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ABSTRACT
Drawing upon the critical geopolitics literature and discourse analysis, this article will explain how the ruling AKP in Turkey fashioned an alternative, Islamically infused migration discourse in response to the Syrian refugee crisis and how it depicted this as counter-hegemonic to the dominant depictions of East and West embedded within Europe's existing securitization discourse. According to the AKP's geopolitical discourse, the differing attitudes evinced in Europe and Turkey toward the Syrian migrants can be explained by civilizational values deriving from the history and religious composition of the respective regions, as between the Orient and the Occident. However, this article examines to what extent this self-promoted discourse of Islamic inclusion has succeeded in engendering a more progressive settlement and integration regime. It argues that it has actually fostered its own system of ‘Othering’ and has led to the development of selective admission and exclusionary practices similar to those in Europe.
Acknowledgments
We are very grateful to Morgan Lloyd, Mehmet Celil Çelebi, Çağdaş Sümer and Eren Karaca for their invaluable comments and reviews of this article.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 See https://www.goc.gov.tr/gecici-koruma5638, last accessed, January 15, 2020.
2 Kirişçi, Syrian Refugees, 1.
3 Gökalp-Aras and Şahin-Mencütek, “From Assertive to Opportunist”; Donelli, “Syrian Refugees in Turkey”; and Togral Koca, “Deconstructing.”
4 We recognize that the European response to migration crisis was mixed. While Germany was more receptive and wanted to convince other European countries for a more accepting approach, countries like Hungary and Italy have been very uncompromising. Yet, the prevailing policies in Europe progressively became more securitized based on anti-Muslim sentiments. Furthermore, in order to embolden its critiques, the AKP represented Europe as if it spoke in one voice about migrants.
5 Since Turkey has never recognized the refugee status of the Syrians, we will use the term ‘migrant,’ which refers to a more general form of mobility, whenever we refer to the Syrians within the context of Turkey. We must note that the members of the Turkish government, on the other hand, have used other terms or labels, such as misafir, ensar, muhacir all of which are imbued with the Islamic content.
6 O'Tuathail, “Theorizing Practical Geopolitical”; O'Tuathail and Agnew, “Geopolitics and Discourse”; Aras and Falk, “Authoritarian ‘Geopolitics’ of Survival”; and Pala and Aras, “Practical Geopolitical Reasoning.”
7 Korkut, “Pragmatism and Moral Responsibility,” 2, and Kloos, “The Neo-Ottoman Turn,” 539.
8 Donelli, “Syrian Refugees in Turkey”; Togral Koca, “Deconstructing”; Düvell et al. “Who Counts in Crisis?”; Özerim, “Stretching, Opening or Sealing”; and Çetinoğlu, “New Humanitarianisms.”
9 Özerim, “Stretching, Opening or Sealing”; Donelli, “Syrian Refugees in Turkey”; Türkeş, “A Deal Between”; Tolay, “Mass Migration”; Okyay and Zaragoza-Cristiani, “The Leverage of the Gatekeeper”; Genç, Heck and Hess, “The Multi Layered Migration”; and Bayındır-Goularas and Sunata, “Türk Dış Politikasında.”
10 Gökalp-Aras and Şahin-Mencütek, “From Assertive to Opportunist”; Tolay, “Mass Migration”; Okyay and Zaragoza-Cristiani, “The Leverage of the Gatekeeper”; Polat, “Religious Solidarity”; Oktav and Çelikaksoy, “The Syrian Refugee Challenge”; and Taştan and Keneş, “Immigration Rhetoric.”
11 Kirişçi, Syrian Refugees; Kirişçi and Ferris, Not Likely to Go; Kloos, “The Neo-Ottoman Turn.”
12 Kloos, “The Neo-Ottoman Turn”; Polat, “Religious Solidarity”; Korkut, “Pragmatism and Moral Responsibility”; Korkut, “Applying the Theory”; and Togral Koca, “Deconstructing.”
13 O'Tuathail, “Theorizing Practical Geopolitical,” 607; O'Tuathail and Agnew, “Geopolitics and Discourse,” 191; Makarychev, “Bordering and Identity-Making,” 749; and Kuus, “Critical Geopolitics.”
