Governance of the Syrian Refugee Crisis in the EU and Turkey: Diplomacy, Cooperation, Identity Construction and the Nexus of Politics and Legal Practices

Abstract

Recent Syrian refugee crisis has put neighboring Turkey and the EU under unprecedented strain and presented a number of challenges on many fronts. In particular, it has raised critical questions regarding the governance of the crisis. These include among others issues like the use of diplomacy, identity construction through discourses and practices of migration policy, the interplay between the political practices and the existing legal framework of the status of refugees as well as opportunities and challenges of cooperation between Turkey and the EU in the management of the crisis. This panel on the governance of the Syrian refugee crisis will examine and discuss diplomatic practices of the European External Action Service (EEAS) as an institution since Lisbon with regards to the major crises, in particular the Arab Spring and the Syrian refugees; assess the discursive structures of EU’s normative approach and identity in connection with its migration policy; analyze the impact of securitizing/insecuritizing discourses and practices on the legal/normative framework for refugees; and explore the difficulties and possibilities of cooperation between the EU and Turkey in migration management. By analyzing the issue of migration in general, and the Syrian refugee crisis in particular, from a multitude of disciplinary perspectives and methodologies ranging from political history to sociology and international relations, and from Foucauldian perspective to securitization and rationalist empirical approach, this panel aims to contribute to the broader discussion of new challenges, new ideas and new practices in the EU’s International Relations.

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