The problem of irregular migration between Turkey and Iran and border security

Approximately 80% of irregular migrants arrested annually in Turkey are migrants who come to Turkey via Iranian territory. This situation elevates Iran to an important country in Turkey's migration problem. In fact, considering that Iran is home to approximately 3 million Afghan migrants, it is also a migration source country for Turkey. However, academic studies on irregular migration in Turkey seem to ignore this important position of Iran and focus more on the source countries. In this context, the question of why Afghan migrants migrate to Turkey should be sought not only in Afghanistan but also in Iran. Iran's abandonment of its open door policy in the 1980s and its securitization of immigration policies is a major cause of Afghan migration. This study aims to address the lack of literature on Iran's migration policies in Turkey and to demonstrate the importance of Iran's migration policies. The main hypothesis of the study is the argument that: "Iran's securitization of immigration causes Afghan immigrants, both living in Iran and using Iran as a transit country, go towards Turkey and Europe. The result reached in the study was in the same direction as the hypothesis and some suggestions were made in terms of cooperation with Iran in solving the irregular migration problem of Turkey.