Migration Policies of Political Parties in Turkey in the Dilemma of “Let Them Stay-Let Them Return”

In 2011, with the outbreak of events in Syria, millions of Syrians suddenly flocked to Türkiye. In the early years of migration, it could be said that the general perception of the society was that migrants would return to their country after the war ended. However, over time, the perception that migrants would stay permanently has strengthened within society. With the economic crisis deepening further due to the pandemic, public resentment towards migrants has begun to emerge. The aim of this study is to examine the migration-focused attitudes, discourses, and policies of political parties regarding the General Elections of May 14, 2023, in Türkiye, along with their official documents and texts concerning migration policies. Following the analysis of these documents, the positioning of migrants within the migration policies of political parties and the terms used to define migration and migrants were examined. The discourse of political parties regarding migrants was subjected to critical discourse analysis, consisting of three main discourses: Let them return”, “Let them return voluntarily” and “Let them stay.”