Conference Presentations by Hakkı Onur Arıner
The "Law on Foreigners and International Protection" represents the most current and concrete sta... more The "Law on Foreigners and International Protection" represents the most current and concrete stage of immigration policy reform in Turkey, which initially started as a political desire to appease the European Union in the accession process, but which has, together with the fall of support for EU membership, been justified through the pragmatic desire to compete with the EU in "managing" migration, deemed necessary due to increasingly frequent prognostications of Turkey becoming a destination country for migrants. While the wording of the Law reflects the heavy influence of the EU Acquis, whether Turkey will be an accomplice (or rival) to the EU in "externalizing" migration and shunning unskilled migrants, or whether it will be able to set up a fair system balancing the interests of the Turkish Government and migrants alike, will depend on the implementation of the Law, which was drafted to be conducive to either line of action.
Thesis Chapters by Hakkı Onur Arıner
This thesis contends that human rights advocates’ dismissal of attempts by the state in Turkey to... more This thesis contends that human rights advocates’ dismissal of attempts by the state in Turkey to institutionalize human rights since the 1990s as insincere or as efforts to delimit and control human rights advocacy is informed by the dominant historical narrative that posits a center-periphery dichotomy as key to explaining Turkey’s democratization process, as well as the actual experiences of the state’s failure to tolerate autonomous human rights institutions. This dismissal is contested on theoretical and practical grounds. A case is made in support of seeing actors as manifestation of past and present relations acted out in specific contexts and thus eschewing characterizations across space and time that reify social actors. In-depth interviews with representatives of the state and civil society organizations in 17 provinces, on the other hand, reveals that despite state selectivity, women’s human rights advocates in the East have managed to turn Provincial and Human Rights Boards into local platforms for deliberation and networking, positively contributing to the protection of women’s human rights. The thesis argues that human rights advocates should support the continued operation of the Boards and its contribution to the functioning of the Human Rights Institution of Turkey due to its long experience of bringing a diverse set of actors together in dealing with individual applications at the local level.
This thesis aims to problematize the assumptions behind the glorification of civil society as a n... more This thesis aims to problematize the assumptions behind the glorification of civil society as a new and progressive actor in politics along with their political and ideological implications. It is argued that the assumptions behind the glorification of civil society are conceptually misleading and politically disabling. The portrayal of “civil society” or “global civil society” as a homogenous as well as inherently democratic and peaceful sphere that is opposed to an equally homogenous power seeking state has emerged as a necessity for attributing emancipatory meanings to the concept. One of the most important implications of this conceptualization has been the taming of politics since the state, which is conventionally understood as the main site for political struggle, has apparently been devalued as a respectable political target to be fought over. Interestingly, the taming of politics through a glorified civil society has become a popular discourse shared and reproduced by both the New Right and certain sections of the Left. The thesis sheds light to the development of such a discourse at the global level as well as in Turkey within the context of the rise and spread of neoliberal globalization.
Papers by Hakkı Onur Arıner
EU Reponses to the Large-Scale Refugee Displacement from Ukraine: An Analysis on the Temporary Protection Directive and its Implications for the Future EU Asylum Policy, 2023
This thesis contends that human rights advocates’ dismissal of attempts by the state in Turkey to... more This thesis contends that human rights advocates’ dismissal of attempts by the state in Turkey to institutionalize human rights since the 1990s as insincere or as efforts to delimit and control human rights advocacy is informed by the dominant historical narrative that posits a center-periphery dichotomy as key to explaining Turkey’s democratization process, as well as the actual experiences of the state’s failure to tolerate autonomous human rights institutions. This dismissal is contested on theoretical and practical grounds. A case is made in support of seeing actors as manifestation of past and present relations acted out in specific contexts and thus eschewing characterizations across space and time that reify social actors. In-depth interviews with representatives of the state and civil society organizations in 17 provinces, on the other hand, reveals that despite state selectivity, women’s human rights advocates in the East have managed to turn Provincial and Human Rights Boa...
International Journal of Refugee Law, 2023
The inclusion of asylum seekers within the scope of European Union (EU) readmission agreements si... more The inclusion of asylum seekers within the scope of European Union (EU) readmission agreements signed with third countries remains contentious, especially considering that these agreements are instruments for removing irregular migrants to countries of origin or transit and do not regulate the responsibility for assessing asylum claims. Yet, the expulsion of asylum seekers from the EU to third countries is realized through a procedure whereby Member States are allowed the possibility of labelling third countries ‘safe’ according to criteria set out in EU law. The applications of asylum seekers arriving from safe third countries to the jurisdiction of the EU are deemed ‘inadmissible’, thus absolving Member States from assessing the applications on merit and enabling States to include asylum seekers within the scope of readmission agreements as irregular migrants. This article contends that the unique features of the EU–Turkey Readmission Agreement do not allow this practice in light of the main principles of international law, even assuming that Turkey can be labelled a ‘safe third country’. These features include treaty provisions obligating the sending State to make every effort to remove persons to their countries of origin, as well as Turkey’s explicitly declared position during the signing of the Agreement, which interprets the scope of the Agreement as not including asylum seekers. However, readmission of asylum seekers has taken place between the EU and Turkey through the EU–Turkey Statement of 18 March 2016 on the legal basis of the bilateral Greece–Turkey Readmission Agreement. It is argued that the EU’s attempts to institute the EU–Turkey Readmission Agreement as the legal basis for readmission of asylum seekers are destined to fail, due to the legal impossibility stemming from the said unique treaty provisions, as well as the absence of any indication from Turkey that it intends to change its initial official position in this regard.
