Migration policies towards Syrian immigrants in Turkey after the Arab Spring: From the perspective of the European Union

The aim of this study is to reveal the changes and transformation of Turkish immigration policies after The Arab Spring period which caused mass migration to Turkey wieved from the Europen Union. In this context in this study, historical and descriptive research methods were used. In this study, the conceptual and theoretical framework of immigration is primarily addressed, and the Arab Spring process and its accompanying migration movements are discussed. Subsequently, the legal and historical change in the EUs' migration policy before and after the Arab Spring, and the EU's migration policy towards Syrian migrants were introduced. After that, the policies of Turkey's national legislation and institutions on immigration by the period of before and after Syria crisis were discussed. Related to Turkeys' policies; demands and expectations of the EU and aids and promises which are offered from EU to Turkey were studied. Finally, the difficulties with the EU on Turkey's policy on Syrian immigrants and the EU's view of these policies was discussed. The conclusion that is reached at the end of the study is; Turkey has continued its efforts in order to find solutions to migration problems arising from the Syrians; however, it has been concluded that the relations with the European Union on migration have not reached the desired level. Keywords: Arab Spring, European Union, Migration, Syria, Turkey