This is the first paper of its kind to look at policy perspectives on return migration in Turkey, based on an analysis of official documents and a series of interviews with Turkish authorities, government officials and academics. We identify several perspectives which range from the absence of a specific legislation to control return migration, to the concrete attempts to regulate the return of a selected group of migrants, namely the highly skilled. Subsequently, we show that these perspectives are built on a series of sometimes paradoxical arguments regarding economic development, past experiences about development initiatives and the country’s international objectives.
Reasons for Misgivings about Local Economic Development Initiatives
