Simulation for the Future of Turkey-EU Relations (SİM@RTER) was organised in cooperation with the Foreign Policy and International Relations Society (DPUIT) at METU on 12 January 2025 as a six-hour European Union simulation on an important topic of the Türkiye-EU relations, namely migration. Through the simulation, the participants are expected to engage in a debate about the future of relations between the European Union and Turkey through a "learning by doing" method.

In Sim@rter 2025, the participants represented the ministers of internal affairs of EU members in the Council of the European Union. They were provided a short proposal penned by the European Commission on the matter of "Strengthening Mechanisms and Partnerships to Mitigate Migration Waves" and instructed to debate on the proposal and refine it through amendments for a total duration of four 1.5-hour long sessions.

All in all, during the simulation, the ministers focused on the ways through which interoperability can be strengthened, partnership with third parties such as Türkiye may be enhanced, and the instrumentalisation of migrants may be prevented, considering the recent developments in Syria. Through a series of moderated and unmoderated caucuses, the ministers developed a "three-step plan", which firstly prescribed the strengthening of border controls, secondly announced the scheme to fund member states on external borders for them to directly deal with migration waves, and thirdly designated cooperation with Turkey as being subsidiary to the first two steps and to be conducted on a cautious and selective basis; the plan was translated into numerous amendments that enabled the proposal to be transformed into a decision issued by the Council of the European Union.

Session 1:

Session 1 started with a discussion on the possible changes in the migration landscape following the recent fall of the regime in Syria. It was followed by a discussion on the relevance of Türkiye-EU relations within the new context. The session ended with a discussion on the EU’s approach to the Ukrainian refugee crisis.

Session 2:

Session 2 started with the discussion on the need for compromise among member states in sharing the burden of migration waves. Then, the problem of migration instrumentalisation was debated. A “three-step-plan” was proposed by a member state by firstly prescribing the strengthening of border controls, secondly announcing the scheme to fund member states on external borders for them to directly deal with migration waves, and thirdly designating cooperation with Türkiye as being subsidiary to the first two steps and to be conducted on a cautious and selective basis. The session ended with an unmoderated caucus in which the participants tried melding proposed solutions into amendments.

Session 3:

Session 3 began with a discussion about the possible revision of a regulation, brought to the agenda by one of the participants. The rest of the session was mostly covered by caucuses in which the proposed three-step plan was translated into amendments. The session ended with a discussion on human trafficking and smuggling; the enhancement of transparency, usage of data-based solutions; and, cooperation with numerous partners across North Africa and the Middle East to tackle the role of human trafficking in migration waves.

Session 4: 

Session 4 started with a last round of discussion aimed at ensuring the ministers refine their ideas; the round especially reiterating support to cooperating with Türkiye and the need to place humanitarian concerns at the centre of the approach to the migration problem. The ensuing unmoderated caucus saw the final submission of a total of nine amendments. The remainder of the session saw the amendments being debated and then voted upon.

The final decision of the Council of the European Union on the matter, as penned by the ministers (participants) was also prepared at the end of the Simulation.