The Law on Foreigners and International Protection was ratified by the Turkish Parliament on 4 Ap... more The Law on Foreigners and International Protection was ratified by the Turkish Parliament on 4 April 2013. It has been commended as a first step in drastically changing Turkey’s stance on migration management by intergovernmental organizations, civil society organizations, and academicians, who have been heavily involved in its drafting process. The law promises to abandon the hitherto strictly securitized approach towards migration management, favoring instead a balanced emphasis on international human rights standards for all groups of migrants alongside national interests, generally framed as the curbing of irregular immigration and the attraction of highly skilled immigrants. This paper tries to elucidate the legal and institutional mechanisms that the Law provides Turkey in its efforts to reach this goal.
Turkish Migration Studies Group, 2014
The Law on Foreigners and International Protection was ratified by the Turkish Parliament on 4 Ap... more The Law on Foreigners and International Protection was ratified by the Turkish Parliament on 4 April 2013. It has been commended as a first step in drastically changing Turkey’s stance on migration management by intergovernmental organizations, civil society organizations, and academicians, who have been heavily involved in its drafting process.
The law promises to abandon the hitherto strictly securitized approach towards migration management, favoring instead a balanced emphasis on international human rights standards for all groups of migrants alongside national interests, generally framed as the curbing of irregular immigration and the attraction of highly skilled immigrants. This paper tries to elucidate the legal and institutional mechanisms that the Law provides Turkey in its efforts to reach this goal.
Books by Hakkı Onur Arıner
GIZ PEP REPORT, 2022
Coordination among the very large number of actors implementing projects dedicated to or includin... more Coordination among the very large number of actors implementing projects dedicated to or including activities for promoting social cohesion has become imperative in light of the findings from several national surveys that have shown an increase in social distance among the
host community and the Syrian community, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, its negative impact on the economy and the social distancing measures taken against it. The GIZ SRHC cluster, under the initiative of its largest program (Promotion of Economic Prospects), aimed to support this coordination process with a series of structured roundtables with representatives from relevant stakeholders working in different sectors of the refugee response at both the national and local levels. The GIZ set out with the general objectives of creating a mutual understanding on the contours of social cohesion in different sectors of the refugee response
by identifying common solutions to common problems faced by different types of implementing actors, and building a basis for future coordination and cooperation among all stakeholders. Towards this end, the topics
of the roundtables were selected so as to ensure the representation of different sectors of the refugee response, the different types of actors involved as well as the different levels in which these actors operate in
Turkey. Following a kick-off meeting, topics included the
promotion of social cohesion:
:: in the education and youth sector,
:: in the livelihoods sector through the work of chambers
of industry and commerce,
:: in the protection sector through the work of civil society
organizations,
:: through the work of municipalities.
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Conference Presentations by Hakkı Onur Arıner
Thesis Chapters by Hakkı Onur Arıner
Papers by Hakkı Onur Arıner
The law promises to abandon the hitherto strictly securitized approach towards migration management, favoring instead a balanced emphasis on international human rights standards for all groups of migrants alongside national interests, generally framed as the curbing of irregular immigration and the attraction of highly skilled immigrants. This paper tries to elucidate the legal and institutional mechanisms that the Law provides Turkey in its efforts to reach this goal.
Books by Hakkı Onur Arıner
host community and the Syrian community, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, its negative impact on the economy and the social distancing measures taken against it. The GIZ SRHC cluster, under the initiative of its largest program (Promotion of Economic Prospects), aimed to support this coordination process with a series of structured roundtables with representatives from relevant stakeholders working in different sectors of the refugee response at both the national and local levels. The GIZ set out with the general objectives of creating a mutual understanding on the contours of social cohesion in different sectors of the refugee response
by identifying common solutions to common problems faced by different types of implementing actors, and building a basis for future coordination and cooperation among all stakeholders. Towards this end, the topics
of the roundtables were selected so as to ensure the representation of different sectors of the refugee response, the different types of actors involved as well as the different levels in which these actors operate in
Turkey. Following a kick-off meeting, topics included the
promotion of social cohesion:
:: in the education and youth sector,
:: in the livelihoods sector through the work of chambers
of industry and commerce,
:: in the protection sector through the work of civil society
organizations,
:: through the work of municipalities.
The law promises to abandon the hitherto strictly securitized approach towards migration management, favoring instead a balanced emphasis on international human rights standards for all groups of migrants alongside national interests, generally framed as the curbing of irregular immigration and the attraction of highly skilled immigrants. This paper tries to elucidate the legal and institutional mechanisms that the Law provides Turkey in its efforts to reach this goal.
host community and the Syrian community, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, its negative impact on the economy and the social distancing measures taken against it. The GIZ SRHC cluster, under the initiative of its largest program (Promotion of Economic Prospects), aimed to support this coordination process with a series of structured roundtables with representatives from relevant stakeholders working in different sectors of the refugee response at both the national and local levels. The GIZ set out with the general objectives of creating a mutual understanding on the contours of social cohesion in different sectors of the refugee response
by identifying common solutions to common problems faced by different types of implementing actors, and building a basis for future coordination and cooperation among all stakeholders. Towards this end, the topics
of the roundtables were selected so as to ensure the representation of different sectors of the refugee response, the different types of actors involved as well as the different levels in which these actors operate in
Turkey. Following a kick-off meeting, topics included the
promotion of social cohesion:
:: in the education and youth sector,
:: in the livelihoods sector through the work of chambers
of industry and commerce,
:: in the protection sector through the work of civil society
organizations,
:: through the work of municipalities.