Contested norms and shifting boundaries: Turkey and the EU in migration governance

Migration governance between the EU and Turkey has shifted from accession-driven alignment to a strategic arrangement in which Turkey engages with EU migration norms selectively. The article argues that domestic political priorities and refugee pressures drive this selective engagement, while the EU’s emphasis on practical cooperation reinforces an interest-driven partnership rather than deeper normative alignment, understood here as sustained convergence with EU rules, legal standards, and rights-based governance principles. Through the lens of norm contestation theory, this article examines how Turkey’s engagement with EU-imposed migration norms is shaped by domestic political priorities and shifting dynamics in EU-Turkey cooperation. Using qualitative analysis of European Commission Progress Reports (2011–2024), the article shows that migration became a central and contested element of EU-Turkey relations, especially after the Syrian conflict and the 2016 EU-Turkey Statement on irregular migration management. The findings show that Turkey’s central role in the EU’s externalized migration control allows it to exert agency by reframing norms, using its position along major migration routes into Europe, and shaping cooperation. The article demonstrates that contestation reshapes norms rather than merely resisting and thus calls for moving from unilateral EU imposition toward more balanced, dialogue-based cooperation.