The Turkish migrant crisis, sometimes referred to as the Turkish refugee crisis, was a period during the 2010s characterised by a high number of people migrating to Turkey. Turkey received the highest number of registered refugees of any country or territory each year from 2014 to 2019, and had the world's largest refugee population according to the

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, loc ...

. The majority were refugees of the Syrian Civil War, numbering 3.6 million . In 2018, the UNHCR reported that Turkey hosted 63.4% of all " registered Syrian refugees." Turkey's migrant crisis is a part of the wider

European migrant crisis The 2015 European migrant crisis was a period of significantly increased movement of refugees and Human migration, migrants into Europe, mostly from the Middle East. An estimated 1.3 million people came to the continent to request Right of asyl ...

. On 20 March 2016, a deal between the EU and Turkey to tackle the

migrant crisis A migrant crisis is a difficult or dangerous situation that arises due to the movements of large groups of immigrants (displaced people, refugees or asylum seekers) in the receiving state (destination country). Migrants are often escaping from co ...

formally came into effect, which was intended to limit the influx of irregular migrants entering the EU through Turkey. In December 2020, the contract expired and the EU extended it until 2022, giving an extra €485 million to Turkey. The migrant crisis has had a significant impact on Turkey's relationship with the EU. In response to the crisis, Turkey passed the Law on Foreigners and International Protection and the Temporary Protection, established the

Syria–Turkey barrier The Syria–Turkey barrier is a border wall and fence under construction along the Syria–Turkey border built in an attempt at preventing illegal crossings and smuggling from Syria into Turkey.Iran–Turkey barrier to stop smuggling and improve security, and negotiated ceasefires in Syria in order to establish safe zones for civilians.

Major refugee flows

Immigration to Turkey Immigration to Turkey is the process by which people migrate to Turkey to reside in the country. Many, but not all, become Turkish citizens. After the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire and following Turkish War of Independence, an exodus b ...

has historical roots in the dissolution of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. Beginning in the late 18th century until the end of the 20th century, an estimated 10 million Ottoman

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

citizens, the

Muhacir The Muhacirs are estimated to be millions of Ottoman Muslim citizens and their descendants born after the onset of the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire. Muhacirs are primarily consist of Turks but also Albanian, Bosniaks, Circassians, Cri ...

and their descendants born after the onset of the

dissolution of the Ottoman Empire The dissolution of the Ottoman Empire (1908–1922) was a period of history of the Ottoman Empire beginning with the Young Turk Revolution and ultimately ending with the empire's dissolution and the founding of the modern state of Turkey. The ...

emigrated to

Thrace Thrace (, ; ; ; ) is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe roughly corresponding to the province of Thrace in the Roman Empire. Bounded by the Balkan Mountains to the north, the Aegean Sea to the south, and the Black Se ...

and

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

. Turkey became a country of immigration again beginning in the 1980s when crises throughout the Middle East gave rise to wave after wave of refugees seeking safe haven. The most important factors driving immigration to Turkey are armed conflict, ethnic intolerance, religious fundamentalism, and political tensions. A large influx of refugees came from Iraq from the 1980s.

Influx from the Iran-Iraq War

The largest group of refugees had been Iranians, until the Syrian civil war. The first influx were Iranians fleeing from the

Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution (, ), also known as the 1979 Revolution, or the Islamic Revolution of 1979 (, ) was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. The revolution led to the replacement of the Impe ...

in 1980; the

Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War, also known as the First Gulf War, was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. Active hostilities began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for nearly eight years, unti ...

began on September 22 of the same year. Both the revolution and the war brought a total of 1.5 million Iranians to Turkey between 1980-1991. These refugees were not recognized as asylum seekers under the terms of the

Geneva Convention upright=1.15, The original document in single pages, 1864 The Geneva Conventions are international humanitarian laws consisting of four treaties and three additional protocols that establish international legal standards for humanitarian t ...

, because they entered and stayed as tourists; making them

Iranian diaspora The Iranian diaspora (collectively known as Iranian Expatriate, expats or expatriates) is the global population of Demographics of Iran, Iranian citizens or people of Iranian descent living outside Iran. In 2021, the Ministry of Foreign Affair ...

