The European Union (EU, the Union) notably affects world politics and economy as a soft power and influences the attitudes of other international actors, including states, international organizations, and multinational corporations. The EU mainly uses the notion of conditionality as a tool for promoting the legal mechanisms, values, and market principles to the countries in its hinterland. Türkiye, at this point, is a perfect case to observe and analyze the effects of these tools and new power types. As a candidate state, the country is required to adopt and implement the EU Acquis as part of its accession process and negotiations. A series of changes made in Türkiye’s legislation in the early 2000s due to National Programmes for the Adoption of the Acquis in 2001 gives the perfect example of the EU’s regulatory power. During this era, namely “the golden age of Europeanization” (Aydın-Düzgit & Kaliber 2026, 1), the legislator made several changes in Turkish national law, especially in the constitution.
Although the accession process after “the golden age of Europeanization in Turkey” seems to have come to a breaking point from time to time due to criticisms about the state of the rule of law and democracy, reforms, and norm exportation, with ongoing cooperation, the EU’s regulatory influence on Türkiye, continues to have a substantial impact on national legislation, institutions, and bureaucracy. This influence is apparent in migration legislation, which predominantly shapes dual relations, especially in the 2010s. “Europeanization of migration and refugee law and policies in Türkiye”, also started with the Helsinki Summit in 1999 and went parallel to the period when rights-based reforms were intensively implemented immediately after the accession to candidacy. The Syrian Civil War has been a milestone for the normative transformation. The refugee “crisis” has reflected the transition from a principle-based normative EU to an interest-driven EU (Kaya 2021, 366); this policy shift also applies to the official Turkish agenda. The EU’s interest-driven governance of migration is reflected in the increasing border enforcement and deterrence mechanisms, the elitist evaluation of even forced migration cases, and ultimately, the externalization and delegation of migration to third countries with agreements of questionable legal character.
This conference addresses the specific partnership between the EU and Türkiye in migration. The regulatory modelling on migration, namely the 2013 Law on Foreigners and International Protection and the 2014 Regulation on Temporary Protection, is the first focal point of the conference. The second focal point addresses the solidarity mechanisms based on migration management within the framework of several bilateral agreements and EU programs for migrants in Türkiye, which includes non-state actors in the migration management process. The third focal point discusses the social and individual results of EU- Türkiye cooperation on migration. Controversial main themes such as how societies react to EU- Türkiye cooperation in migration, what shapes “host” communities’ attitudes towards migrants and vice versa, and what policy and legal regulation cooperation mean for human rights will be analyzed within this scope. On this framework, we welcome papers on (but not limited to) the below-listed topics
- analysis of normative transformation, cooperation on migration,
- case studies aiming to reveal the effects of cooperation on migration on individual or community levels (including NGOs, non-state actors, etc.)
- local/regional studies and comparisons on the possible effects of migration management.
The upcoming conference will be the second event of the European Agenda Conference Series and is organized as a part of Kocaeli University’s 2024- 2026 A-NEST Secretariat. Within the framework of A-NEST and with the support of the EU Delegation to Türkiye, adopting “inclusive networks” as its post’s motto, Kocaeli University focuses on partnerships with other universities and extension of A-NEST’s reach during its secretariat. Accordingly, a series of scientific gatherings is planned for 2024 and 2025 to be held at different universities in Türkiye. As the first activity of our secretariat, this conference will be held at Bursa Uludağ University in cooperation with the International Relations Studies Association (TUIC) and the Association for Diplomacy Studies (DARD).
There is no participation fee, and with the generous support of the EU Delegation to Türkiye, we have limited funding for the reimbursement of travel and accommodation expenses of early career researchers (ECRs, namely PhD students and PhDs without permanent contract- such as research assistants, lecturers, and assistant professors-). Please indicate in your application mail if you want to be considered for conference funding.
Please send your 500-word abstract (English or Turkish) and a one-page short biography in one PDF file by 10 June 2024 to [email protected]. The results will be announced by 1 July 2024, and registration will be open between 1 July 2024 and 14 July 2024. The conference program will be announced by 19 July 2024. The conference proceedings will be published as an abstract book (e-book) and available before the conference. Further publication possibilities will be discussed interactively during the conference.
Conference Chairs
Prof. Dr Barış Özdal
Associate Professor Pelin Sönmez
Assistant Professor Itır Aladağ Görentaş
This publication is co-funded by the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of Kocaeli and Bursa Uludağ Universities and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.
References
Aydın-Düzgit, S. & Kaliber, A. 2016. “Encounters with Europe in an Era of Domestic and International Turmoil: Is Turkey a De-Europeanising Candidate Country?” South European Society and Politics, 21 (1): 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1080/13608746.2016.1155282
Kaya, A. 2021. “Europeanization and de-Europeanization of Turkish Asylum and Migration Policies” In EU-Turkey Relations: Theories, institutions, and policies, edited by Wulf Reiner and Ebru Turhan, 347- 372, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-70890-0
