Following Turkish Border Practices

The author's ongoing research focuses on everyday policing of irregular migration in Turkey at European Union (EU) borders. Started in 2015 when border crossings from Turkey into the EU reached a peak, this project was driven by an empirical puzzle, which informed the methodological choices that she have made at later stages of research. Having identified the author's research object and key concepts based on the practice approach, she was confronted with the inevitable question of where to start with data collection. A practice-oriented research on border security requires an inductive approach and fieldwork research as it is through participant observation and in-depth interviews with security professionals that border practices can be best studied. Borders in Turkey are still heavily militarized, and although those with the EU display a more civilian form of border management, a large segment of Turkish society associates borders with territorial indivisibility, national independence and strong statehood.