. The

Baháʼí Faith The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the Baháʼí Faith and the unity of religion, essential worth of all religions and Baháʼí Faith and the unity of humanity, the unity of all people. Established by ...

had about 350,000 believers in Iran. According to the UN Special Representative, since 1979, many Baháʼí have left Iran illegally due to state-sanctioned

persecution Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another individual or group. The most common forms are religious persecution, racism, and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these term ...

. They often go to Turkey and attempt to continue to the West. During the same period, 51,542 Iraqis (

Iraqis in Turkey Iraqis in Turkey includes Turkish citizens of Iraqi origin, Iraqi-born citizens and Iraqi expat workers. History Turkey experienced a large influx of Iraqis between the years of 1988 and 1991 due to both the Iran–Iraq War and the first Gulf W ...

) became refugees in Turkey. The Iran–Iraq War and

Kurdish rebellion of 1983 Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish language ** Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) **Central Kurdish (Sorani) ** Southern Kurdish ** Laki Kurdish *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: ** Souther ...

caused the first large-scale influx of refugees from the region.

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

and

UNHCR The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and Humanitarian protection, protect refugees, Internally displaced person, forcibly displaced communities, and Statelessness, s ...

claimed that Turkey was not respecting Iranian refugees' human rights and pressured it to do so.

Influx from the Gulf War

About 450,000

Kurds Kurds (), or the Kurdish people, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group from West Asia. They are indigenous to Kurdistan, which is a geographic region spanning southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northeastern Syri ...

lived on Iraq-Turkey border when UN SC Resolution 688 was passed, paving the way for the

Operation Northern Watch Operation Northern Watch (ONW), the successor to Operation Provide Comfort, was a Combined Task Force (CTF) charged with enforcing its own no-fly zone above the 36th parallel in Iraq. Its mission began on 1 January 1997. The coalition partn ...

, the successor to

Operation Provide Comfort Operation Provide Comfort and Provide Comfort II were military operations initiated by the United States and other Coalition nations of the Persian Gulf War, starting in April 1991, to defend Kurdish refugees fleeing their homes in northern ...

. It was a Combined Task Force charged with enforcing its own

no-fly zone A no-fly zone, also known as a no-flight zone (NFZ), or air exclusion zone (AEZ), is a territory or area established by a military power over which certain aircraft are not permitted to fly. Such zones are usually set up in an enemy power's terri ...

above the 36th parallel in Iraq, following refugee flow to Turkey. During the Gulf War, at least 1 million people fled (almost 30% of the population) to

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, and

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

Influx from the War in Afghanistan

Refugee numbers greatly increased in the following years of

War in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC), the conquest of Afghanistan by the Macedonian Empire * Muslim conquests of Afghanistan, a series of campaigns in ...

, especially in regards to Afghans and Iraqis. As of January 2010, 25,580 refugees and asylum seekers remain in the country. Of these, 5090 Iranians, 8940 Iraqis, 3850

Afghans Afghans (; ) are the citizens and nationals of Afghanistan, as well as their descendants in the Afghan diaspora. The country is made up of various ethnic groups, of which Pashtuns, Tajiks, Hazaras, and Uzbeks are the largest. The three main lan ...

, and 2700 "other" (including Somalis, Uzbeks, Palestinians, and others). As of January 2011, 8710 Iranians, 9560 Afghans, 7860 other. As of January 2012 7890 (Iranians, Afghans, and other).

Influx from the Syrian Civil War

Refugees of the Syrian Civil War in Turkey Almost 3 million Syrians live in Turkey, many of whom fled the Syrian Civil War in the 2010s. They include Turkish citizens of Syrian origin, Syrian refugees, and other Syrian citizens resident in Turkey. As of 2025, about 2.8 million re ...

are Syrian refugees fleeing from the Syrian Civil War.

is hosting over 3.6 million (2019 number) registered refugees and delivering aid reaching $30 billion (total between 2011 and 2018) on refugee assistance.

