Türkiye—Technical Assistance for Capacity Building for Effective Nationality Determination

Türkiye is a country with two sea borders, sitting between eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East. It lies at a crossroads for inter-regional and intercontinental migration. Within the last decade, the civil unrest in the Middle East particularly destabilized the region, with the domino effect of uprisings leading to conflict and civil war, in turn leading to significant migration flows out of the region. Managing migration both into and through its borders is a pressing issue for Türkiye.

Our project improved Türkiye’s legal and administrative framework in migration management by establishing a well-functioning migration management system in line with the European Union (EU) acquis and standards. The objective was to improve the institutional capacity of the Turkish Directorate General of Migration Management (DGMM) for nationality identification through piloting a Language Analysis System (LAS).

The development, implementation, and evaluation of the LAS pilot—allied with targeted capacity building and the establishment of a range of policy dialogue mechanisms—will enable the process of nationality determination of irregular migrants in Türkiye.

This intervention was a critical element towards strengthening the migration management system in Türkiye.

Sample Activities

• Develop and establish a comprehensive LAS, encompassing all required regulations, procedures, and tools for gathering evidence.
• Train DGMM staff at central and local levels and staff at other relevant agencies such as law enforcement on nationality identification.
• Increase knowledge management and research capacity related to the country of origin information.
• Boost intra- and inter-institutional cooperation on issues related to nationality determination.

Select Results

• Developed the concept for the LAS.
• Analyzed 565 voice samples by both human experts and via an accent recognition system, submitted to DGMM.
• Developed the LAS procedures manual approved by DGMM.
• Developed a training manual reviewed by DGMM.
• Developed an e-learning system in Turkish for integration onto the DGMM platform.