EU-Turkey relations and the mediterranean refugee crisis challenge: rerceptions on Turkey’s regional engagement

Abstract

The recent refugee crisis has brough about a considerable rise in the number of would-be asylum seekers in Europe. This situation has raised pressing challenges involving various critical social, political and economic predicaments that require the design of robust migration and asylum policy frameworks in the region. The character and nature of the refugee crisis determines the development of the policy agenda ranging from security to migration policies which are interrelated with human rights concerns and thereby can serve as catalyst in relation to the EU-Turkey relationship. The applicability of the asylum policy framework which is determined by policy makers’ policy preferences and political domestic interests within the EU and Turkey has often come under significant legal scrutiny and frequent criticism. This might be an example of existing conditions that are likely to be inconsistent with the maintenance of security standards in terms of safeguarding fundamental rights norms embedded in the international asylum law and the International Human Rights Law. The issue of human rights remains at the heart of migration and asylum policy discourse because of its complex interplay with the influence of interaction structures between both sides along with policy frameworks that frame bilateral relations within the context of the crisis. At the same time, the EU- Turkey Deal can serve as linchpin of the migration and asylum strategies which are largely interrelated with the shaping of balance of power and national interests regionally.