Bordering processes through the use of technology: the Turkish case

ABSTRACT

Since becoming the largest refugee-hosting country in the world following the outbreak of war in Syria in 2011, Turkey’s border policy has been increasingly characterised by the use of sophisticated security technologies. Turkey’s south-eastern border with Syria has been continuously upgraded with walls and fences incorporating advanced security technology. The border with Greece has witnessed a similar bordering process particularly under pressure from the European Union. Drawing on critical border studies and adopting a Foucauldian lens, this article explores these bordering processes, taking security technology as a heterogonous ensemble of practices that consists of discourses, regulations, institutions, threat perceptions, scientific knowledge etc. Finally, the article comes to two important conclusions. First, it suggests that the detection, filtering and prevention of ‘illegal’ border crossings, smuggling and terrorism are the key reasons advanced for the adoption of technologically intensive border control practices. On the other hand, a more ‘humanitarian discourse’, namely ‘saving the lives of migrants’ is also at play. Second, these security technologies are now increasingly embodied in practices of ‘inclusion’/‘exclusion’ that distinguish ‘risky’ (i.e. illegitimate) from ‘safe’ (i.e. legitimate) mobilities and that create spaces where inequality and injustice are experienced.

KEYWORDS:

• Bordering processes
• technology
• critical border studies
• biopolitics
• Turkey

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Having being framed as ‘guests’, Syrian refugees were initially provided with shelter in camps as well as free healthcare. However, the term ‘guest’ does not have any legal meaning under national or international law, and thus does not provide a secure status to refugees. As the war has continued with the growing number of arrivals from Syria, a so-called ‘temporary protection regime’ was introduced in October 2011. With the adoption of the new Law in 2015, this temporary protection regime gained a more solid legal basis and clarity by specifying certain rights, such as granting identification cards, access to a range of services, and no forcible returns.