Lost at Sea? Exploring Europeanisation and De-Europeanisation in Turkey’s Migration and Asylum Policies

  • Abstract:

    Based on a theoretical approach to Europeanisation and de-Europeanisation in candidate countries, the paper analyses developments in Turkey’s asylum and migration policies in recent years. Given the lack of credibility of accession conditionality in the Turkish case, and a general tendency towards de-Europeanisation in Turkey, overwhelming de-Europeanisation in this area may be the expected outcome. However, as this paper argues, the reality is considerably more complex. While there has undoubtedly been a degree of de-Europeanisation, Europeanisation has proceeded in some areas of migration and asylum policy. The paper, then, attempts to explain the factors behind continued Europeanisation as well as de-Europeanisation in this area.