191 PERCEPTIONS, Autumn 2013, Volume XVIII, Number 3, pp. 191-228. and global agency. ese two crises also reveal the need for a substantial change and update in the Turkish refugee regime that is long overdue. Key Words Turkish refugee and asylum regime, Iraqi Kurdish refugees, Syrian refugees, safe haven, no-fly zone, Turkish foreign policy. Introduction Turkey has long been a land of asylum, particularly for refugee flows from the Balkans, since its inception in 1923. Since the 1980s the influx of refugees and irregular and transit migrations to Turkey, particularly from the Middle East but also from Africa and Asia, have intensified. In 1988 and 1991 Turkey had to deal with the Iraqi Kurdish refugee flows. e 1991 refugee flow, when more than one and a half million Iraqi Kurds were amassed by the mountains bordering Turkey, Iraq, and Iran, was the Suna Gülfer IHLAMUR-ÖNER * Turkey’s Refugee Regime Stretched to the Limit? e Case of Iraqi and Syrian Refugee Flows Abstract Turkey has long been a land of asylum due to its geographical location as well as shared social, cultural and historical ties with the Balkans, the Caucasus, Europe, and the Middle East. Since the 1980s, the influx of refugees and irregular and transit migrations to Turkey, particularly from the Middle East but also from Africa and Asia, have intensified. In 1988 and 1991 Turkey was confronted with the Iraqi Kurdish refugee flows, and since the onset and intensification of violence in Syria from 2011 onwards, Turkey is trying to cope with a growing number of refugees with its temporary protection regime. e solution Turkey opted for in both crises is the same: creation of no-fly zones and safe havens for refugees outside of Turkish territory and inside the refugees’ country of origin, which has been implemented in the Iraqi case but has yet to find international support in the Syrian case. ese two cases are significant, as they reflect the complex shifting nature of the refugee crises and relief efforts in the post-Cold War era, and present important challenges for Turkish policymakers of foreign and refugee policies, particularly in formulating a new refugee and asylum policy that is in line with Turkey’s new foreign policy vision and its emerging regional * Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Marmara University in Istanbul, Turkey.
Turkey’s Refugee Regime Stretched to the Limit? The Case of Iraqi and Syrian Refugee Flows
Jul 10, 2023
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