Since the early 1960s the relationship of Western European countries with Turkey has been intertwined with the high profile of migration. In the 1980s and 1990s it has been dominated by transit migration and asylum issues, and continues to develop as a hot debate on what should be done about them. With this background, the present article investigates transit migration and refugee flows in Turkey, evaluates its wider context of the formation of migration, asylum and refugee regimes between Turkey and Europe, and relates the issue of transit migration to the ongoing dynamics of globalisation. It explores the ways in which transit migration flows are associated with the politics of international migration. It does so by taking a careful look at the politics of international migratory regimes (IMRs), interpreting the word 'regime' very loosely to mean a regulatory system which operates in certain interests and distributes powers and advantages or disadvantages. It argues that the globalisation of human mobility has helped to extend international migratory movements in a form of international regulatory system.