamics, problems they might encounter in their countries of residence which can still be observed from rural eastern and south-east- have been solved by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the ern Turkey to the urban western Turkey. A significant part of Ministry of Labour and Social Security. In 2010, the Directo- this migration process consisted of internally displaced popula- rate for Turkish Expatriates was founded and is now responsi- tion due to armed conflict in south-eastern Anatolia between ble for emigrants and their problems. 1984 and 1999. Turkish emigration has always been an important source of Turkish industrialisation and modernisation from the begin- funds for Turkish economy through remittances sent by Turk- nings of 1950s was marked by a move from the rural areas ish people abroad. The World counts the Turkey-Germa- towards the big cities, namely Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir. In ny remittance corridor as one of the top ten global remittance the 1950s, 75% of Turkey’s population was rural and this fact corridors (IOM Report, 2010, p. 185). Turkey received a total was reversed in 60 years. By 2010, Turkey’s population was of nearly 3 billion USD in remittances in 2002 (IMF, 2003). In 70% urban (UNFPA, 2007). It was internal migration which the same report the World Bank cites Turkey as being among played a vital role in this demographic and societal transfor- the countries in which the number of emigrants is greater mation. Moreover, rural to urban migration gained a different than the number of immigrants (p. 249). According to sta- dimension between the years 1984 and 1999 with the phe- tistics from the Turkish Ministry of Labour and Social Security nomenon of internal displacement of many people of Kurd- and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the total number of Turk- ish origin. These people were forced to leave their villages ish citizens living abroad was 3,765,175 by the end of 2009 259 (see Figure 1). While more than three million of those people ian speaking , and Tatars from the Balkans” (Kirişçi, live in European countries, a considerable percentage resides 2003, p. 3). According to the Law of Settlement promulgated in the USA, Canada, Australia and Middle Eastern countries. in 1934, only people who are of Turkish decent and culture Although the number of emigrants is larger than that of im- can migrate and settle in Turkey. As Erder points out, although migrants in Turkey, the trend is towards an increase in the it is not clear from this law what is meant by Turkish ethnicity number of people migrating to Turkey, which has led to inten- and culture, Muslims and communities from the Balkan region sification in immigration policy making. who speak Turkish have benefited from this law and migrated to Turkey (2003, p. 158). IMMIGRANTS IN TURKEY Among the people who migrated to Turkey between 1923 Turkey, which is mostly known as a country of emigration to and 1997, Bulgarians were the largest group of immigrants to other places, especially to Europe, has also been a country settle in Turkey. These Bulgarian immigrants, who have been

Country Profile: Turkey Profile: Country of immigration and a country of asylum. Throughout history, called “göçmen” (which simply means migrant) by Turkish soci- people from other parts of the world have migrated to Turkey. ety, were given many opportunities by the Turkish state. They Immigration into Turkey has come especially from neighbour- were given a piece of land in Anatolia and Bulgarian immigrants ing countries with an unstable political, economic and social built their own houses and engaged in agriculture on these environment. For example, in the mid-1920s, a forced popu- blocks of land. lation exchange was carried out between Greece and Tur- In 1989, as a result of Bulgarian governmental policy towards key, this affecting half a million Muslims and Turks in Greece the ethnic identity of Turks, more than 300,000 ethnic Turks and over a million . In this forced population and migrated to Turkey after they were expelled from exchange, many families were torn apart and children and the country when they refused to accept a Bulgarian Slav iden- friends were left behind. Second, from 1923 to 1997, more tity, which was a part of a campaign of the Communist regime. than 1.6 million people migrated to Turkey mostly from Bal- This immigration to Turkey was really unexpected. After the kan countries. This immigration flow from the Balkan region collapse of the regime in 1990, one third of these Bulgarian also continued in 1989, 1992-1995 and in 1999. Third, immigrants returned to their country while the rest stayed and during the Cold War, asylum seekers from former Commu- obtained Turkish . However, as a result of ’s nist Bloc states in and from the Soviet Un- EU membership in 2007, many more Bulgarian immigrants ion fled to Turkey in thousands. By the late 1980s, there returned to reclaim Bulgarian citizenship. were increasing numbers of asylum seekers but this time The second pillar of the migration policy of Turkey is the 1951 from and . Iranians sought refuge in Turkey after the Geneva Convention on refugees and asylum procedures. Turkey revolution in Iran in the 1980s while, from 1988 to 1991, has always been a country of asylum because of its geographi- there was a massive influx of mostly from cal closeness to unstable areas of the world. Historically, dur- Iraq. Since the 1990s, there have been refugee flows from ing the Ottoman era, there were Jewish people who fled from countries like Somalia, Sudan, and Ethiopia. In addition to the refugee and asylum movements, irregular im- migration is also observed. However, it is not easy to define Figure 1: Percentage of Turkish citizens regular-irregular or legal-illegal immigration because transit abroad by country of residence migration, , refugee migration and asylum 2009 (%) Germany seeker flows are intertwined. What is striking is the extent of France Bulgaria refugee flows, asylum seekers and irregular immigration into Netherlands Cyprus1 Turkey. This has grown to a significant degree and has thus prompted the EU to pressure Turkey to change and develop Austria Russian Fed. Saudi Arabia Netherlands in its migration policy. France U. Kingdom United States Denmark EVOLUTION OF IMMIGRATION POLICY 7% 3% 3% Saudi Arabia 2% 2% England Until the beginning of the year 2000, there were three legal 2% 2% 1% 1% 10% Austria pillars of migration policy in Turkey. These are the Law on Set- 12% 11% Switzerland tlement (1934), the Geneva Convention on Refugees (1951) Iran and the Regulation on Asylum (1994). Within the context of Iraq harmonisation processes with the EU, Turkey has been en- Kazakhstan Belgium gaged in legal work directed at changes in the migration law Romania and policy. 44% Germany With the foundation of the Turkish Republic in 1923, the Greece R. Federation of the new republic in Turkey wanted to construct a new, pure Sweden Ukraine Turkish ethnic identity and, in order to achieve this aim, they Australia Afghanistan Switzerland gave priority to accepting immigrants who were “either Muslim Albania others Turkish speakers or who were officially considered to belong to Turkmenistan ethnic groups that would easily melt into a Turkish identity such Source: Ministry of Labour and Social Security and Ministry of Foreign CIDOB International Yearbook 2011 Yearbook CIDOB International as Albanians, Bosnians, Circassians, Pomaks, who are Bulgar- Affairs. www.csgb.gov.tr/csgbPortal/diyih.portal?page=yv&id=1

