From brothers to temporary guests: the postcolonial legacy in Turkish and Syrian migration policies toward Syrian forced migrants

Abstract

This article analyzes how the Ottoman Empire’s governing logic and its long-term impact on the region are linked to contemporary Turkish migration policy toward Syrian forced migrants. Based on an analysis of historical sources, academic literature, political documents, and public discourse, as well as insights from field research conducted in 2024–2025, the study examines how the imperial past is invoked in contemporary political rhetoric. The study shows that Turkey’s “open-door” policy toward Syrians is based not only on humanitarian grounds, but also on historical and religious arguments, in which Syrians are portrayed as historically close. However, this symbolic closeness does not translate into full legal and political inclusion as their status remains temporary and conditional. This gives rise to a model of hospitality in which hospitality is grounded in historical memory, yet administrative and legal boundaries of belonging are simultaneously maintained. The article demonstrates that migration policy is not only the result of current geopolitical processes, but also a form of continuity of historical power structures. A postcolonial theoretical perspective allows us to rethink how the memory of past imperial relations shapes contemporary relations of belonging and integration.