View source for Immigration to Turkey

{{Short description|none}} <!-- "none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see [[WP:SDNONE]] -->
[[File:Disaster_and_Emergency_Management_Presidency.jpg|thumb|290px|The immigration crisis has been managed by the [[Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency]] also known as AFAD.]]
{{inadequate lead|date=March 2020}}
{{Update|date=January 2023|reason=Recent Russians}}
{{Politics of Turkey}}
[[File:AFAD Kilis kampı.jpg|thumb|Syrian refugees at [[Kilis Oncupinar Accommodation Facility]]]]
'''Immigration to Turkey''' is the process by which people [[human migration|migrate]] to [[Turkey]] to reside in the country. Many, but not all, become [[Turkish nationality law|Turkish citizens]]. After the [[dissolution of the Ottoman Empire]] and following [[Turkish War of Independence]], an [[Emigration|exodus]] by the large portion of [[Turkish people|Turkish]] ([[Turkic peoples|Turkic]]) and [[Islam|Muslim]] peoples from the [[Balkans]] ([[Turks in the Balkans|Balkan Turks]], [[Albanians]], [[Bosniaks]], [[Pomaks]]), [[Caucasus]] ([[Abkhaz people|Abkhazians]], [[Ajarians]], '[[Circassians]]', [[Chechen people|Chechens]]), [[Crimea]] ([[Crimean Tatar diaspora]]), and [[Greece]] ([[Muslim Roma]],<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/roma-people-tell-of-ancestors-1923-population-exchange-stories-141853 | title=Roma people tell of ancestors' 1923 'population exchange' stories | date=13 March 2019 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.researchgate.net/figure/The-Roma-tobacco-workers-who-live-in-Ortakoey-Besiktas-with-leftist-intellectuals-of-1960s_fig2_286766087|title=The Roma tobacco workers who live in Ortaköy/Beşiktaş with leftist... &#124; Download Scientific Diagram}}</ref> [[Greek Muslims]], [[Vallahades]], [[Megleno-Romanians|Nantinets]], [[Cretan Turks]]) took refuge in present-day Turkey and moulded the country's fundamental features. Trends of immigration towards Turkey continue to this day, although the motives are more varied and are usually in line with the patterns of global [[immigration]] movements. [[Turkey's migrant crisis]] is a following period since the 2010s, characterized by high numbers of people arriving and settling in Turkey.

==Names==
There are three Names in Turkish for Balkan Turks and other Muslims of former Ottoman Empire to describe the Immigrants who went to Turkey.
*'''Muhacir''' (Muslims from Balkans and Caucasus in Ottoman Empire)
*'''Mübadil''' (Muslims from Greece in 1923 from Greece to Turkey)
*'''Göçmen''' (Muslims from Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Romania, Cyprus, Greece after 1930 to Turkey).<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.korkusuz.com.tr/gocmen-muhacir-mubadil.html | title=Göçmen – Muhacir – Mübadil! | date=29 July 2021 }}</ref>

== History ==
[[File:Muhajir.jpg|thumb|250px|Muhacirs arriving in [[Constantinople]] ([[Istanbul]]), [[Ottoman Empire]], in 1912. They are the estimated 10 million [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] [[Muslim]] citizens, and their descendants born after the onset of the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire]]

{{See also|Muhacir}}
Historically, the [[Ottoman Empire]] was the primary destination for [[Muslim]] refugees from areas conquered—or re-conquered—by Christian powers, notably [[Russia]] in the [[Caucasus]] and [[Black Sea]] areas, [[Austria-Hungary]], [[Greece]], [[Bulgaria]], [[Serbia]], [[Montenegro]] (later [[Yugoslavia]]) and [[Romania]] in the [[Balkans]]. Nonetheless, the Ottoman Empire was also a popular destination for non-Muslim refugees: the most obvious examples are the [[Sephardic Jews]] given refuge mainly in the 16th century with the [[Jewish Diaspora|expulsion of the Jews from Spain and Portugal]] (''as well as before and afterwards''), whose descendants form the core of the community of [[Jews in Turkey]] today; and the village of [[Polonezköy]] in [[Istanbul]]. From the 1930s to 2016 migration added two million Muslims in Turkey. The majority of these immigrants were the [[Balkan Turks]] who faced harassment and discrimination in their homelands.<ref name="Çaǧatay 2006 loc=82">{{Harvnb|Çaǧatay|2006|loc=82}}</ref> New waves of Turks and other Muslims expelled from [[Bulgaria]] and [[Yugoslavia]] between 1951 and 1953 were followed to Turkey by another exodus from Bulgaria in 1983–89, bringing the total of immigrants to nearly ten million people.<ref name="Karpat 2004 loc=612">{{Harvnb|Karpat|2004|loc=612}}.</ref> More recently, [[Meskhetian Turks]] have emigrated to Turkey from the former [[Soviet Union]] states (particularly in [[Ukraine]] – after the [[Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation]] in 2014), and many [[Iraqi Turkmen]] and [[Syrian Turkmen]] have taken refuge in Turkey due to the recent [[Iraq War]] (2003-2011) and [[Syrian Civil War]] (2011–present).