Influx from the Russo-Ukrainian War

On 24 February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine. By 3 March, Turkey announced that 20,000 Ukrainian refugees had entered Turkey since the start of the invasion. Interior Minister

Süleyman Soylu Süleyman Soylu (; born 21 November 1969) is a Turkish politician. He is a deputy chairman of the Justice and Development Party. He previously served as the Minister of Labour and Social Security from November 2015 to August 2016 and the Minis ...

said that Turkey was glad to welcome them. By March 8, official figures put the number of Ukrainian refugees in the country at 20,550, of whom 551 were of Crimean Tatar or

Meskhetian Turk Meskhetian Turks, also referred to as Turkish Meskhetians, Ahiska Turks, and Turkish Ahiskans, (; ka, მესხეთის თურქები ''Meskhetis turk'ebi'') are a subgroup of ethnic Turkish people formerly inhabiting the Mesk ...

origin. The Ukrainian winner of the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest,

Jamala Susana Alimivna Jamaladinova. (born 27 August 1983), known professionally as Jamala,. is a Ukrainian singer. She represented and won the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with her song "1944 (song), 1944". In 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023 and 2024 ...

, who is of Crimean Tatar origin, also sought refuge in Turkey. By 23 March, the number of Ukrainian refugees had risen above 58,000. The invasion has also led at least 142,488 Russians to relocate to Turkey as of 30 June 2023 reported in The Nordic Monitor

Conditions

Disaster_and_Emergency_Management_Presidency

Turkey did not establish "classic"

refugee camps A refugee camp is a temporary settlement built to receive refugees and people in refugee-like situations. Refugee camps usually accommodate displaced people who have fled their home country, but camps are also made for internally displac ...

and did not name them as such until 2018. They were managed by the

Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency The Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (, also abbreviated as AFAD),
''reviewed in 10.11.2011'' also ...

(

FEMA The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Exec ...

type organisation) along its borders. Turkey also established "Temporary Accommodation Centers," such as

Öncüpınar Accommodation Facility Öncüpınar Accommodation Facility was a refugee camp for refugees fleeing the Syrian Civil War located in Öncüpınar village in Kilis, Turkey, near the Syrian border. The camp opened in 2012 and closed in 2019. As of February 2014, it hosted ...

. Syrians residing outside of TACs live alongside Turkish communities that create short-to-medium term opportunities to harmonize and form economic contributions. The government of Turkey gives them permission to settle in

Adana Adana is a large city in southern Turkey. The city is situated on the Seyhan River, inland from the northeastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. It is the administrative seat of the Adana Province, Adana province, and has a population of 1 81 ...

Afyonkarahisar Afyonkarahisar (, 'poppy, opium', ''kara'' 'black', ''hisar'' 'fortress') is a major city in western Turkey. It is the administrative centre of Afyonkarahisar Province and Afyonkarahisar District. Its population is 251,799 (2021). Afyon is in the ...

Ağrı Ağrı (; ) is a city in eastern Turkey, near the border with Iran. It is the seat of Ağrı Province and Ağrı District.

Aksaray Aksaray () is a city in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey. It is the seat of Aksaray Province and Aksaray District.

Amasya Amasya () is a city in northern Turkey, in the Black Sea Region. It was called Amaseia or Amasia in antiquity."Amasya" in ''Encyclopædia Britannica, The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol ...

Bilecik Bilecik is a city in northwestern Anatolia, Turkey. It is the seat of Bilecik Province and Bilecik District.Burdur Burdur is a city in southwestern Turkey. The seat of Burdur Province and of Burdur District,İl Bel ...

Çankırı Çankırı, historically known as Gangra (Greek language, Greek: Γάγγρα), is a city in Turkey, about northeast of Ankara. It is situated about 800 m (2500 ft) above sea level. It is the seat of Çankırı Province and of Çankır ...

Çorum Çorum () is a northern Anatolian city in Turkey. Çorum is located inland in the central Black Sea Region of Turkey and is approximately from Ankara and from Istanbul. It is the seat of Çorum Province and of Çorum District.< ...

Eskişehir Eskişehir ( , ; from 'old' and 'city') is a city in northwestern Turkey and the capital of the Eskişehir Province. The urban population of the city is 821 315 (Odunpazari + Tebebasi), with a metropolitan population of 921 630. The city is l ...

Gaziantep Gaziantep, historically Aintab and still informally called Antep, is a major city in south-central Turkey. It is the capital of the Gaziantep Province, in the westernmost part of Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia Region and partially in the Medi ...

