TÜRKİYE AS A TRANSIT ROUTE OF MIGRATION: SEABURNERS

TRANSİT BİR GÖÇ HATTI OLARAK TÜRKİYE: KUMUN TADI

Özet

This study focuses on Türkiye’s position as a transit country and analyzes Seaburners (2014) through the themes of migration, in-betweenness, and waiting. In this context, it explores how transit migration is materialized along Türkiye’s coastal and border zones. The aim is to reveal, through the film’s staging and narrative strategies, how Türkiye’s role as a passage country is constructed across spatial thresholds and everyday practices. The scope centers on transitional spaces such as the shoreline, the hut, and control points, as well as on long takes that render waiting permanent, the withdrawal of dialogue, the sound texture shaped by wind and waves, and the invisibility of migrant subjects. The method follows a qualitative, scene-based analysis in which camera placement, framing, editing rhythm, spatial composition, and sound design are examined according to their thematic density. The findings show that repetitive practices of inspection and documentation along the coast and in the town continually reproduce the border within daily life, that this external control turns into an inner sense of boundary within the characters, and that waiting evolves into the primary temporal mode of the transit experience. The silent presence of migrants highlights the fragility of identity and belonging, revealing the ethical and emotional weight of the transit route. In conclusion, the film moves beyond political discourse to convey the phenomenon of transit migration in Türkiye at the level of cinematic representation, exposing the border’s spatial and human dimensions with striking clarity.