Refugee flows, foreign policy, and safe haven nexus in Turkey

Abstract

While the relationship between refugees and foreign policy has been extensively studied, scarce attention has been paid to the linkages between refugee flows and safe haven policy as foreign policy. This article fills this gap in the literature by comparatively examining Turkey’s refugee and safe haven policies. Turkey witnessed two major influxes of refugees: after the Saddam Hussein regime oppressed the Kurdish uprising in 1991 and following the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011. Turkey closed its Iraqi border to the Kurdish refugees and labelled their mass movement as a threat to its national security. In sharp contrast, Turkey has generally adopted accommodative policies towards Syrian refugees with a strong emphasis placed on humanitarian values. During both crises, Turkey supported safe haven policies for the repatriation of refugees to their home countries on international platforms. While Turkey was immediately able to persuade the international community for the creation of a safe haven in northern Iraq, it was less successful with respect to northern Syria, as it could only put its safe haven project on the negotiation table after relying more heavily on brute force.

Keywords:

• Refugee flows
• safe haven policy
• foreign policy
• Turkey
• Iraq
• Syria

Acknowledgements

I thank the editors, two anonymous reviewers and Dr Muzaffel Senel for their insightful comments and suggestions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

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4 UNHCR, Turkey Stats. Accessed April 13, 2021. https://www.unhcr.org/tr/en/unhcr-turkey-stats

5 Teitelbaum, “Immigration, Refugees, and Foreign Policy”; Weiner and Munz, “Migrants, Refugees and Foreign Policy”; Jacobsen, “Factors Influencing the Policy Responses”; Adamson and Tsourapas, “Migration Diplomacy in World Politics.”

6 Fink and Taylor, “Desk Study of US Assistance,” 1–17.

7 Orchard, “Revisiting Humanitarian Safe Areas”; Chimni, “Incarceration of Victims: Deconstructing Safety Zones”; Tiso, “Safe Haven Refugee Programs”; Elewa, “Genocide at the Safe Area of Srebrenica”; Weiner and Munz, “Migrants, Refugees and Foreign Policy”; Landgren, “Safety Zones and International Protection”; Long, “In Search of Sanctuary”; Cetinkaya, Safe Zone.

8 Long, “In Search of Sanctuary,” 464–5; Cetinkaya, Safe Zone, 54.

9 Posen, “Military Responses to Refugee Disasters,” 72; Davenport, Moore, and Poe, “Sometimes You Just Have to Leave,” 27–55; Melander and Öberg, “Time to Go,” 129–52; Melander and Öberg, “Threat of Forced Migration,” 156–73; Moore and Shellman, “Fear of Persecution,” 723–45.

10 Salehyan and Gleditsch, “Refugees and the Spread of Civil War,” 335–66; Dowty and Loescher, “Refugee Flows as Grounds for International Action,” 43–7; Lischer, Dangerous Sanctuaries, 1–18; Salehyan, “Externalities of Civil Strife,” Gleditsch, Salehyan, and Schultz, “Fighting at Home, Fighting Abroad,” 479–506.

11 Salehyan and Gleditsch, “Refugees and the Spread of Civil War,” 335–66; Lischer, Dangerous Sanctuaries, 1–18.

12 Gleditsch, Salehyan and Schultz, “Fighting at Home, Fighting Abroad,” 487; Salehyan, “Externalities of Civil Strife,” 787–801.

13 Salehyan, “Externalities of Civil Strife,” 787–801; Salehyan and Gleditsch, “Refugees and the Spread of Civil War,” 339; Gleditsch, Salehyan, and Schultz, “Fighting at Home, Fighting Abroad,” 487.

14 Salehyan, “Externalities of Civil Strife,” 787–88.

15 Salehyan and Gleditsch, “Refugees and the Spread of Civil War,” 338.

16 Myron, “Security, Stability, and International Migration,” 91–126; Salehyan and Gleditsch, “Refugees and the Spread of Civil War,” 344.

17 Salehyan, “Externalities of Civil Strife,” 788.

18 Ibid.

19 Teitelbaum, “Immigration, Refugees, and Foreign Policy,” 429–50.

20 Weiner and Munz, “Migrants, Refugees and Foreign Policy,” 49.

21 Adamson and Tsourapas, “Migration Diplomacy in World Politics,” 113–28; Panebianco and Fontana, “When Responsibility to Protect ‘Hits Home,’” 1–17.