Hakkâri Hakkari or Hakkâri may refer to: * Hakkari (historical region), a historical region in modern-day Turkey and Iraq *Hakkâri (city), a city and the capital of Hakkâri Province, Turkey *Hakkâri Province Hakkâri Province (, ; ), is a province ...

Hatay Hatay Province (, ) is the southernmost Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality of Turkey. Its area is , and its population is 1,686,043 (2022). It is situated mostly outside Anatolia, ...

Isparta Isparta is a city in western Turkey. It is the seat of Isparta Province and Isparta District.İl ...

Kahramanmaraş Kahramanmaraş (), historically Marash (; ) and Germanicea (), is a city in the Mediterranean Region, Turkey, Mediterranean region of Turkey and the administrative centre of Kahramanmaraş Province, Kahramanmaraş province. After 1973, Maraş was ...

Karaman Karaman is a city in south central Turkey, located in Central Anatolia, north of the Taurus Mountains, about south of Konya. It is the seat of Karaman Province and Karaman District.Kastamonu Kastamonu, formerly Kastamone/Castamone () and Kastamon/Castamon (), is a city in northern Turkey. It is the seat of Kastamonu Province and Kastamonu District.

Kayseri Kayseri () is a large List of cities in Turkey, city in Central Anatolia, Turkey, and the capital of Kayseri Province, Kayseri province. Historically known as Caesarea (Mazaca), Caesarea, it has been the historical capital of Cappadocia since anc ...

Kırıkkale Kırıkkale is a city in the Central Anatolia Region, Turkey, Central Anatolia region of Turkey. It is the seat of Kırıkkale Province and Kırıkkale District.Kırşehir Kırşehir, historically known as Mocissus or Mokissos () and Justinianopolis () in ancient times, is a city in Turkey. It is the seat of Kırşehir Province and Kırşehir District.Konya Konya is a major city in central Turkey, on the southwestern edge of the Central Anatolian Plateau, and is the capital of Konya Province. During antiquity and into Seljuk times it was known as Iconium. In 19th-century accounts of the city in En ...

Kütahya Kütahya (; historically, Cotyaeum or Kotyaion; Ancient Greek, Greek: Κοτύαιον) is a city in western Turkey which lies on the Porsuk River, at 969 metres above sea level. It is the seat of Kütahya Province and Kütahya District. In 19 ...

Mersin Mersin () is a large city and port on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast of Mediterranean Region, Turkey, southern Turkey. It is the provincial capital of the Mersin Province (formerly İçel). It is made up of four district governorates ...

Nevşehir Nevşehir (; from 'new' and 'city') is a city in the Central Anatolia Region of Turkey. It is the seat of Nevşehir Province and Nevşehir District.Niğde Niğde (; ; Hittite: Nahita, Naxita) is a city and is located in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey. It is the seat of Niğde Province and Niğde District.Sivas Sivas is a city in central Turkey. It is the seat of Sivas Province and Sivas District.İl Beledi ...

Şırnak Şırnak () is a city in Şırnak District and the capital of Şırnak Province in Turkey. The Ibrahim Khalil border crossing with Iraq is one of the main links of Turkey to the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The city is mainly populated by Kurds o ...

Tokat Tokat is a city of Turkey in the mid-Black Sea region of Anatolia. It is the seat of Tokat Province and Tokat District.

Van A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. There is some variation in the scope of the word across the different English-speaking countries. The smallest vans, microvans, are used for transporting either goods or ...

and

Yozgat Yozgat is a city in the Central Anatolia Region of Turkey. It is the seat of Yozgat Province and Yozgat District.Directorate General of Migration Management (DGMM) focuses on the mobility trends, migrant profiles, and urgent needs of migrants. The data generated allows the organisations and the government to plan their short and long-term migration-related program and policies.

Effect on the host country

Compared to the international refugee regime (see

Refugee law Refugee law is the branch of international law which deals with the rights and duties states have ''vis-a-vis'' refugees. There are differences of opinion among international law scholars as to the relationship between refugee law and internationa ...

