TURKEY (REALIST)

• The Republic of Turkey is party to the 1951 Refugee Convention and 1967 Protocol

  • However, they have maintained the geographical limitation to the 1951 Convention, thus retaining resettlement to a third country as the most preferred durable solution for refugees outside of Europe. 
  • Syrian refugees are registered under a ‘temporary protection’ regulation, which Turkish authorities say automatically applies to all Syrians seeking asylum.
• Human Rights Watch 

  ‘Although Turkey provided temporary protection to 3.6 million Syrian refugees, it now looks like Turkey is trying to make northern Syria a refugee dumping ground.’
• • In February 2022, Turkey’s Deputy Interior Minister said that applications for temporary protection and international protection will no longer be accepted in 16 provinces and neighbourhoods where 25% or more of the population is foreigners. 
• • Deported Syrians told HRW that Turkish officials arrested them in their homes, workplaces, and on the street, detained them in poor conditions, beat and abused most of them, forced them to sign voluntary return forms, drove them to border crossing points with northern Syria, and forced them across at gunpoint
• New Lines Institute

  • Turkish public opinion has turned against allowing Syrian refugees to remain in Turkey, where polling in 2021 found that 82% of Turks wanted Syrians deported. 
  • The 2023 election saw pressure to demonstrate how Turkey’s refugee population would be repatriated. 
  • Conditions in Syria have been hostile to repatriation, increased food insecurity and deteriorating economic situation.