=== Pre-Colonial Migration Crisis, 1522–1701 ===
Turkey's first migration crisis began in 1522, when [[Ibn Kemal]] (an Ottoman Historian) recorded his findings of an estimated 6.2 million Turkish citizens migrating from Cyrenaican, Middle Arabian, Iraqi and Lebanese territories to northern and southern European territories, such as Spain, Italy, France, and to an extent Germany. The cause for the mass immigration is thought to be due to the governmental suppression of rights for non-Turkish and Anatolian Arabians.{{Citation needed|date=July 2022}}

=== Treaty of Lausanne initial borders ===
A decision taken by the Turkish Government at the end of 1925, for instance, noted that the Turks of Cyprus had, according to the [[Treaty of Lausanne]], the right to emigrate to the republic, and therefore, families that so emigrated would be given a house and sufficient land.<ref name="Nevzat 2005 loc=276">{{Harvnb|Nevzat|2005|loc=276}}.</ref> Economic motives played an important part in the Turkish Cypriot migration wave as conditions for the poor in Cyprus during the 1920s were especially harsh. Enthusiasm to emigrate to Turkey was inflated by the euphoria that followed the creation of the Republic of Turkey and later of promises of assistance to Turks who emigrated. The precise number of those who emigrated to Turkey remains unknown.<ref name="Nevzat 2005 loc=280">{{Harvnb|Nevzat|2005|loc=280}}.</ref> The press in Turkey reported in mid-1927 that of those who had opted for Turkish nationality, 5,000–6,000 Turkish Cypriots had already settled in Turkey. However, many [[Turkish Cypriots]] had already emigrated even before the rights accorded to them under the Treaty of Lausanne had come into force.<ref name="Nevzat 2005 loc=281">{{Harvnb|Nevzat|2005|loc=281}}.</ref> St. John-Jones tried to accurately estimate the true demographic impact of Turkish Cypriot emigration to Turkey between 1881–1931. He supposed that: {{Quotation|[I]f the Turkish-Cypriot community had, like the Greek-Cypriots, increased by 101 per cent between 1881 and 1931, it would have totalled 91,300 in 1931 – 27,000 more than the number enumerated. Is it possible that so many Turkish-Cypriots emigrated in the fifty-year period? Taken together, the considerations just mentioned suggest that it probably was. From a base of 45,000 in 1881, emigration of anything like 27,000 persons seems huge, but after subtracting the known 5,000 of the 1920s, the balance represents an average annual outflow of some 500 – not enough, probably, to concern the community’s leaders, evoke official comment, or be documented in any way which survives today.<ref name="St. John-Jones 1983 loc=56">{{Harvnb|St. John-Jones|1983|loc=56}}.</ref>}}

=== Population transfer between Greece and Turkey, 1923 ===
[[Population exchange between Greece and Turkey]] brought 400,000. In 1923, more than half a million Muslims of various nationalities arrived from Greece as part of the [[population transfer]] between Greece and Turkey (the population exchange was not based on ethnicity, but by religious affiliation; as Turkey was seen as a Muslim country while Greece was viewed as a Christian country).

An article published in ''[[The Times]]'' on December 5, 1923, stated that: {{Quotation|"…This transfer of populations is made especially difficult by the fact that few if any of the Turks in Greece desire to leave and most of them will resort to every possible expedient to avoid being sent away. A thousand Turks who voluntarily emigrated from [[Crete]] to [[Smyrna]] have sent several deputations to the Greek government asking to be allowed to return. Groups of Turks from all parts of Greece have submitted petitions for exemption. A few weeks ago, a group of [[Cretan Turks|Turks from Crete]] came to [[Athens]] with a request that they be [[baptized]] into the [[Greek church]] and thus be entitled to consideration as Greeks. The government however declined to permit this evasion."<ref name="Clark 2007 loc=158">{{Harvnb|Clark|2007|loc=158}}.</ref>}}

The only exclusions from the forced transfer were the Greeks living in [[Constantinople]] ([[Istanbul]]) and the [[Turks of Western Thrace]].<ref name="Corni & Stark 2008 loc=8">{{Harvnb|Corni|Stark|2008|loc=8}}.</ref> The remaining Turks living in Greece have since continuously emigrated to [[Turkey]], a process which has been facilitated by Article 19 of the [[Greek Nationality Law]] which the Greek state has used to deny re-entry of Turks who leave the country, even for temporary periods, and deprived them of their citizenship.<ref>{{Harvnb|Poulton|1997|loc=19}}.</ref> Since 1923, between 300,000 and 400,000 [[Turks of Western Thrace]] left the region, most of them went to Turkey.<ref>{{Harvnb|Whitman|1990|loc=2}}.</ref>

=== Expulsions from Balkans & Russia, 1925–1961 ===
After 1925, Turkey continued to accept Turkic-speaking Muslims as immigrants and did not discourage the emigration of members of non-Turkic minorities. More than 90% of all immigrants arrived from the Balkan countries. Turkey continued to receive large numbers of refugees from former Ottoman territories, until the end of Second World War.

