Deconstructing Turkey’s “Open Door ” Policy towards Refugees from Syria1 BURCU TOGRAL KOCA

Turkey has followed an “open door ” policy towards refugees from Syria since the March 2011 outbreak of the devastating civil war in Syria. This “liberal ” policy has been accompanied by a “humanitarian discourse ” regarding the admission and accommodation of the refugees. In such a context, Turkey’s efforts have been widely praised and well-received both inside and outside the country. However, the article argues that, the stated “open door ” approach and its limitations are not critically examined as needed. The assertion is, here, refugees fleeing Syria have been administered in a security framework embedding exclusionary, militarized and technologized border practices; in other words, they have been securitized. Drawing on the critical border studies, the article deconstructs these practices and the way they are violating the principle of non-refoulement in particular and human rights of refugees in general