The role of EU's integrated border management agency Frontex and Turkey's harmonization process

Integrated Border Management (IBM) model was constituted as a result of the programs, agreements which were made in order to improve common migration and border policies by European Union (EU) and the decisions taken in these agreements. Frontex, which is responsible for external border operations, is the most important argument in EU, IBM system. In this study, the development process of EU, IBM and the impact of EU Foreign Borders Frontex Policy on preventing illegal (irregular) immigration was examined in accordance with the statistical data belonging to the year 2014 and their results were assessed. The current border management of Turkey in the process of EU membership, the study of EU legislation and harmonization in the field of migration and border security and the determination of the targets to be carried out in this context is the subject of the research. Turkey is next to the countries not only with a high welfare level but also suffering from civil war and having economical and political problems, and due to this reason our country has been an important junction point for people living in these regions. Furthermore, Turkey has vast sea and land borders which is hard to control and this causes all kinds of illegal actions to be carried out easily. The long term terrorist operations, insuppressible smuggling activities and mass migration movements in recent years require the restructuring of Turkey's immigration and border security management. It has been concluded that all reforms in accordance with EU IBM system should be improved considering Turkey's national interests and needs, and a migration and border security model appropriate for EU legislation and standards and which is also specific for our country should be developed.