Turkey received 350,000 Turks between 1923 and 1930.<ref name="Heper & Criss 2009 loc=91">{{Harvnb|Heper|Criss|2009|loc=91}}</ref> From 1934–45, 229,870 refugees and immigrants came to Turkey.<ref>Islam, Secularism and Nationalism in Modern Turkey: Who is a Turk, Soner Cagaptay, page 1824, 2013</ref> An agreement made, on September 4, 1936, between Romania and Turkey allowed 70,000 [[Romanian Turks]] to leave the [[Dobruja]] region for Turkey.<ref name="Corni & Stark 2008 loc=55">{{Harvnb|Corni|Stark|2008|loc=55}}.</ref> Between 1935–40, for example, approximately 124,000 Bulgarians and Romanians of Turkish origin emigrated to Turkey, and between 1954-56 about 35,000 Muslim Slavs emigrated from Yugoslavia. More than 800,000 people came to Turkey between 1923 and 1945.<ref>emal Kirişçi, 'Post Second World War Immigration from Balkan Countries to Turkey', New Perspectives on Turkey, Vol. 12, Spring 1995, p. 65.</ref> German and Austrian refugees escaping from Nazism took refugee in Turkey in the 1930s. Around 800 refugees including university professors, scientists, artists and philosophers, sought asylum in Turkey between 1933 and 1945. An additional 160,000 people (mostly [[Albanians]]) immigrated to Turkey after the establishment of [[Communist Yugoslavia]] from 1946 to 1961. Since 1961, immigrants from that Yugoslavia amounted to 50,000 people.<ref name="Heper & Criss 2009 loc=92">{{Harvnb|Heper|Criss|2009|loc=92}}.</ref>

By the 1960s, inhabitants living in the Turkish [[exclave]] of [[Ada Kaleh]] were forced to leave the island when it was destroyed in order to build the [[Iron Gate I Hydroelectric Power Station]], which caused the extinction of the local community through the migration of all individuals to different parts of Romania and Turkey.<ref name="Bercovici 2012 loc=169">{{Harvnb|Bercovici|2012|loc=169}}.</ref>

By 1980, Turkey had admitted approximately 1,300,000 immigrants; 36% came from Bulgaria, 25% from Greece{{Citation needed|date=February 2010}}, 22.1% from Yugoslavia, and 8.9% from Romania. These Balkan immigrants, as well as smaller numbers of Turkic immigrants from Cyprus and the Soviet Union, were granted full citizenship upon their arrival in Turkey. The immigrants were settled primarily in the [[Marmara Region|Marmara]] and [[aegean Region|Aegean]] regions (78%) and in [[Central Anatolia Region|Central Anatolia]] (11.7%).<ref name="Heper & Criss 2009 loc=92" />

=== Expulsions from Cyprus & Cyprus Emergency ===
The [[Cyprus Emergency]] was a [[conflict (process)|conflict]] fought in [[British Cyprus]] between 1955 and 1959. According to Ali Suat Bilge, taking into consideration the mass migrations of 1878, the First World War, the 1920s early Turkish Republican era, and the Second World War, overall, a total of approximately 100,000 Turkish Cypriots had left the island for Turkey between 1878–1945.<ref>{{citation |last=Bilge|first=Ali Suat|year=1961|title= Le Conflit de Chypre et les Chypriotes Turcs|page=5|publisher=Ajans Türk}}</ref> By August 31, 1955, a statement by Turkey's Minister of State and Acting Foreign Minister, [[Fatin Rüştü Zorlu]], at the London Conference on Cyprus, stated that: {{Quotation|Consequently, today [1955] as well, when we take into account the state of the population in Cyprus, it is not sufficient to say, for instance, that 100,000 Turks live there. One should rather say that 100,000 out of 24,000,000 Turks live there and that 300,000 Turkish Cypriots live in various parts of Turkey.<ref name=OPSI>{{cite journal |journal=H.M. Stationery Office|title=The Tripartite Conference on the Eastern Mediterranean and Cyprus held by the Governments of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Greece, and Turkey|year=1955|volume=9594|issue=18|page=22}}</ref>}}