260 the Spanish Inquisition to the Ottoman Empire. After that, flows easy for Iranian refugees to enter Turkey, it was not the same of asylum-seeking groups continued to enter Turkey. In 1935, with the massive flow of Kurdish refugees to Turkey in 1991. Jewish people from different parts of Europe came to Turkey With this flow, Turkey began to change its policy and reject because of the fascist regimes in the continent. Iraqis coming to Turkey. In 1994, the Turkish government in- Current asylum history and current asylum policies of Turkey troduced new Asylum Regulation which brought strict controls start with the 1951 Convention which is related to refugee on access in asylum procedures. European and non-European . Turkey was one of the twenty-six countries that partici- asylum seekers receive different treatment. Asylum seekers pated in this conference. have to register within ten days when they enter Turkey and During the Cold War, there were refugees from the former prove valid identification within 15 days. While Europeans are Communist Bloc countries in Turkey. According to the es- given refugee status, non-Europeans are attended to by the timates of Ministry of Interior, between 1970 and 1996, UNHCR in Turkey. 13,500 asylum seekers benefited from asylum law under the This national regulation has been criticised by European gov- 1951 Convention. Another important group of asylum seekers ernments and international human rights groups. Accordingly, from Europe are 20,000 Bosnian Muslims who were given Turkey started to soften its approach to asylum policies (Kirişçi, temporary asylum during the war in former Yugoslavia between 2003, p. 66). With the negotiations between Turkey and the 1992 and 1995 (Kirişçi, 2003, p. 61). When one looks at asy- European Union on Turkey’s membership procedures, the Eu- lum in Turkey today, it is obvious that most of the asylum seek- ropean Union countries put pressure on Turkey to tighten its Republic Turkish in the Migration ers are from non-European countries. According to UNHCR asylum policy again. This is because Turkey is likely to be the ( High Commission for Refugees) data, Turkey, first country of asylum for asylum seekers or refugees who at the end of 2005, UNHCR-recognised refugees and asylum want to move on to European Union countries. With regard to seekers numbered almost 7,300 people. Most of the asylum the EU priorities on migration policy, Turkey has passed various applicants and refugees are from Iran, Iraq, Somali, and Af- bills related to immigrants. In 2002, human trafficking and ghanistan. Indeed, this flow of non-European asylum seekers was defined as a crime and severe punishments to Turkey is not a new phenomenon. As mentioned above, in for traffickers were introduced. Labour activities of immigrants 1988 and 1991, there was a massive flow of Kurdish refu- were regulated in 2003 with a law on work permits of for- gees to Turkey. eigners as a precaution against any possible illegal activities According to Kirisci, Turkey has a two-tiered asylum policy. of immigrants. Further work on regulations is yet to be done The first tier concerns asylum seekers from Europe and Turkey in terms of signing readmission agreements with source coun- gives them refugee status. They are granted all the rights of tries (Migration and Asylum Bureau of the Ministry of Interior). refugees. However, the second-tier of Turkey’s asylum policy While there is pressure on Turkey from the EU to conclude which is centred on the asylum seekers from outside of Europe readmission agreements, Turkey gives priority to allaying the did not have any provisions governing their status. While it was costs of such agreements.

