After the demonstrations against the Assad regime, which broke out in March 2011, Syria fell into civil war; and consequently a tremendous and dramatic human flow to the neighboring countries occurred. The number of the people who left Syria, a country that had a population of 22.4 million, has been over 4,5 million. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) defined the event as “the biggest migration flow in late history”. One of the most important destinations of the crisis is Turkey with its 911 km border with Syria. By October 2015, the number of refugees in Turkey has reached 2,250,000. The Turkish government has repeatedly stated that “the borders are open for the guests who flee from war and torture”, and provided incoming Syrians with “temporary protection” from the beginning. Despite of all internal pressure, social anxiety, security concerns and financial burden, the government has continued its policy. One of the most important issues concerning Syrians in Turkey is “social acceptance and integration”. The crisis affects Turkish society for social, political, economic, psychological, and especially security reasons. The “open door” policy of Turkey implemented in accordance with international law has resulted in a serious risk regarding the level and duration of the residence of Syrians. Although this puts the Turkish society at test, the process has been quite successful. Since 2015, the EU countries were also directly affected by the problem of Syrian refugees. However, the EU has thus far failed to develop a common policy on this issue. Syrian refugee issue is now not only a problem for Turkey and other neighboring countries, but also has become a common problem for all Europe. This paper aims to analyze the need to develop cooperation and elaborate on the opportunities for formulating common policies between the EU and Turkey.