By 2001 the TRNC Ministry of Foreign Affairs estimated that 500,000 Turkish Cypriots were living in Turkey.<ref name="TRNCInfo">{{cite web|author=TRNC Ministry of Foreign Affairs|title=Briefing Notes on the Cyprus Issue|url=http://www.trncinfo.com/tanitma/en/index.asp?sayfa=cms&dmid=0&cmsid=214&ssid=556095671|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927002327/http://www.trncinfo.com/tanitma/en/index.asp?sayfa=cms&dmid=0&cmsid=214&ssid=556095671|url-status=usurped|archive-date=September 27, 2011|access-date=3 October 2010}}</ref>

=== Gulf War ===
[[File:Kurdish refugees travel by truck, Turkey, 1991.jpeg|300px|thumb| [[Iraqi Kurdistan|Iraqi Kurds]] fleeing to Turkey in April 1991, during the [[Gulf War]]]]

Millions of Kurds fled across the mountains to Turkey and Kurdish areas of Iran during the [[Gulf War]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Olson |first=Robert |date=1992 |title=The Kurdish Question in the Aftermath of the Gulf War: Geopolitical and Geostrategic Changes in the Middle East |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3992197 |journal=Third World Quarterly |volume=13 |issue=3 |pages=475–499 |doi=10.1080/01436599208420291 |jstor=3992197 |issn=0143-6597|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

=== Big Excursion, 1988–1994 ===
[[Bulgarian Turks#The "Big Excursion"|The "Big Excursion"]] was, until the [[Refugees of the Syrian civil war in Turkey|Syrian refugee crisis of 2011]], the most recent immigration influx, and primarily concerned [[Turks in Bulgaria|Bulgarian Turks]] and [[Bosniaks|Bosnian]] Muslims.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Haberman |first1=Clyde |last2=Times |first2=Special To the New York |date=1989-08-15 |title=Flow of Turks Leaving Bulgaria Swells to Hundreds of Thousands|work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/08/15/world/flow-of-turks-leaving-bulgaria-swells-to-hundreds-of-thousands.html |access-date=2022-07-26 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=PROGONATI |first=Doç Dr Erjada |date=2017-06-05 |title=A Historical Framework for the Balkan Migrations to Turkey |url=https://www.ankasam.org/a-historical-framework-for-the-balkan-migrations-to-turkey/?lang=en |access-date=2022-07-26 |website=ANKASAM {{!}} Ankara Kriz ve Siyaset Araştırmaları Merkezi}}</ref> In 1989, an estimated 320,000 Bulgarian Turks fled to Turkey to escape a campaign of [[forced assimilation]]. Following the collapse of Communism in Bulgaria, the number of Bulgarian Turks seeking refuge in Turkey declined to fewer than 1,000 per month. In fact, the number of Bulgarian Turks who voluntarily repatriated (125,000) actually exceeded new arrivals from the country. By March 1994, a total of 245,000 Bulgarian Turks had been granted Turkish citizenship. However, Turkey no longer regards Bulgarian Turks as refugees. Beginning in 1994, new entrants to Turkey have been detained and deported. As of December 31, 1994, an estimated 20,000 Bosniaks were living in Turkey, mostly in the Istanbul area. About 2,600 were living in camps, the rest were dispersed in private residences. More recent estimates put the number of Bosniaks in Turkey at 3 to 5 million.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-11-04 |title=Turkish Govt Urged to Speak Out about Bosnia's Political Crisis |url=https://balkaninsight.com/2021/11/04/turkish-govt-urged-to-speak-out-about-bosnias-political-crisis/ |access-date=2022-07-26 |website=Balkan Insight}}</ref>

=== Turkey's migration crisis ===
[[Turkey's migrant crisis]] or Turkey's refugee crisis is a period during the 2010s characterized by high numbers of people arriving in Turkey. As reported by UNHCR in 2018, Turkey is hosting 63.4% of all the refugees (from Syria, Africa, and Afghanistan) in the world. As of 2019, [[Refugees of the Syrian Civil War in Turkey]] (3.6 million) are the highest "registered" refugees. [[Turkey]] has traditionally been a major transit port for illegal immigrants to enter the [[European Union]], but as Turkey has grown in wealth, it now finds itself a major focal point in illegal immigration.<ref>{{cite news|title=A new final destination for illegal immigrants: Turkey|work=[[Today's Zaman]]|url=http://www.todayszaman.com/newsDetail_getNewsById.action?newsId=239329|access-date=2012-04-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160918001211/http://www.todayszaman.com/newsDetail_getNewsById.action?newsId=239329|archive-date=2016-09-18|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="setimes1">{{cite news|title=Turkey struggles with growing illegal immigration|work=Set Times|url=http://turkey.setimes.com/en_GB/articles/ses/articles/reportage/2011/11/01/reportage-01|access-date=2012-04-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120317001839/http://turkey.setimes.com/en_GB/articles/ses/articles/reportage/2011/11/01/reportage-01|archive-date=2012-03-17|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.kaee.uni-goettingen.de/mapping-istanbul/project/strategies-within-and-beyond-fortress-europe/|title=(Transit-)Migration : Mapping Global City Istanbul|website=kaee.uni-goettingen.de|access-date=2016-09-04}}</ref>