), Turkey has a different approach termed as a "morality oriented approach" instead of a security centered approach towards Syrians refugees. Turkey incurs high expenses related to refugee care (housing, employment, education, and health), including medical expenses, with minimal support from other countries. Refugees cause an increase in food prices and property prices/rent. Low-paid refugees also increase the unemployment rate in southern Turkey. Prices have increased in critical areas such as food and transportation which has affected both the refugees and various communities with Turkish citizen communities all across Turkey. Many families across Turkey had to reduce their food consumption or had to opt to worse living conditions than they previous had.

Security impact

As the migrant crisis developed at the most complex geostrategic position in the world, the situation contained ongoing active, proxy, or cooling wars as Turkey shared borders with Iraq ( 2003 US-led invasion,

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

(2003–2011), and

Iraqi insurgency (2003–2011) The Iraqi insurgency lasted from 2003 until 2011, beginning shortly after the 2003 2003 invasion of Iraq, American invasion deposed longtime leader Saddam Hussein, and lasting until the end of the Iraq War and U.S. withdrawal in 2011. It was fo ...

), Iran (

Iran–Israel proxy conflict The Iran–Israel proxy conflict, also known as the Iran–Israel proxy war or Iran–Israel Cold War, is an ongoing Proxy war, proxy conflict between Iran and Israel. In the Israeli–Lebanese conflict, Iran has supported Lebanese Shia milit ...

), Syria ( Syrian civil war), Georgia (

Russo-Georgian War The August 2008 Russo-Georgian War, also known as the Russian invasion of Georgia,Occasionally, the war is also referred to by other names, such as the Five-Day War and August War. was a war waged against Georgia by the Russian Federation and the ...

), Azerbaijan (

Nagorno-Karabakh conflict The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is an ethnic and territorial conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, inhabited mostly by ethnic Armenians until 2023, and seven surrounding districts, inhabited mostly by Azerbai ...

), Greece and Bulgaria. In line with the escalating fragility in the region, Turkey directly joined the fight against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ( Turkey–ISIL conflict) in August 2016. The dynamics of the Syrian civil war spilled over into Turkish territory (

ISIL rocket attacks on Turkey (2016) Since early 2016, the Turkish city of Kilis and surrounding areas came under continuous rocket bombardments by the Islamic State, resulting in retaliatory strikes by the Turkish military on ISIL militants located at the ISIL-occupied areas in Nor ...

). ISIS carried out a series (

2013 Reyhanlı bombings Thirteen or 13 may refer to: * 13 (number) * Any of the years 13 BC, AD 13, 1913, or 2013 Music Albums * ''13'' (Black Sabbath album), 2013 * ''13'' (Blur album), 1999 * ''13'' (Borgeous album), 2016 * ''13'' (Brian Setzer album), 2006 * ...

2015 Suruç bombing Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number) *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music *Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak album), 2007 * ''15'' (Phatfish album), 2008 * ...

, March 2016 Istanbul bombing) of attacks against Turkish civilians by using suicide bombers. The deadliest terrorism in Turkish history, as of 2019, The ISIS attack (

2015 Ankara bombings On 10 October 2015 at 10:04 local time ( EEST) in Ankara, the capital city of Turkey, two bombs were detonated outside Ankara Central railway station. With a death toll of 109 civilians, the attack surpassed the 2013 Reyhanlı bombings as the ...

) against a peace rally.

Syria–Turkey and Iran–Turkey barrier

The border between the Syrian Arab Republic and the Republic of Turkey is about long.Syria – Turkey Boundary
, International Boundary Study No. 163, The Geographer, Office of the Geographer,

Bureau of Intelligence and Research The Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) is an intelligence agency in the United States Department of State. Its central mission is to provide all-source intelligence and analysis in support of U.S. diplomacy and foreign policy. INR is th ...

US Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...

(7 March 1978). The

Syria–Turkey border The border between the Syrian Arab Republic and the Republic of Turkey (; ) is long, and runs from the Mediterranean Sea in the west to the tripoint with Iraq in the east. It runs across Upper Mesopotamia for some , crossing the Euphrates and ...

aimed at preventing illegal crossings and

smuggling Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. More broadly, soc ...

.The Daily Telegraph: "Turkey to build 500-mile wall on Syria border after Isil Suruc bombing" by Nabih Bulos
23 Jul 2015 The Iran–Turkey barrier, finished spring 2019, at the Turkey-Iran border aimed to prevent illegal crossings and smuggling across the border. It will cover of the very high mountainous border with natural barriers.

