Demographic Anxiety in Turkey
Migration, Identity and Politics
Offers one of the first systematic and comprehensive analyses of refugee politics in Turkey
- Provides a cross-regional perspective on migration crises in both the Middle East and Europe, detailing how Turkey has managed substantial migratory pressures originating from each region
- Analyses both immigration to and emigration from Turkey, offering an integrated discussion of how these simultaneous processes interact and shape public debates and policy responses
- Employs a rigorously defined mixed-methods approach, integrating quantitative data with qualitative sources
Over the past decade, Turkey has witnessed unprecedented waves of migration from the Middle East, as well as from neighbouring regions such as the Caucasus and Eastern Europe. This book offers the first systematic and comprehensive analysis of these public and political discourses, including the collective anxieties – particularly demographic anxiety – and state policies that have emerged in response. It deftly integrates insights from migration studies, ontological security theory and securitisation literature to illuminate public opinion, societal attitudes and governmental approaches towards refugees and migrants. Not only does this book provide a cross-regional perspective on the migration crises of the Middle East and Europe, but it also situates the Turkish case within broader global-comparative debates. It is an examination of how Turkey has navigated significant migratory pressures in ways that resonate with, and diverge from, patterns observed worldwide.
Table of Contents
List of Figures
About the Authors
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
1. Introduction: Migration and the Age of Demographic Anxiety
2. Theoretical Frameworks and Methodology
3. Reconfiguring the Nation: Transformations in Identity and Turkish Nationalism from Atatürk to Erdoğan
4. History of Migration in Turkey
5. From the Arab Spring to the Refugee Influx: Repositioning Turkey in the New Middle East
6. EU-Turkey Relations in the Refugee Crisis
7. Arabs In, Turks Out: Emigrations from Erdoğan's Turkey
8. Refugees, Far Right and New Electoral Dynamics
9. Conclusion: The Age of Demographic Anxiety in Turkey and Beyond
Bibliography
Index