As of August 2023, the number of refugees of the Syrian civil war in Turkey was estimated to be 3,307,882 people. The number of Syrians had decreased by 205,894 people since the beginning of the year.<ref>{{cite web |title=Number of Syrians in Turkey July 2023 – Refugees Association |url=https://multeciler.org.tr/eng/number-of-syrians-in-turkey/ |website=multeciler.org.tr}}</ref>

As of May 2023, approximately 96,000 Ukrainian [[refugees of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine]] have sought refuge in Turkey.<ref>{{cite web |title=Uncertain Futures: Ukrainian Refugees in Turkey, One Year On |url=https://pulitzercenter.org/stories/uncertain-futures-ukrainian-refugees-turkey-one-year |website=pulitzercenter.org |access-date=11 May 2023}}</ref> In 2022, nearly 100 000 Russian citizens migrated to Turkey, becoming the first in the list of foreigners who moved to Turkey, meaning an increase of more than 218% from 2021.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Airport |first1=Turkish Airlines planes are parked at the new Istanbul |title=Russian migration to Turkey spikes by 218% in aftermath of Ukraine war - Al-Monitor: Independent, trusted coverage of the Middle East |url=https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2023/07/russian-migration-turkey-spikes-218-aftermath-ukraine-war|website=al-monitor.com|date=24 July 2023}}</ref>

== Citizenship ==
{{see also|Turkish nationality law}}Turkish nationality law is based primarily on the principle of ''[[jus sanguinis]]''. Children who are born to a [[Turkish women|Turkish mother]] or a [[Turkish people|Turkish]] father (in or out of marriage) are [[Turkey|Turkish]] citizens from birth. The intention to renounce Turkish citizenship (or acquire citizenship from another state) is submitted in Turkey by a petition to the highest administrative official in the concerned person's place of residence, and when overseas to the [[Diplomatic missions of Turkey|Turkish consulate]]. Documents processed by these authorities are forwarded to the [[Ministry of Interior (Turkey)]] for appropriate action.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Turkish Citizenship Law |url=https://www.unhcr.org/refworld/pdfid/4a9d204d2.pdf |website=UNHCR}}</ref>

=== Turkey Citizenship by Investment Program ===
In 2016, Turkey implemented a Golden Visa program that allows foreign investors to obtain a [[Turkish passport]] typically within six months.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Turkey Citizenship by Investment - Turkey Golden Visa |url=https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/turkey-golden-visa/ |access-date=2022-07-26 |website=SchengenVisaInfo.com |language=en}}</ref> Citizenship can be acquired after a formal citizenship application along with an investment requirement, such as purchasing [[real estate]] worth at least $400,000, purchasing $500,000 worth of [[Government bond|government bonds]] and holding them for at least three years or making a capital investment of at least $500,000, among other options.<ref name=":0" /> The relevant law governing the program was amended on 13 May 2022 to raise the capital requirements for real estate investment to $400,000 USD from the previous $250,000.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Budak |first1=Hergüner Bilgen Özeke-S. Aslı |last2=Gül |first2=Serkan |date=2022-06-13 |title=Amendment to acquisition of Turkish citizenship by investment |url=https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=f2fd09a4-7edd-4a2a-aed4-377a9375de4d |access-date=2022-07-26 |website=Lexology |language=en}}</ref>{{Expand section|date=September 2019}}

== Protections ==
Turkey is part of the executive committee of [[United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees|UNHCR]] and a member state of the IOM.

Conventions that are applicable in Turkey:
*[[United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees]],
*[[Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons]],
*United Nations [[Convention on the Rights of the Child]] 
*[[International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families]]
*[[Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children]]
*[[Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings]]
Conventions that are not applicable in Turkey:
*International Labour Organization (ILO) [[Migration for Employment Convention]]
*United Nations [[Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness]], 
*[[Migrant Workers (Supplementary Provisions) Convention, 1975]]

=== Regulations ===
see: [[Law on Foreigners and International Protection and the Temporary Protection]]

Regulations on refugees, asylum seekers, transit migrants available from the website:<ref>Law on Foreigners and International Protection and the Temporary Protection, 2014, http://www.goc.gov.tr/files/files/eng_minikanun_5_son.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181024205803/http://www.goc.gov.tr/files/files/eng_minikanun_5_son.pdf |date=2018-10-24 }}</ref>

