IMPACTS OVER THE TURKEY OF THE EU PROGRESS REPORT WITHIN THE SCOPE OF IRREGULAR MIGRATION

Abstract

Every year, tens of thousands of irregular migrants try to cross into European countries via Turkey. The phenomenon of irregular migration has been one of the biggest problems of Turkey and especially of the European Union. Turkey is seen as a gateway to Europe by Asian and African migrants who want to have better living standards due to its geographical location. While Turkey was  transit country from the 1960s to the early 2000s, it became also destination country after the 2000s as well as a transit country Each year, the European Union issues progress reports for each candidate country, showing the extent to which the country has complied with the Copenhagen criteria in various areas and making recommendations. Although these progress reports are not legally binding for the candidate country, they are of serious importance for the entry of the candidate country into the Union. These reports for Turkey started in 1998 and have been organized every year until today. In this study, the criticisms brought under the heading of irregular migration in the progress reports prepared by the EU for Turkey by using qualitative research method were analyzed and the effects of these criticisms on Turkey were discussed and the measures to be taken were explained.