14 O'Tuathail and Agnew, “Geopolitics and Discourse,” 194.
15 Yatsky, “A Popular Geopolitics.”
16 Baraghiroli and Makarychev, “Redefining Europe.”
17 Korkut, “Pragmatism and Moral Responsibility,” and Polat, “Religious Solidarity.”
18 Polat, “Religious Solidarity,” 503.
19 Wodak, “Critical Linguistics,” and Van Dijk, “Principles of Critical.”
20 Van Dijk, “Political Discourse and Racism,” 32.
21 O'Tuathail, “Theorizing Practical Geopolitical,” 617.
22 Nagel, “Geopolitics by Another Name.”
23 Bassin, “Civilisations and Their Discontents,” and Van Dijk, “Political Discourse and Racism.”
24 Rettberg and Gajjala, “Terrorists or Cowards,” and Tesfahuney, “Mobility, Racism and Geopolitics.”
25 Pallister-Wilkins, “The Humanitarian Politics,” and Basaran, “The Saved and the Drowned.”
26 Basaran, “The Saved and the Drowned.”
27 O'Tuathail, “Theorizing Practical Geopolitical.”
28 Korkut, “Pragmatism and Moral Responsibility,” 7.
29 Ibid., 3.
30 Karamanidou, “The Securitization of European Migration.”
31 Polat, “Religious Solidarity,” 504.
32 Saraçoğlu and Demirkol, “Nationalism and Foreign Policy,” 311–12, and Çınar, “Turkey's ‘Western’ or ‘Muslim’ Identity.”
33 Özpek and Yaşar, “Populism and Foreign Policy,” 205–11.
34 Çınar, “Turkey's ‘Western’ or ‘Muslim’ Identity.”
35 Davutoğlu, Stratejik Derinlik.
36 Davutoğlu, “The Clash of Interests.”
37 Ibid. In this famous article, Davutoğlu, for example, castigated the West – the US and Europe – for their continuing prejudices against the Muslim world, which he saw as one of the major contributors to the Bosnian war.
38 Çınar, “Turkey's Western,” 184–7.
39 Başkan, “Islamism and Turkey's,” and Yeşiltaş, “The Transformation.”
40 Başkan, “Islamism and Turkey's,” 265 and 274.
41 “Davutoğlu: Turkey Cannot Deal with the Refugee Crisis Alone.” (Guardian, September 9, 2015).
42 “Erdoğan: Avrupa Bosna’da Ölmüş, Suriye’de Gömülmüştür.” (https://www.tccb.gov.tr/haberler/410/85042/avrupa-bosnada-olmus-suriyede-gomulmustur, Last Accessed, January 15, 2020).
43 For example, see “Kurtulmuş: Avrupa’nın Mülteci Tedbirleri Beyhude Bir Çabadır.” (Yeni Akit, October 8, 2016).
44 “Davutoğlu: Turkey Cannot Deal with the Refugee Crisis Alone.” (Guardian, September 9, 2015).
45 Çınar, “Turkey's Western,” 187–90.
46 “Cumhurbaşkanı Erdoğan: Bizim Böyle Bir Yüz Karamız Asla Yoktur.” (Milliyet, December 18, 2017).
47 “Kurtulmuş: Dünya’nın Yesevi Çizgisine İhtiyacı Vardır.” (Yeni Şafak, February 26, 2016).
48 “Başbakan Davutoğlu: Tek Tek Elimizde Rusya’nın Attığı Her Bombanın Nereye Düştüğünün Bilgisi Var.” (Hürriyet, February 9, 2016).
49 “Özhaseki: Başka Ülke Perişan Olurdu.” (Yeni Akit, August 27, 2016).
50 For example, see “Kurtulmuş: Suriyelilere Vatandaşlık Verilmesiyle İlgili Çalışmalar Sürüyor.” (Yeni Akit, July 14, 2016), and “Ala: Yarar Gördüğümüz Suriyelileri Türk Vatandaşlığına Alacağız.” (Hürriyet, July 12, 2016).
51 “Yıldırım: Suriyelilerin 976 Bini Okul Çağında.” (Yeniçağ, December 15, 2017).