=== Bi-and multi-lateral dialog ===
{{update section|date=March 2020}}
Turkey was chair of the [[Global Forum on Migration and Development]]. Turkey hosted the [[World Humanitarian Summit]] in 2016. Turkey participates in bilateral migration negotiations, discussions and consultations, in particular with EU member states. Examples are:
*Budapest Process<ref>{{Cite web |title=Budapest Process |url=https://www.iom.int/budapest-process-0 |access-date=2022-07-26 |website=International Organization for Migration |language=en}}</ref>
*Prague Process<ref>{{Cite web |title=Countries - Turkey - Prague Process |url=https://www.pragueprocess.eu/en/countries/569-turkey |access-date=2022-07-26 |website=www.pragueprocess.eu}}</ref>
*Almaty Process<ref>{{Cite web |title=Members and Governance |url=https://www.unhcr.org/centralasia/en/members-and-governance |access-date=2022-07-26 |website=UNHCR Central Asia |language=en}}</ref>
*Bali Process.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Membership {{!}} Bali Process |url=https://www.baliprocess.net/membership/ |access-date=2022-07-26 |website=www.baliprocess.net}}</ref>

Turkey and the EU have launched a dialogue on visas, mobility and migration. After the [[2015 G20 Antalya summit]] held in November 2015 there was a new push forward in Turkey's European Union accession negotiations, including a goal of lifting the visa requirement for Turkish citizens travelling in the [[Schengen Area]] of the [[European Union]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Pence|first1=Anne|last2=Utku|first2=Sinan|title=Hosting G20 Leaders is Opportunity for Turkey on Growth and Stability|journal=The National Law Review|date=16 November 2015|url=http://www.natlawreview.com/article/hosting-g20-leaders-opportunity-turkey-growth-and-stability|access-date=28 June 2016}}</ref> After the 2015 G20 Antalya summit, the EU welcomed the Turkey's commitment to accelerate the fulfilment of the Visa Roadmap benchmarks set forth by participating EU member states.<ref>{{cite web|title=European Commission - Statement Meeting of heads of state or government with Turkey - EU-Turkey statement, 29/11/2015|url=http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_STATEMENT-15-6194_en.htm?locale=en|access-date=28 June 2016}}</ref> A joint action plan was drafted with the [[European Commission]] which developed a roadmap with certain benchmarks for the elimination of the visa requirement.<ref>{{cite news|last1=De Ruyt|first1=Jean|title=The EU – Turkey summit of 29 November 2015: A "Re-Energised" Relationship|url=http://www.natlawreview.com/article/eu-turkey-summit-29-november-2015-re-energised-relationship|access-date=28 June 2016|work=The National Law Review|publisher=Covington & Burling LLP|date=2 December 2015}}</ref> In May 2016, the [[European Commission]] said that Turkey had met most of the 72 criteria needed for a visa waiver, and it invited EU legislative institutions of the bloc to endorse the move for visa-free travel by Turkish citizens within the Schengen Area by June 30, 2016. The [[European Parliament]], would have to approve the visa waiver for it to enter into practice and Turkey must fulfil the final five criteria.<ref>{{cite news|title=EU commission backs Turkish citizens' visa-free travel|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/05/eu-commission-backs-turkish-citizens-visa-free-travel-160504135013671.html|access-date=28 June 2016|work=Aljazeera|date=4 May 2016}}</ref> Turkey has a number of formal bilateral agreements with sending/receiving countries. It currently has bilateral social security agreements with 28 countries bilateral labour agreements with 12 countries, including Germany, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, France and Sweden.

=== Visa System ===
{{see also|Visa policy of Turkey}}
Turkey developed an E-ikamet (E-residence) system, as well as a system to monitor the visa process. The [[electronic visa]] application system is integrated with the Police Intranet System, PolNet. The Directorate-General of Migration Management of Turkey (DGMM) institutional database GöçNet (Migration Network) is connected to the PolNet (Police Network) database.

=== Drugs-Crime-Sexual exploitation of immigrants ===
An inter-agency national commission responsible for countering human trafficking. Turkey collects and publishes information annually on counter-trafficking activities. Drugs-Crime-Sexual exploitation category had 183 victims in 2016, Syrians (36), followed by Kyrgyz (33), Georgians (23), and Uzbeks (16); the other 73 victims were Indonesia, Moldova, Morocco, Pakistan, and Turkmenistan aggregated.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Refugees |first1=United Nations High Commissioner for |title=2017 Trafficking in Persons Report - Turkey |url=https://www.refworld.org/docid/5959ec373.html |website=Refworld |language=en}}</ref>

