Extraterritoriality of European borders to Turkey: an implementation perspective of counteractive strategies

Abstract

This article seeks to “decolonize” the externalization project of European borders by focusing on the subjectivity of Turkey as being a long-standing candidate country, seeking to be a “regional power” in the Middle East and increasingly moving into undemocratic rule. The study suggests that externalization project of European borders does not only move outwards from the European center, and then straightforwardly get implemented by the passive “others”. The case of Turkey epitomizes that the “others” are geopolitical subjects with their counter-discourses and strategies as well as their co-constitutive roles in shaping the very framework of the process. The study adopts an implementation perspective with the aim of providing nuanced local details about how Turkish border guards act, interpret, internalize or challenge the border externalization policies.