52 “Çavuşoğlu: Hayvan mı Seçiyorsunuz?” (Hürriyet, October 6, 2015).
53 “Erdoğan Konuştu Quaresma Dikkatle Dinledi.” (Hürriyet, December 18, 2017).
54 “Yıldırım: Suriyelilerin 976 Bini Okul Çağında.” (Yeniçağ, December 15, 2017). Also see Polat, “Religious Solidarity.”
55 “Ala: Yarar Gördüğümüz Suriyelileri Türk Vatandaşlığına Alacağız.” (Hürriyet, July 12, 2016). Also see “Davutoğlu: Tek Tek Elimizde Rusya’nın Attığı Her Bombanın Nereye Düştüğünün Bilgisi Var.” (Hürriyet, February 9, 2016).
56 Başkan, “Islamism and Turkey's”; Hinnebusch and Tür, Turkey–Syria Relations; and Demirtas–Bagdonas, “Reading Turkey's.”
57 For example, see “AK Partili Çelik'ten Skandal Benzetme.” (Internet Haber, September 8, 2011).
58 Korkut, “Pragmatism and Moral Responsibility,” and Togral Koca, “Deconstructing Turkey's Open Door Policy.”
59 “Atalay Yol Haritası İçin Tarih Verdi.” (Sabah, August 14, 2014), and “Bülent Arınç: Türkiye İçin Maddi Manevi Açıdan Bir Yıkım Olabilir.” (CNN Turk, September 19, 2014).
60 “Bülent Arınç: Türkiye İçin Maddi Manevi Açıdan Bir Yıkım Olabilir.” (CNN Turk, September 19, 2014).
61 Baban, Ilcan and Rygiel “Syrian Refugees in Turkey.”
62 Kirişçi, Syrian Refugees.
63 Korkut, “Pragmatism and Moral Responsibility.”
64 İçduygu and Diker, “Labor Market Integration.”
65 Danış and Nazlı, “A Faithful Alliance.”
66 “Erdoğan: We Are Not Stupid.” (BBC News, February 11, 2016), and “Erdoğan: If We don't Create The Safe Zone, We have to Open the Doors.” (Euro News, September 5, 2019).
67 “Süleyman Soylu: Bu Yıl 80 Bin Kaçak Göçmeni Sınır Dışı Edeceğiz,” (Sözcü, July 24, 2019).
68 For example, see “İddia: İstanbul’da Yaşayan On Binlerce ‘Kayıtsız’ Göçmen Sınır Dışı Ediliyor; Evinden Çıkamayan Suriyeliler Var,” (T24, July 20, 2019).
69 “Erdoğan: Güvenli Bölge Formülü Sriyeli Mültecilerin Geri Dönüşleri İçin En Pratik Çözüm Yoludur,” (https://tccb.gov.tr/haberler/410/102059/-guvenli-bolge-formulu-suriyeli-multecilerin-geri-donusleri-icin-en-pratik-cozum-yoludur, Last Accessed: January 15, 2020).
70 The PKK (The Kurdistan Worker's Party) has been engaging in an armed conflict with the Turkish state since 1984 and has been declared as a terrorist group. This movement has established several branches in the neighboring countries, wherein considerable amount of Kurds are living, such as in Iran, Iraq and Syria. Turkey considers the YPG, which was founded in 2011 in the context of the Syrian civil war to protect Kurdish people of the area, as an extension of PKK.
71 For example, see “3 Milyon Suryeli Yerleşecek: Türkiye’nin Güvenli Bölge Önerisi,” (Yeni Şafak, September 25, 2019).
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Özgür Balkılıç
Özgür Balkılıç received his PhD from the Department of History at Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada. He is currently working as an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology at Abdullah Gül University. He has widely published in the theory of Marxist history, music politics in the Early Republican Period, Turkish nationalism, and labor relations after the Second World War in Turkey.
Fatma Armağan Teke Lloyd
Fatma Armağan Teke-Lloyd received her PhD from the Department of Political Science at McMaster University, Canada. She is currently working as an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at Abdullah Gül University. She has published on migrant care workers in Turkey, Turkey's migration regimes, politics and popular culture, and foreign policy-migration nexus.