== Immigration rate ==
{{Expand section|date=September 2019}}
Immigration to Turkey from the Balkans:<ref name="ReferenceA">Mustafa Yakar. ''The population growth and distribution of the foreignborns in Turkey''{{ISSN|1303-5134}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Country
! 1923–1949
! 1950–1959
! 1960–1969
! 1970–1979
! 1980–1989
! 1990–1999
! 2000–2007
! class="unsortable"|TOTAL
|- 
| [[Bulgaria]]
| 220,085
| 154,473
| 2,582
| 113,562
| 225,892
| 74,564
| 138
| 791,296
|-
| [[Greece]]
| 394,753
| 14,787
| 2,081
| 0
| 4
| 0
| 0
| 408,625
|- 
| [[Yugoslavia]]
| 117,212
| 138,585
| 42,512
| 2,940
| 2,550
| 2,159
| 1,548
| 307,506
|- 
| [[Romania]]
| 121,339
| 5
| 259
| 147
| 686
| 126
| 2
| 122,564
|- 
| Others
| 10,109
| 4,222
| 1,047
|139
| 4,457
| 773
| 49
| 20,796
|- class="sortbottom"
| TOTAL
| 825,022
| 312,072
| 48,481
| 16,788
| 233,589
| 77,622
| 1,731
| 1,650,787
|}

== Immigration categories ==
{{Expand section|date=September 2019}}

=== Foreign-born population ===
{{update|section|date=January 2020}}
Foreign-born population of Turkey:<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref>Migration Statistics. Available from www.turkstat.gov.tr/PreIstatistikTablo.do?istab_id=167 </ref>
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Place of birth
! 1955
! 1970
! 1990
! 2000
! 2015<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.turkstat.gov.tr/PreTablo.do?alt_id=1059|title=..::Welcome to Turkish Statistical Institute(TurkStat)'s Web Pages::..|website=Turkstat.gov.tr|access-date=8 November 2017}}</ref>
|- 
| {{flag|Bulgaria}}
| 295,917
| 255,147
| 462,767
| 480,817
| 378,658
|- 
| {{flag|Greece}}
| 257,035
| 201,123
| 101,752
| 59,217
| 26,928
|- 
| {{flag|Yugoslavia}}
| 133,762
| 254,790
| 183,499
| 
| 
|- 
| {{flag|Romania}}
| 68,112
| 60,398
| 
| 20,736
| 9,512
|- 
|{{flag|Macedonia}}
| 
| 
| 
| 31,515
| 43,400
|- 
|{{flag|Germany}}
| 
| 
| 176,820
| 273,535
| 263,318
|- 
| {{flag|France}}
| 
| 
| 10,280
| 15,976
| 28,507
|- 
| {{flag|Netherlands}}
| 
| 
| 9,916
| 
| 32,345
|- 
| {{flag|United Kingdom}}
| 
| 
| 
| 18,914
| 32,140
|- 
| {{flag|United States}}
| 5,997
| 17,179
| 12,868
| 
| 24,026
|- 
| {{flag|Russia}}
| 29,151
| 17,825
| 11,430
| 19,856
| 34,486
|- 
| {{flag|Syria}}
| 7,156
| 
| 
| 
| 76,413
|- 
| {{flag|Iraq}}
| 
| 
| 27,303
| 
| 97,528
|- 
| {{flag|Albania}}
| 6,639
| 
| 
| 
| 2,488
|- 
| {{flag|Iran}}
| 5,950
| 6,283
| 10,463
| 
| 36,226
|- 
| {{flag|Algeria}}
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 35,789
|- 
| {{flag|Saudi Arabia}}
| 4,109
| 7,886
| 
| 
| 14,573
|-
| {{flag|Cyprus}}/{{flag|Northern Cyprus}}
| 
| 6,378
| 
| 
| 20,402
|-
| {{flag|Azerbaijan}}
| 
| 
| 
| 16,787
| 52,836
|- 
| {{flag|Uzbekistan}}
|
| 
| 
| 
| 36,083
|- 
| {{flag|Islamic Republic of Afghanistan}}
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 38,692
|-
| {{flag|Belgium}}
| 
| 
|
|
| 26,531
|- 
| {{flag|Georgia}}
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 25,019
|-
| {{flag|Turkmenistan}}
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 24,937
|-
| {{flag|Kazakhstan}}
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 21,546
|- 
|{{flag|Ukraine}}
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 20,547
|- 
| {{flag|Austria}}
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 18,609
|- 
| {{flag|Kyrgyzstan}}
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 17,235
|- 
| {{flag|Libya}}
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 16,442
|- 
| {{flag|Moldova}}
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 13,472
|- 
| {{flag|Switzerland}}
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 13,453
|- 
| {{flag|China}}
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 12,426
|- 
| {{flag|Serbia}} and {{flag|Montenegro}}
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 9,201
|- 
|TOTAL
| 846,042
| 889,170
| 1,133,152
| 1,260,530
| 1,592,437
|}

