Inclusive exclusion? The regulation and experience of citizenship in a space of irregular migration in Istanbul

This chapter examines the changing migratory context of Turkey and growing policy concerns over managing 'illegal' migrations. It introduces the case of Kumkapi, an inner-city locality of Istanbul, which in recent decades has become a hub for a growing number of irregular migrants of highly diverse background. The chapter discusses some of the factors leading to this emergence, followed by an exploration of variations in the ways that national efforts to regulate migrant 'illegality' are experienced at the local level. Policy developments in Turkey clearly reflect that an increasing significance is being placed on the control of 'illegal' migrations. The chapter explores how the legal dimensions of citizenship, particularly in terms of rights to residence and employment, are regulated and experienced in urban spaces where migrant populations dominate and uncertain conditions of being 'illegal' is a prevailing facet of everyday life. It also examines citizenship from the perspective of foreigners' stratified rights to residence and employment, rather than full membership