22 Loescher and John Scanlan, “Human Rights, US Foreign Policy,” 313–56.

23 Jacobsen, “Factors Influencing the Policy Responses,” 665.

24 See Poole, Vietnamese in Thailand.

25 Teitelbaum, “Immigration, Refugees, and Foreign Policy,” 429–50.

26 Zolberg, Suhrke, and Aguayo, Escape from Violence, 115.

27 Harrell-Bond, “Repatriation: Under What Conditions,” 56.

28 Long, “In Search of Sanctuary,” 458.

29 Bennet and Checkel, “Process Tracing,” 7.

30 Waldner, “Process Tracing and Causal Mechanisms,” 68.

31 Koshy, “United Nations, the US, and Northern Iraq,” 2760.

32 Malanczuk, “Kurdish Crisis and Allied Intervention,” 114–32.

33 Ihlamur-Öner, “Turkey’s Refugee Regime Stretched to the Limit?,” 195.

34 Koshy, “United Nations, the US, and Northern Iraq,” 2760.

35 Kirisci, “‘Provide Comfort’ and Turkey,” 231.

36 McQueen, Humanitarian Intervention and Safety Zones, 27.

37 “MGK BM’yi Acil Yardıma Çağırdı” [“The National Security Council called the UN for Urgent Help”], Milliyet, April 3, 1991.

38 Ayın Tarihi, April 3, 1991, http://www.ayintarihi.com/RjVPZ/date/1991-04-06 Ayın Tarihi, April 4, 1991. Accessed September 15, 2020. http://www.ayintarihi.com/RjVPZ/date/1991-04-06.

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41 Welsh, “Security Council and Humanitarian Intervention,” 30.

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47 Welsh, “Security Council and Humanitarian Intervention,” 28.

48 Freedman and Boren, “‘Safe Havens’ for Kurds in Post-War Iraq,” 52.

49 Orchard, “Revisiting Humanitarian Safe Areas,” 61.

50 Welsh, “Security Council and Humanitarian Intervention,” 28.

51 Baker and DeFrank, Politics of Diplomacy, 432–3.

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53 Welsh, “Security Council and Humanitarian Intervention,” 28.

54 Malanczuk, “Kurdish Crisis and Allied Intervention,” 120.

55 Koshy, “United Nations, the US, and Northern Iraq,” 2763.

56 Welsh, “Security Council and Humanitarian Intervention,” 28–9.

57 Oran, Kalkik Horoz [Poised Hammer], 63.

58 Latif, “Refugee Policy of the Turkish Republic,” 14.

59 Malanczuk, “Kurdish Crisis and Allied Intervention,” 120.

60 Latif, “Refugee Policy of the Turkish Republic,” 14.

61 Koshy, “United Nations, the US, and Northern Iraq,” 2762.

62 Oran, Kalkik Horoz [Poised Hammer], 60–1; Koshy, “United Nations, the US, and Northern Iraq,” 2764.

63 Oran, Kalkik Horoz [Poised Hammer], 158–60.

64 Brian Whitaker, “Syria Crisis: Turkey Calls for ‘Safe Haven.’” The Guardian, August 31, 2012. Accessed March 5, 2020. https://www.theguardian.com/world/middle-east-live/2012/aug/31/syria-crisis-bashar-al-assad

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66 UNHCR, “Syria Regional Refugee Response.” Accessed September 13, 2020. http://data.unhcr.org/syrianrefugees/regional.php

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70 Lioner Beehner, “Trump Once Talked of a ‘Beautiful Safe Zone’ in Syria. But Safe Zones Aren’t Actually Safe.” The Washington Post. October 22, 2019. Accessed October 19, 2021. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/10/22/trump-promised-beautiful-safe-zone-syria-those-arent-actually-safe/

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72 Refugee Rights Turkey, “Registration and Status for Syrian Refugees and Other Persons Under Temporary Protection.” 2017. Accessed May 9, 2020. https://www.mhd.org.tr/images/yayinlar/MHM-2.pdf

73 Ian Black, “Tens of Thousands of Syrian Refugees Remain Stranded at Turkish Border.” The Guardian. February 7, 2016. Accessed April 21, 2020. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/07/tens-of-thousands-of-syrians-remain-stranded-at-the-turkish-border

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88 “Turkey–Russia Deal on Syria.” TRT World. October 22, 2019. https://www.trtworld.com/turkey/us-lifts-sanctions-on-turkey-peace-spring-30471; “Erdoğan, Putin Agree to Remove YPG from Turkey–Syria Border Within 150 Hours.” Bianet. October 22, 2019. Accessed June 13, 2020. http://bianet.org/english/world/214831-erdogan-putin-agree-to-remove-ypg-from-border-area-within-150-hours

