Details

A total of 18 experts from various research institutions, German Federal Parliament and government authorities attended this workshop. Focal point of the discussions was the refugee crisis and Framework of EU-Turkey Protocol. The program involved negotiations held with government, political circles, national and international organizations, think-tanks and universities in order to gain different impressions about the situation of the refugees and the implementation of EU-Turkey Protocol.

Since 2014 Turkey has become one of the most important countries accepting refugees. Approximately 3.3 million people take refuge in Turkey. Most of them reside in areas close to the Syrian border or city centers. Since 2012 important developments have been achieved on the Law of Refugees in Turkey due to the Syrian issue. While short-term humanitarian aids, settlement of refugees and covering their minimum needs were on the forefront of government agenda of Turkey, now the emphasis is put on employment, education and access to social security access. The current keyword is social “cohesion”.

The topics of Implementation of EU-Turkey Protocol and transferal of EU assistance were on the agenda of discussions held with Undersecretary of Ministry for EU Affairs, Mr Selim Yenel.

Deputy Chairperson of Justice and Development Party (AKP) and President of Human Rights Department Mrs. Dr. Ravza Kavakçı Kan share the policies of her party on the issues of immigrants and refugees in Headquarters of AKP. The subject of the meeting held with Dr. Kerem Kınık was the perspective of Turkish Red Crescent on the issue of refugee crisis, as well as successful examples and imminent challenges. Secretary General of Union of Municipalities of Turkey informed the German Delegation about the assistance provided to refugees by Municipalities. Delegation consulted with the Deputy Representative of UNCHR Mr Paolo Artini and the Emergency Assistance Coordinator of IOM in Turkey Mr Mazen Aboulhousn about the protection of refugees, their status in Turkey and changes that occurred after the implementation of EU-Turkey Protocol. Further discussions carried out with the representatives of national NGOs, think-tanks and universities helped deepening the understanding of the issue. Especially the Chairman of European Stability Initiative (ESI) and one of the founding fathers of EU-Turkey Protocol Gerald Knaus gave a great momentum to the workshop and motivated participants to further focus on this area.

Participants of the workshop exchanged ideas and each expert provided information about their own experiences which is also very important. Turkish delegation praised the productive dialogue environment and welcomed the visits gladly while the negotiations with Germany are going on in a limited way. The Experts Workshop was also covered by Turkish Press.

President of Hacettepe University Migration and Policy Research Center (HUGO) Assoc. Prof. Dr. Murat Erdoğan prepared the article “Syrian Refugees in Turkey” for the participants as key note. See publications.