The paper is focused on migration as one of the major issues that determine relations, including accession negotiations, between the European Union and Turkey. In spite of the dominant anti-Turkish discourse across the EU, the Author points out several historical and current phenomena that have resulted in building a complex migration system between the two geographical areas. The migration flows within the migration system are shown to have occurred in both directions. Both advantages and disadvantages of the flows are selectively discussed. Finally, based on demographic forecasts, economic prognoses and current migration statistics in Europe, the paper hypothesizes that in the future the much feared inflows of the Turks to the EU might be balanced, if not surpassed, by outflows of both the former Turkish immigrants and “native” Europeans from Europe to Turkey.
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