89 “Russia and Turkey Agree Ceasefire in Syria’s Idlib Province.” The Guardian. March 5, 2020. Accessed June 15, 2020. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/05/russia-and-turkey-agree-ceasefire-in-syrias-idlib-province

90 The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, “Additional Protocol to the Memorandum on Stabilization of the Situation in the Idlib De-Escalation Area.” March 6, 2020. Accessed June 15, 2020. https://www.mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/news/-/asset_publisher/cKNonkJE02Bw/content/id/4072593

91 Oran, Kalkik Horoz [Poised Hammer], 50–1.

92 OSCA Internal Displacement Unit, No Refuge, 16–7.

93 Baker and DeFrank, Politics of Diplomacy, 432–3.

94 Long, “In Search of Sanctuary,” 473–4.

95 McQueen, Humanitarian Intervention and Safety Zones, 44.

96 Sadako Ogata, “World Order, Internal Conflict and Refugees,” October 28, 1996. Accessed October 19, 2021. https://www.unhcr.org/admin/hcspeeches/3ae68fbc4/world-order-internal-conflict-refugees-address-mrs-sadako-ogata-united.html

97 Long, “In Search of Sanctuary,” 465.

98 Frelick, “False Promise of Operation Provide Comfort,” 26.

99 Rubinstein, “Moscow and the Gulf War,” 310.

100 Altıok and Tosun, “Understanding Foreign Policy Strategies,” 2.

101 Demirtas-Bagdonas, “Reading Turkey’s Foreign Policy on Syria,” 139; Tolay, “Mass Migration and Images of State Power,” 135; Aras and Mencutek, “International Migration and Foreign Policy Nexus,” 193.

102 Tsourapas, “Syrian Refugee Crisis,” 474–6. For Turkey’s recent blackmailing strategy regarding the refugee issue, see Oztig, “Turkish–Greek Border Crisis and COVID-19.”

103 Kroenig, Return of Great Power Rivalry, 2; Pisciotta, “Russian Revisionism in the Putin Era,” 1–10.

104 Ibid.

105 Beehner and Meibauer, “Futility of Buffer Zones in International Politics,” 13.

106 Oran, Kalkik Horoz [Poised Hammer], 23.

107 Benjamin Bathke, “What’s Behind Erdogan’s Proposed ‘Safe Zone’ for Syrian Refugees?” InfoMigrants. Accessed May 3, 2020. https://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/20083/what-s-behind-erdogan-s-proposed-safe-zone-for-syrian-refugees

108 Asli Aydintasbas, “A New Gaza: Turkey’s Border Policy in Northern Syria.” European Council on Foreign Relations. May 28, 2020. Accessed October 5, 2020. https://ecfr.eu/publication/a_new_gaza_turkeys_border_policy_in_northern_syria/

109 Fehim Tastekin, “Turkey’s Occupation of Northern Syria Includes Population Transfers.” Al-Monitor. May 7, 2020. https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2020/05/turkey-syria-population-transfers-tell-abyad-irk-kurds-arabs.html; Sinem Adar, “Repatriation to Turkey’s ‘Safe Zone’ in Northeast Syria: Ankara’s Goals and European Concerns.” SWP German Institute for International and Security Affairs. January 13, 2020. Accessed June 1, 2020. https://www.swp-berlin.org/en/publication/repatriation-to-turkeys-safe-zone-in-northeast-syria

110 Mitch Prothero, “Turkey’s Erdogan Has Been Humiliating Putin All Year – Here’s How He Did It.” Insider. October 22, 2020. Accessed April 19, 2020. https://www.businessinsider.com/turkey-humiliating-russia-putin-playbook-syria-libya-armenia-azerbaijan-2020-10

111 Ibid.

112 Omer Kizilcik, “After Escalation in Idlib, What’s Next for Turkey-Russia Relations?,” 28 September 2021. TRT World. Accessed April 25, 2020. https://www.trtworld.com/opinion/after-escalation-in-idlib-what-s-next-for-turkey-russia-relations-50305

113 Beehner and Meibauer, “The Futility of Buffer Zones in International Politics,” 2.

114 Murat Erdogan, “Syrians Barometer 2019: A Framework for Achieving Social Cohesion with Syrians in Turkey,” UNHCR. Accessed June 10, 2020. https://www.unhcr.org/tr/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2020/09/SB2019-SUMMARY-04092020.pdf

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Lacin Idil Oztig

Lacin Idil Oztig (PhD) is Associate Professor at Yıldız Technical University, Istanbul. She teaches Middle East politics and international organisations. She does research on border politics, democratisation, human rights, secularism and populism. Her work has appeared in various journals, including Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space; Territory, Politics, Governance; Third World Quarterly; and Government and Opposition.