Dokument #1185726
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Autor)
Exit and entry procedures, as well as the documents required of persons entering or leaving Turkey, are the same at airports as they are at land borders (Turkey 4 July 2003).
All foreign nationals wishing to enter or exit Turkey must have valid and appropriate travel documents, that is, a passport or a visa (depending on whether the person's country of nationality is listed by the Turkish government as one of the countries that it requires its nationals to have a visa) etc. (ibid.). These documents must be presented to the airport and land border authorities upon entering and exiting Turkey (ibid.). For information on the countries from which citizens are required to have a visa for entry into Turkey, and additional related information, please refer to the attachment entitled "Visiting Turkey: Visa Information."
Turkish citizens wishing to enter or exit Turkey are also required to have valid and appropriate travel documents (ibid.). In the absence of such documents, airport and land border authorities will request that the individual present other documentation to assist in proving their Turkish citizenship, for example, a driver's license, school records, birth registration card, etc. (ibid.). However, since Turkish citizens are required to report their lost or stolen passports to the nearest Turkish embassy while abroad, Turkish border authorities must ask why the citizen does not have the appropriate travel documents (ibid.). In addition to the inquiry, any information and all documents provided to the authorities by the individual are verified with the Turkish Ministry of Internal Affairs (ibid.).
For general information on the freedom of movement within, and travel out of Turkey, please see Section 2d of Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2002. For information on the acquisition of passports by Turkish citizens and on the different passports that can be issued by Turkish authorities, please see Section VIa, paragraphs 6.76 and 6.77 of "Turkey," the country assessment prepared by the United Kingdom's Immigration and Nationality Directorate. For additional related information, please refer to TUR33487.E of 7 January 2000, TUR37719.E of 12 September 2001, and TUR37948.E of 12 October 2001.
According to the Turkish Daily News, a Turkish regulation that came into effect on 1 August 2001, forces Turkish citizens "to obtain a sticker for their passports proving they had paid the required $50 [exit fee] in order to be able to leave the country" (2 Aug. 2001). The news report did not specify whether this is an airport tax and whether it only applies at the Ataturt International Airport.
For detailed information on the documents required for entry into or exit out of Turkey, please see attached the excerpt from the July 2003 edition of The Travel Information Manual.
It is unclear how the procedures outlined above are implemented in practice; however, according to a BBC news report, "the numbers arrested by Turkish authorities for illegal entry and exit ha[d] increased 900% from 11,000 in 1995 to 92,000 in 2001" (5 June 2002).
In October 2000, the South China Morning Post published a report about a newlywed couple who had travelled to Turkey (29 Oct. 2000). Upon arrival, Turkish customs officers at Istanbul airport "rejected their entry because their black-and-white passport photos were 'too old'" (ibid.). After being asked some "'impolite questions,'" the couple was
... separated, held in different rooms and interrogated, searched and prevented from seeing each other.
After being detained for more than eight hours, the couple were forced to sign a statement in Turkish that was not translated for them.
... The British Consulate in Hong Kong verified that the couple's passports were genuine. A spokesman said a UK representative tried to help them [but] "the Turkish authorities had already deported them" (ibid.).
Several news reports state that Turkey is a major transit route for illegal immigrants trying to reach western Europe (Mena Report 6 Jan. 2001; AFP 7 Jan. 2001; ibid. 13 Aug. 2001). One man who has become a human trafficker for west Africans trying to get to Europe reportedly stated that Turkey's borders are "badly watched" (Mena Report 6 Jan. 2001), while the Turkish Daily News described that Turkey's borders as "porous" and its border guards as "ill-equipped" (3 May 2002).
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
Agence France Presse (AFP). 13 August
2001. "More than 180 Illegal Immigrants Nabbed in Turkey." http://www.menareport.com/story/printArticle.php3?sid=175809&lang=e
[Accessed 17 July 2003]
_____. 7 January 2001. "Turkey
Intercepts 146 Illegal Immigrants." http://www.menareport.com/story/TheNews.php3?action=story&sid=142585&lang=e&dir=mena
[Accessed 17 July 2003]
BBC. 5 June 2002. Dorian Jones.
"Turkey's Booming People Trade." http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2024943.stm
[Accessed 17 July 2003]
Mena Report [Amman]. 6 January
2001. "Turkey a Sieve for Immigrants Trying to Reach Europe." http://www.menareport.com/story/printArticle.php3?sid=142477&lang=e
[Accessed 17 July 2003]
South China Morning Post [Hong
Kong]. 29 October 2000. Chow Chung-yan. "Couple's Hellish Honeymoon
Newlyweds Sent Back to HK 'Like Prisoners' After Turkish Customs
Officers Doubted Genuine Passports." (Dialog)
Turkish Daily News [Ankara]. 3
May 2002. "Stream of Migrants Moored in Turkey En Route to EU." http://www.turkishdailynews.com/old_editions/05_03_02/feature.htm
[Accessed 17 July 2003]
_____. 2 August 2001. "Exit Toll Nets
$13,000 on First Day: Some 260 Turkish Passengers Paid $13,000 in
Fees in Order to Leave the Country at Ataturk Airport."
(Dialog)
Turkey. 4 July 2003. Embassy of Turkey,
Ottawa. Telephone interview with the First Secretary.
Attachments
The Travel Information Manual
[Badhoevedorp, Netherlands]. July 2003. "Turkey."
Turkey. N.d. Ministry of Foreign
Affairs. "Visiting Turkey: Visa Information." http://www.mfa.gov.tr/grupf/fa/06.htm
[Accessed 17 July 2003]
Additional Sources Consulted
IRB Databases
Internet sites, including:
Al Bawaba
European Country of Origin Information
Network
International Organization for Migration. February 2003. Ahmet
Içduygu.
Irregular Migration in Turkey.
Middle East Times
World Legal Forum
Search engine:
Google
Procedures that must be followed by, and documents that must be provided to, Turkish airport and land border authorities to allow a Turkish citizen and/or foreign national entry into and exit out of Turkey [TUR41749.E] (Anfragebeantwortung, Französisch)