Technologies of coercion: Strategic engineered migration and the weaponisation of mobility in Turkey’s foreign policy

Migration has increasingly become a tool of statecraft, used to project power and influence the behavior of target states. This article investigates how the integration of advanced technological capabilities enables states to engage in strategic engineered migration (SEM) as a form of coercive diplomacy. Focusing on Turkey, it analyzes three key migration crises—in 2012, 2015, and 2020—when Ankara deliberately manipulated cross-border population movements. By comparing Turkey’s southeastern border with Syria and its western border with Greece, the study demonstrates how domestic political imperatives and foreign policy objectives interact in shaping migration governance. In doing so, it refines Greenhill’s (2010) theory of SEM by integrating a defense–security nexus that foregrounds the role of surveillance, drones, and border technologies in the orchestration of migration flows. The findings reveal that Turkey’s selective use of advanced technology—either to weaponise or to restrain migration—constitutes a hybrid strategy that blurs the boundaries between humanitarianism, deterrence, and coercion. This research contributes to broader debates in international security by conceptualizing technology-enabled migration manipulation as a non-conventional instrument of state power and by elucidating the intersection between security, defense innovation, and migration politics.