Two-to-tango in migration diplomacy: negotiating readmission agreement between the EU and Turkey

Abstract

Identified as effective and rapid mechanisms against irregular migration by the European Union, Readmission Agreements (RAs) have become one of the major topics in current migration literature. Despite the extensity of the current literature on requesting states, the literature focusing on the requested states remains sparse. Considering that 'it takes two to tango' to agree on, to sign, and to implement the RAs, it is very crucial to frame the positions of the requested states in the negotiation process of RAs. This paper examines the tortuous negotiation process of the RA between the EU and Turkey over the last decade, by primarily focusing on the question of how Turkey, as a non-EU state, has viewed and experienced this process of negotiation.