== Sources of immigration ==
=== Armenians === 
{{See also|Armenians in Turkey}}
In 2010, there were between 22,000 and 25,000 Armenian citizens living illegally in [[Istanbul]] alone, according to Turkish officials.<ref name="illegal">Marianna Grigoryan and Anahit Hayrapetyan. [http://www.eurasianet.org/node/64116 Turkey: Armenian Illegal Migrants Put National Grievances Aside for Work]. ''Eurasianet''. 2 September 2011. Retrieved 8 September 2011.</ref>

=== Syrians ===
{{Expand section|date=October 2020}} 
{{See also|Syrians in Turkey}}
[[Refugees of the Syrian Civil War in Turkey]] are the [[Syrian refugees]] originated from [[Syrian Civil War]], Turkey is hosting over 3.6 million (2019 number) "registered" refugees and delivered aid reaching $30 billion (total between 2011–2018) on refugee assistance. The large scale return to Syria uncertain (unending conflict), Turkey has focused on how to manage their presence, more registered refugees than any other country, in Turkish society by addressing their legal status, basic needs, employment, education, and impact on local communities.

=== Russians ===
{{See also|Russians in Turkey}}

==See also==
*[[Republic of Turkey]]
*[[Turkish diaspora]]
*[[List of countries by immigrant population]]
*[[List of countries by foreign-born population]]
*[[List of sovereign states and dependent territories by fertility rate]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
{{refbegin|2}}
* {{cite book |last=Bercovici |first=Monica |year=2012 |chapter=La deuxième vie d'Ada-Kaleh ou Le potentiel culturel de la mémoire d'une île |title=Migration In, From, And To Southeastern Europe: Historical and Cultural Aspects |editor1-last=Roth |editor1-first=Klaus |editor2-last=Hayden |editor2-first=Robert |publisher=LIT Verlag Münster |isbn=978-3643108951}}
*{{citation |last=Çaǧatay|first=Soner|year=2006|title=Islam, Secularism, and Nationalism in Modern Turkey: Who is a Turk?|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=0415384583}}.
*{{citation |last=Clark|first=Bruce|year=2007|title=Twice a Stranger: How Mass Expulsion Forged Modern Greece and Turkey|publisher=Granta|isbn=978-1862079243}}.
*{{citation |last1=Corni|first1=Gustavo|last2=Stark|first2=Tamás|year=2008|title=Peoples on the Move: Population Transfers and Ethnic Cleansing Policies during World War II and its Aftermath|publisher=Berg Press|isbn=978-1845208240}}.
*{{citation |last1=Heper|first1=Metin|last2=Criss|first2=Bilge|year=2009|title=Historical Dictionary of Turkey|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0810860650}}.
*{{citation |last=Karpat|first=Kemal H.|year=2004|chapter=The Turks in America: Historical Background: From Ottoman to Turkish Immigration|title=Studies on Turkish Politics and Society: Selected Articles and Essays|publisher=BRILL|isbn=90-04-13322-4}}.
*{{citation |last=Nevzat|first=Altay|year=2005|title=Nationalism Amongst the Turks of Cyprus: The First wave |url= http://herkules.oulu.fi/isbn9514277511/isbn9514277511.pdf|publisher=Oulu University Press|isbn= 9514277503}}
*{{citation |last=Poulton|first=Hugh|year=1997|chapter=Islam, Ethnicity and State in the Contemporary Balkans|title=Muslim Identity and the Balkan State|editor1-last=Poulton|editor1-first=Hugh|editor2-last=Taji-Farouki|editor2-first=Suha|publisher=C. Hurst & Co. Publishers|isbn=1850652767}}.
* {{cite book |last=St. John-Jones |first=L.W. |year=1983 |title=Population of Cyprus: Demographic Trends and Socio-economic Influences |publisher=Maurice Temple Smith Ltd |isbn=0851172326}}
* {{cite book |last=Whitman |first=Lois |year=1990 |title=Destroying ethnic identity: the Turks of Greece |publisher=Human Rights Watch |isbn=0-929692-70-5}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
*{{citation|last=Karpat|first=Kemal H.|year=2001|title=The Politicization of Islam: Reconstructing Identity, State, Faith, and Community in the Late Ottoman State|url=http://www.cui-zy.cn/Recommended/Nature&glabolization/The_Politicization_of_Islam__Reconstructing_Identity__State__Faith__and_Community_in_the_Late_Ottoman_State__Studies_in_Middle_Eastern_History_.pdf|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=0-19-513618-7|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120508012110/http://www.cui-zy.cn/Recommended/Nature%26glabolization/The_Politicization_of_Islam__Reconstructing_Identity__State__Faith__and_Community_in_the_Late_Ottoman_State__Studies_in_Middle_Eastern_History_.pdf|archive-date=2012-05-08}}.
{{refend}}

{{Turkey topics}}
{{Asia topic|Immigration to}}
{{Immigration to Europe}}
{{Immigration to Turkey}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Immigration To Turkey}}
[[Category:Immigration to Turkey| ]]