Migrant smuggling

In the Black Sea region, countries are both sources and destinations for refugees. For the destination of Turkey; originating Moldova, Ukraine, Russian Federation, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan are targets for human trafficking (migration using ships, ship operators are smugglers). The top five countries of destination in the region between 2000 and 2007 were Russia (1,860), Turkey (1,157), Moldova (696), Albania (348), and Serbia (233). A crackdown by Turkish police has resulted in the termination of a network that mainly helped Afghan, Iraqi and Syrian nationals cross into European countries.

Refugees and spillover

See: Spillover of the Syrian Civil War#Turkey, Refugees as weapons#Syrian Civil War In Turkey, public opinion towards intervention is correlated with their daily exposure to refugees. In Turkish people, emphasising the negative forces created by hosting refugees, including their connection with militants, increases support for intervention. Turkish people living at the border do not support intervention. Turkey does not put refugees camps at the border; they are distributed across Turkey.

Response to the refugee crisis

UN agencies have a Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan co-led by the

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, l ...

and the

United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human development. The UNDP emphasizes on developing local capacity towar ...

under Turkey. Private

international non-governmental organizations An international non-governmental organization (INGO) is an organization which is independent of government involvement and extends the concept of a non-governmental organization (NGO) to an international scope. INGOs can admit members affiliated t ...

work in partnership with Turkish non governmental organisations (NGOs) and associations to support the delivery of services through national systems, help link refugees and asylum seekers with governmental services.

Law on Foreigners and International Protection and the Temporary Protection

The Government of Turkey recognized that the traditional immigration laws need to be organised and updated under new circumstances, passing the first domestic law on asylum, which was before covered under secondary legislation such as administrative circulars. The rules and regulations in providing protection and assistance to Syrians is established by "The Law on Foreigners and International Protection and the Temporary Protection Regulation." It provides the legal basis of their "refugee status" and establishing temporary protection for Syrians and international protection for applicants and refugees of other nationalities. The basis of any/all assistance to refugees, including access to health and education services, as well as access to legal employment is defined under this law. Content is copied from this source, which is © European Union, 1995–2018. Reuse is authorised, provided the source is acknowledged. Conference declaration was drafted by the European Union in close co-ordination with the Turkish Government and the United Nations It states that foreigners and others with international protection will not be sent back to places where they will be tortured, suffer inhumane treatment or punishment that is humiliating, or be threatened due to race, religion, or group membership. It also created an agency under the Turkish Ministry of Justice on international protection, which also implements related regulations. Investigative authority is established to question marriages between Turkish citizens and foreigners for the “reasonable suspicions” of fraud.EU Welcomes New Turkish Law on Foreigners, TODAY’S ZAMAN (Apr. 5, 2013) People who are issued uninterrupted residence permits and reside in Turkey for eight years will be able to receive unlimited residence permits. As of 16 March 2018, there is a modification to law; following the passage of the law 21 official "Temporary Protection Centres" (TPCs) in provinces along the Syrian border established, Content is copied from this source, which is © European Union, 1995–2018. Reuse is authorised, provided the source is acknowledged. Conference declaration was drafted by the European Union in close co-ordination with the Turkish Government and the United Nations the Directorate-General of Migration Management of Turkey (DGMM), under the Ministry of Interior, has assumed responsibility for TPCs from

Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency The Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (, also abbreviated as AFAD),
''reviewed in 10.11.2011'' also ...

Migration diplomacy

International migration is an important domain at foreign policy development. In February 2016, Erdoğan threatened to send the millions of refugees in Turkey to EU member states, saying: "We can open the doors to Greece and Bulgaria anytime and we can put the refugees on buses ... So how will you deal with refugees if you don't get a deal? Kill the refugees?"

Accession to the EU

Migration is part of

accession of Turkey to the European Union Turkey is negotiating its accession to the European Union (EU) as a member state, following its application to become a full member of the European Economic Community (EEC), the predecessor of the EU, on 14 April 1987. After the ten founding ...

. On March 16, 2016, Cyprus had become a hurdle to the EU-Turkey deal on the migrant crisis. The EU linked advancing membership bid to a settlement of the decades-old Cyprus dispute, further complicating efforts to win Ankara's help in resolving Europe's migration crisis.

