Migrants' uncertainties versus states' insecurities: transit migration in Turkey

Abstract

Since the early 1980s, Turkey has become an important route for so-called transit migration flows in the south-east of Europe. People from different parts of the South and East have begun to use the Turkish peninsula as a bridge to the West and the North, where they hope to find better living conditions. The number of such people is unknown as there are no figures available for ‘irregular transit migration’ passing through Turkey, which is an expected result, given the murky nature of this phenomenon.