Migration as a subject of Turkey and the European Union relations from the 1960s

Relations between Turkey and the EU started with Turkey's application for membership to the European Economic Community in 1959, and the relations still continue, even if they stop from time to time. Migration has been an important issue for the EU, which has been in Turkey's area of interest since its establishment. European countries met the needed workforce after the Second World War by recruiting migrant workers from countries outside the region. In the first years, although the labor migration was made from the former colonial countries with which the developed member countries of the EU established colonial ties, over time, worker immigrants were taken from the less developed countries in the region. However, with the increase in the level of development in these countries, the recruitment of workers began to decrease, and subsequently, worker immigrants were selected from non-member countries. Turkey has been a preferred country for labor migration, as it is a country that wants to become an EU member and has a cultural transition with countries such as Germany within the framework of historical ties. Turkey gave labor migration to the EU in the 1960s, among the reasons for this, the surplus of labor force in the country was an important factor and labor migrations were made from Turkey to EU countries with mutual benefit between the parties. The EU, which experienced economic stagnation due to the Oil Crisis in 1973, had to stop the recruitment of migrant workers in the 1970s. Immigrants who could not go to the EU region legally continued to immigrate to the countries of the region by making irregular migrations. Millions of Syrians had to migrate, as the civil war in Syria, which was affected by the turmoil in the Middle East region in 2010 and after, caused a global refugee influx. The European region has also been a preferred region for Syrian migration, and it has been observed that refugees who could not enter the region by regular means migrated to EU countries using irregular routes. Due to Turkey's strategic location, staying in an important region and using it as a transit have also shaped its relations with the EU. Turkey's relationship with the EU, which it carried out within the framework of its membership relationship, has now increased even more with the issue of migration, and it has come to the bargaining table with the EU on this issue. Since the EU wanted to resolve the refugee crisis in countries outside the region and Turkey is an important country for a solution, the relations between the two progressed in a positive direction. Thus, a Readmission Agreement was made between the parties, and the relationship between Turkey and the EU was revived. As a result, the relationship between Turkey and the EU, which was established with labor migrations since the 1960s, was continued with the Readmission Agreement after the Syrian refugee influxes. It has been observed that the relationship between the parties is shaped outside the membership relationship and mostly with the issue of immigration. Migration has been an important issue of the relations between the parties and the dialogue has progressed within this framework. In this thesis, the change in the relationship between Turkey and the EU in the context of migration has been examined, and it has been determined that the relationship of the parties has now turned into a common migration policy rather than a membership framework.