Date of publication:

09/07/2026

Türkiye

Do domestic laws and policies provide for people to enter the country for the purpose of seeking asylum?

ANALYSIS

Assessment by population

Refugees
Asylum-seekers
Analysis

 

Türkiye does not provide a distinct legal entitlement to enter the territory solely in order to seek asylum. Instead, the legal framework maintains ordinary entry rules, but it requires those rules to be applied in a way that does not block access to the international protection procedure, including where a person arrives without meeting ordinary entry requirements.

The Law 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection, Law No 6458, provides the core statutory framework governing entry, stay, exit, and international protection.1 Under the ordinary entry rules, entry into and exit from Türkiye is in principle through border gates and with a valid passport or travel document, and travellers are subject to document checks (Articles 5 and 6). The law also sets out categories of foreigners who shall be refused entry (Article 7).  Critically, however, the law contains an express safeguard. Article 8 of the Law 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection, Law No 6458 provides that the provisions on entry, document checks and refusal of entry must not be interpreted or implemented to prevent an international protection claim. [A1] [A2] This means that deficiencies in travel documents, visa position, or other ordinary entry conditions are not, in law, a bar to lodging an international protection application. Similarly, 

The Law 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection also codifies the non-refoulement principle, which prohibits return to any place where the person would face torture or inhuman or degrading treatment, or where their life or freedom would be threatened on a ground recognised by the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (Article 4).

According to Article 65(2) of the Law 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection, in cases where an application is lodged at the border gates, the application must immediately be reported to the governorates which are responsible for the procedure related to the application. However, under Article 68(2)(b) persons who lodge international protection application at border gates may be subject to administrative detention to prevent unlawful entry into the country.

For mass influx situations, the primary statutory basis is Article 91 of the Law 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection, which provides that  temporary protection may be granted where individual international protection assessment cannot be carried out effectively. The Temporary Protection Regulation then sets out an admission framework..2 Article 4(1) of the Temporary Protection Regulation provides that the conditions in Articles 5, 6 and 7 of Law No 6458 cannot be interpreted or applied in a manner that prevents a foreigner’s request to be covered by temporary protection. Article 17 of the Temporary Protection Regulation provides that the Ministry determines the border gates and border crossing places for admission of persons seeking urgent and temporary protection, and it permits governorates to allow entry for persons without documentation or with invalid documentation for the purpose of temporary protection. The Regulation, under Article 15, also provides a power to restrict or suspend admission and temporary protection measures where conditions amounting to a threat to national security, public order, public security, or public health arise.

Hence, formally and legally, Türkiye’s system allows individual asylum seekers regardless of how they entered to request protection and in cases of mass influx, subject to the decision of the President as per the Temporary Protection Regulation (Article 9). 

In practice, border-management priorities increasingly lean toward deterrence, control, and exclusion with heavy surveillance, physical barriers, entry preventions, detention, and limited access to formal asylum procedures. There is no publicly available border procedure for asylum seekers while the Law provides for asylum applications even if entry was irregular, the practice appears to favour deterrence.3 There is no clear evidence that border units consistently register protection seekers rather than intercept and prevent.

According to the Ministry of National Defence, a total of 46,169 individuals were apprehended while attempting to cross Turkish borders irregularly and a total of 420,129 individuals were prevented from entering to Türkiye between 1 January 2023 and 20 August 2026.4 Additionally, according to the Presidency of Migration Management’s statistics, a total of 728,737 irregular migrants were apprehended across Türkiye between 1 January 2023 and 13 August 2026 due to irregular entry/exit attempts or irregular presence by the law enforcement.5

Official statistics published by the Presidency of Migration Management show that international protection applications continue to be registered in Türkiye6including 33,246 applications in 2022, 19,017 in 2023, 9,009 in 2024 and 6,430 in 2025.7 

However, there are reports of credible human rights organisations regarding unlawful forced returns from the border with Iran and Syria which is highly likely to include forcibly displaced persons in need of international protection.8 Official reports of Human Rights and Equality Institution of Türkiye also included information on the foreigners with asylum claims who were held for approximately 10 months in the transit zone of Istanbul Airport and for 8 months in the transit zone of Antalya Airport..9Additionally, according to the report on Istanbul airport, the foreigners who apply for asylum at the airport are transferred to a different part of the inadmissible passenger waiting area, called Transit Centre, which became operational on 16 July 2024. According to the report, individuals are transferred to the Transit Centre on the day of their application or within a couple of days. The Human Rights and Equality Institution of Türkiye determined that international protection applicants remain in the centre for extended periods, until assessment of their international protection application is concluded.10

    LAW & POLICY

    Related provisions of domestic law or policy

    Temporary Protection Regulation

    Legal provision

    Temporary Protection Regulation - Generic

    Temporary Protection Regulation - Generic

    Law 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection

    Legal provision

    Law 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection - Generic

    Law 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection - Generic