POLICY BRIEF (Turkey, N.1|2025)          

             Climate Change and Migration Nexus in Turkey:   Emerging Trends and Policy Recommendations[1]

By N. Ela Gokalp-Aras[2]

OVERVIEW

Türkiye stands at the crossroads of climate change and migration, experiencing rising temperatures, erratic precipitation, droughts, and extreme weather events. These environmental stressors intersect with complex migration dynamics, as Türkiye serves as a destination, transit, and increasingly, a source of climate-induced displacement. Rural populations from regions like the Konya Basin, Southeastern Anatolia, and the Eastern Black Sea are migrating to urban centres due to agricultural collapse and water scarcity, straining cities and deepening inequalities (Lendais, 2016; FAO, 2016; World Bank, 2023). Meanwhile, over 3 million refugees and migrants in Türkiye (PMM, 2025; UNHCR, 2025)—many from climate-vulnerable countries like Syria and Afghanistan—face compounded risks without legal recognition or protection. Despite growing evidence, Türkiye’s policies lack formal acknowledgement of climate migration, leaving vulnerable groups in legal limbo. This brief highlights the urgent need to integrate climate adaptation with migration governance, offering actionable recommendations to bridge policy gaps, enhance resilience, and protect affected communities.

Legal and policy frameworks still do not recognise climate change as a migration driver, despite evidence from critical areas, where droughts, land degradation, and floods push rural populations toward cities like Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir, straining infrastructure. Internal climate displacement is not monitored as a separate category, limiting policy response and while Türkiye hosts a significant population of refugees and migrants, many from climate-vulnerable countries. Though not classified as “climate refugees,” many originate from contexts of resource scarcity and environmental degradation. Migrants, particularly those with irregular status, remain outside adaptation and resilience plans despite heightened hazard exposure.

Climate-related pressures affect both internal and international mobility, particularly in agriculture-dependent and ecologically vulnerable regions. Yet, existing legal frameworks do not recognise the climate–migration nexus, leaving migrants and vulnerable communities without adequate protection. The Law on Foreigners and International Protection (LFIP, #6458, 2013) lacks provisions for climate-induced displacement, leaving affected individuals without legal status or support—reflecting similar gaps in the 1951 Refugee Convention; while the new Climate Law (#7552, 2025)  establishes a comprehensive framework for mitigating and adapting to climate change, it does not explicitly address climate-induced migration; several provisions, however, indirectly influence migration dynamics, particularly in the context of rural-to-urban displacement and the protection of vulnerable populations. In addition, institutions such as the Presidency General of Migration Management and the Directorate of Climate Change address integration, but they have limited engagement with climate–migration linkages and cooperation

[1] This policy brief is based on the policy report (Gokalp Aras, 2025), which is available at: https://www.phoenix-climatemobilities.com/project-1

[2] Senior Researcher, Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul, Post-Doc Researcher PHOENIX Project, ela.gokalparas@sri.org.tr