Figure 2: Immigrants in Turkey by country of origin* 2010

Germany Bulgaria Cyprus1 Azerbaijan Russian Fed. Netherlands 1 Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus France * Top 25 countries where most of the immigrants come from United States Saudi Arabia Source: Turkish Statistical Institute (2000 Population Census) England Austria Switzerland Iran Total number of immigrants in Turkey was 234,111 in 2000 Iraq Kazakhstan Belgium Romania Uzbekistan Greece Georgia Ukraine Afghanistan Albania Turkmenistan

0 30,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000 60,000 70,000 80,000

261 Figure 3: Number of Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Turkey 1995-2009

14,000 Asylum Seekers 12,000 Refugees 10,000 Source: UNHCR 8,000

6,000 Country Profile: Turkey Profile: Country 4,000

2,000

0 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

CHALLENGES IN IMMIGRATION POLICY also embedded in the latter migratory process. It is impossible In spite of the changes Turkey has brought about in the migra- to estimate the numbers of irregular migrants as they are not tion policy area, the country still has a good deal to do. The registered and they work informally. However, there are statis- most significant challenge faced by Turkey’s migration policy tics for the number of apprehended illegal migrants. According is irregular migration, which is difficult to distinguish from the to the figures from the Directorate General of Security, Depart- and refugee flows, transit migration and human ment of Foreigners, Borders and Asylum, almost 95,000 ille- trafficking. gal migrants were apprehended by the Turkish security forces Since the 1990s, irregular immigration into Turkey has been in 2000. In 2010, this figure dropped to 32,667. increasing. This is mainly comprised by irregular migrants Turkey’s geopolitical position between the Middle Eastern coun- from former Soviet Bloc countries who work in Turkey illegally. tries, the former Soviet Bloc and the European Union countries Turkey allows people from its neighbouring countries such as shapes and complicates its migration policy framework. Within , Georgia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Russia, Ukraine and other the process of Turkish accession to the EU, in particular, the Central Asian countries to enter Turkey freely or with visas EU’s needs and priorities are taken into consideration by Turkey that can be easily obtained at the borders or airports. This when the migration policies are made. Moreover, the overlap- open-border policy was actually designed to attract and en- ping of illegal migration and refugee and asylum flows makes courage more tourists into the country. Since Turkey is in the the field of migration policy framework more complicated. De- process of adopting the EU Schengen visa system, this flex- spite the fact that there are various problems and difficulties ible visa policy is currently being altered. Turkey has already and that there is still much to do, Turkey has come a long way started applying visa requirements for a number of Central in dealing with immigration and making appropriate policies. Asian and Middle Eastern countries. Irregular immigrants from the aforementioned countries en- ter the country and start working informally. One of the most important informal activities that these irregular immigrants engage in is the “suitcase trade”. This informal trading ac- tivity is found among immigrants from former Soviet Union countries. Russian and Eastern European traders come to Turkey as tourists, buy textile products and take them to their country as passenger belongings. This way, they avoid paying taxes. This informal activity represented three million dollars in 2000 and it constitutes more than ten percent of total export revenues (Erder, 2003, p. 165). Other important eco- nomic activities in which illegal immigrants engage in Turkey are domestic and sex work, construction work and tourism sector jobs. While some migrant women, mainly from Ukraine and Moldova, do domestic work for upper-class households in CIDOB International Yearbook 2011 Yearbook CIDOB International Istanbul, others work as sex labourers. Human trafficking is

262 Figure 4: Apprehended Illegal Migrants 1995-2010

100,000 90,000 80,000 70,000 60,000 50,000 40,000 30,000 20,000 Source: Directorate General of Security, Department of Foreigners, Borders and Asylum 10,000

0 Republic Turkish in the Migration 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

References UNHCR Statistics on Asylum in Turkey http://www.unhcr.org.tr/MEP/index.aspx?pageId=158 Corliss, S., 2003, “Asylum in Turkey: Today and Future “Percentage of population of Turkey residing in urban areas, Prospects” in Migration and Labour in Europe: Views from 1950-2030” Turkey and Sweden, eds. Emrehan Zeybekoglu and Bo Jo- www.unfpa.org/swp/2007/presskit/country_data/turkey. hansson, Marmara University Research Centre for Interna- xls tional Relations, Swedish National Institute for Working Life: Istanbul World Migration Report 2010: The Future of Migration: Building Capacities for Change, 2010, International Organisa- Erder, S., 2003, “Global Flows of Huddles: The Case of Tur- tion for Migration key” in Migration and Labour in Europe: Views from Turkey and Sweden, eds. Emrehan Zeybekoglu and Bo Johansson, Mar- mara University Research Centre for International Relations, Swedish National Institute for Working Life: Istanbul

Kaya, A. and F. Kentel, 2005, Euro-Turks: A Bridge or A Breach between Turkey and the European Union?: A Compara- tive Study of German-Turks and French-Turks, Centre for Euro- pean Policy Studies: Brussels

Kirisci, K., 2003, “Turkish Asylum Policies in a European Perspective” in Migration and Labour in Europe: Views from Turkey and Sweden, eds. Emrehan Zeybekoglu and Bo Jo- hansson, Marmara University Research Centre for Interna- tional Relations, Swedish National Institute for Working Life: Istanbul

Kirisci, K., 2003, “Turkey: A Transformation from Emigration to Immigration” in www.migrationinformation.org

IMF, Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook, 2003, in Inter- national Migration Outlook, “International Migrant Remittances and their Role in Development”, OECD, 2006 www.oecd.org/ dataoecd/61/46/38840502.pdf

Migration in Turkey: A Country Profile, 2008, International Organisation for Migration

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