International Refugee Law and Turkey

Refugee law as an element of international law dates back to the earliest times of human history. The cohabitation of different people brings about social pressure, violence, persecution. These social phenomena call for regulations in international law for the remedy of the people injured. Foundations and institutions arising out of legislative works directed towards this area constitute the basis of contemporary refugee law. Grave human rights violations during and after the Second World War as well as global population movements put refugee law on the agenda of the United Nations. At the international level the main instruments related to refugee law consist of the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees as well as other international instruments dealing indirectly with the subject.

In respect of refugee law, Turkey has always witnessed major population movements due to its geographical position, albeit the national Turkish legislations related to refugees law did not have a municipal law about the subject matter for so long as the ratification of the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and the participation to the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees. During this period, solutions to the refugee problem by separate rules of various legislations become conspicuous. Since these legislations caused some practical problems within the scope of the pre-accession period to the European Union, the works for drawing up a suitable applicable refugee law have already begun and the Foreigners and International Protection Code numbered 6458 was published in the Official Gazette on April 11, 2013. In this article, first of all, the development process and basic principles of international refugee law are emphasized by taking into account the characteristics of the worldwide refugee movements in the historical process which lead to progress in international refugee law. In the ongoing section, in the light of all these informations, Turkey’s practice in this issue is analyzed.