African migrations toward Turkey: beyond the stepping stone

Abstract

The notion of transit migration emerged in policy discourse during the 1990s. Various meanings have been assigned to the notion of transit migrant or transit migration’. In this paper we argue that these are constructed categories which are unable to address fully or to describe a range of complex experiences, political contexts and global realities. We first argue that the construction of transit has primarily taken place within the context of European securitization policy. We next expose the limits of such a construction in the light of African migrant experiences in Turkey. Our empirical data shows that while the category of transit migrant generated out of the European securitization agenda can fit some of these experiences, there are also distinctive African migrant experiences in Turkey which cannot be stretched easily into this category and thus it becomes an overloaded category. Furthermore, we aim to highlight what we identify as a new migratory system stretched between Turkey and Africa, these modalities of operation and the expected changes for Turkey.

Keywords

• Transit
• African migrants
• Turkey
• European securitization
• Migratory system

Afrika’dan Türkiye’ye Göç: Atlama Tahtasından Öteye

Abstract

1990'lı yılların siyasi söyleminde ortaya çıkan 'transit göç' veya 'transit göçmen' kavramlarına çeşitli anlamlar yüklenmiştir. Biz bu makalede, bir dizi karmaşık tecrübeyi, siyasi bağlamı ve küresel gerçekliği tam olarak işaret etmekte veya tanımlamakta kifayetsiz kalan söz konusu kavramların inşa edilmiş kategoriler olduklarını savunuyoruz. İlk olarak transitin inşasının Avrupa güvenlik politikası çerçevesinde cereyan etmiş olduğunu gösteriyoruz. Daha sonra Türkiye’deki Afrikalı göçmenlerin tecrübeleri ışığında bu kavramın sınırlarını gözler önüne seriyoruz. Elde ettiğimiz ampirik verilere dayanarak, Avrupa güvenlik gündeminin bir sonucu olarak ortaya çıkan transit göçmen kategorisinin bu tecrübelerin bir kısmına uygun düşmekle beraber hatırı sayılır diğer bir kısmının ise bu başlık altına sıkıştırılamayacağını; dolayısıyla bu kategorinin aşırı yüklenmiş bir hal aldığını söylüyoruz. Ayrıca, Türkiye ile Afrika arasında gelişen, yeni bir göç sistemi olarak tanımladığımız sürecin, harekât biçimlerinin ve Türkiye için beklenen değişikliklerin altını çiziyoruz.

Keywords

• Transit
• Afrikalı göçmenler
• Türkiye
• Avrupa güvenlik politikası
• göç sistemi

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