2015 EU-Turkey Joint Action Plan

In 2012, the governments of Turkey and

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

have agreed to work together, to implement border control. In response to Syrian crisis; Greece built a razor-wire fence in 2012 along its short land border with Turkey. A period beginning in 2015, The

is characterized by rising numbers of people arriving in the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

(EU) from across the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

or overland through

Southeast Europe Southeast Europe or Southeastern Europe is a geographical sub-region of Europe, consisting primarily of the region of the Balkans, as well as adjacent regions and Archipelago, archipelagos. There are overlapping and conflicting definitions of t ...

. In September 2015, Turkish provincial authorities gave approximately 1,700 migrants three days to leave the border zone. As a result of Greece's diversion of migrants to Bulgaria from Turkey, Bulgaria built its own fence to block migrants crossing from Turkey. The EU-Turkey Joint Action Plan prioritizes border security and develops mechanisms to keep refugees inside Turkey revent migration to EU states The amount allocated U: €3 billionfor financial support for 2016–2018 will ease the financial burden urkey: $30 billion between 2011 and 2018but not better living conditions. European states deny refugees from Turkey. On 18 May 2016, lawmakers from the European Parliament's Subcommittee on Human Rights (DROI) have said that Turkey should not use Syrian refugees as a bribe for the process of visa liberalization for Turkish citizens inside the European Union. The UNHCR (not a party) criticized and declined to be involved in returns.

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF; pronounced ), known in some English-speaking settings as Doctors Without Borders, is a charity that provides humanitarian medical care. It is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) of French origin known for its projects in conflict zo ...

, the

International Rescue Committee The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is a global humanitarian aid, relief, and development nongovernmental organization. Founded in 1933 as the International Relief Association, at the request of Albert Einstein, and changing its name in 1 ...

, the

Norwegian Refugee Council The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC; ) is a humanitarian, non-governmental organisation that protects the rights of people affected by displacement. This includes refugees and internally displaced persons who are forced to flee their homes as a res ...

and

Save the Children The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization. It was founded in the UK in 1919; its goal is to improve the lives of children worldwide. The organization raises money to imp ...

declined to be involved. These organization object the blanket expulsion of refugees contravened international law.

"Safe Country" for EU

In 2019 Greece resumed deportations in response to an increase in refugees over the summer months.

"Safe zone" for refugees

The

Syrian peace process The Syrian peace process is the ensemble of initiatives and plans to resolve the Syrian civil war. Peace talks were unsuccessful from 2011 until the fall of the Assad regime at the end of 2024. Between December 2024 and March 2025, all major r ...

and

de-escalation De-escalation refers to the methods and actions taken to decrease the severity of a conflict, whether of physical, verbal or another nature. It is the opposite of escalation. De-escalation may also refer to approaches in conflict resolution, b ...

are ongoing efforts beginning as early as 2011. The return of refugees of the Syrian civil war is the returning to the place of origin (Syria) of a Syrian refugee. Turkey promoted the idea of de-escalation regions from 2015, world powers declined to help create a zone (example: Iraq safe zone established by

) to protect civilians. Regarding for the safety of the refugees, progress needs to be made before any significant returns can be planned for. Turkey, Russia and Iran agreed in 2017 to create the Idlib demilitarization (2018–present). (March 2017 and May 2017 Astana talks: De-escalation zones) As of 2019, the Idleb and Eastern Ghouta de-escalation zones remain insecure. President Erdogan stated that Syria's Idlib de-escalation zone was slowly disappearing and that the "safe zone is nothing more than a name". In 2019, the Northern Syria Buffer Zone, a thin strip of the border in northern Syria, will be used as a “safe zone”. This can only be used if Turkey finds a way to bridge the conflicting goals of Russia and the United States. A safe zone will stem the wave of migrations, but Turkey will also need to clear its border of Islamic State and Kurdish militia fighters.

References

Citations {{European migrant crisis Migrant crises

2010s in Turkey 2010s in Iraq 2010s in Libya 2010s in Syria 2010s in the European Union Aftermath of the Libyan civil war (2011) Aftermath of the War in Iraq (2013–2017) Impacts of the Syrian civil war