Quick Dip: Immigration Narratives in Turkey

In October 2022, the Turkish authorities attempted to deport Syrian refugees back to Northern Syria which is not controlled by al-Assad's government and shall be considered a buffer zone. Such an undertaking fuelled public discussion on refugees in Turkey and further escalated by the start of the election campaigns in 2023. According to the outcomes of the interviews conducted with the deported individuals, many of the deportees experienced physical abuse before being forced to cross the border. Under severe threats, refugees are sent to poor-conditioned removal centers or forced to sign “voluntary return” forms.

Despite cogent attempts by the Turkish opposition to fuel the anti-immigrant moods in the country to win over the votes during the May 2023 elections, the campaign failed to reach its initial goal. Besides Erdogan becoming a president for the fifth time in a row and entering the third decade of his presidential ruling, the question of influxive immigration to Turkey seemed frozen for now. Nevertheless, the larger political circles are questioning how long the temporary stillness will last.

 Background

Since the beginning of the refugee crisis, Turkey has become one of the biggest hosts of refugees, with more than 3.5 million registered Syrians and hundreds of thousands of people of other nationalities. It has also served as a country to which other European countries would direct their externalization strategies, including the 2016 deal. For instance, the UK secures payments for Turkish border forces to prevent migrants from reaching the country. With so much external responsibility put on Turkey and constantly escalating pressure, there is no wonder that the issue has slowly turned into a sensitive topic both in the domestic political arena and within the public.  

The concept of broadcasting the so-called street interviews that went viral in Turkey and the increase in anti-immigrant content shown on Turkish social media only fueled the negative public opinion on refugees. The street interviews revealed numerous testimonies that displayed the negative sentiment of the Turkish population toward Syrian immigrants. Those included Syrians being perceived as social threats and accusations of them staying in the country despite the end of the war. Numerous differences in the language spoken and cultural dissimilarities were also another reason for the growing discontent. 

 Political Stance

The anti-immigrant populism is, surprisingly, a recent phenomenon in Turkey and only emerged due to the growing economic crisis. With excessively spiking inflation and high unemployment rates, the issue of refugee integration has gradually become one of the pivotal issues during recent elections in May 2023. 

Back in April 2023, the leader of Erdogan’s opposition, Kilicdaroglu, attempted to introduce a radically oriented plan for sending Syrian refugees back. Such populist-sounding narratives caused a wave of criticism among the leftist politicians. 

 Sending the whole Syrian population back would constitute a grave violation of the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits countries from transferring the refugees back if there is a reason to believe they might still be in danger upon return.  

 Although, according to the recent UNHCR reports, more than fifty percent of the overall Syrian refugee population worldwide are hoping to return to their home country, the Commission has emphasized the lack of proper and adequate conditions for a safe return currently. 

Even after the elections, the procedure of Turkey enforcing voluntary returns is continuing behind bars. A significant number of Syrian individuals are being deported or forced out of the country daily, and the trend does not seem to show any upward tendencies. How will the political standpoint evolve in the near future? That is the question to be addressed as the usually tranquil after-election period passes.