ABSTRACT
This article examines the migration trajectories and return experiences of Turkish nationals who sought entry to Europe via regular and irregular channels but ultimately returned to Türkiye. Employing a mixed-methods approach, the study analyses how migrants’ actions are shaped by the recursive interplay between structural forces—legal regimes, socio-economic inequalities and border governance—and individual agency. Grounded in Giddens’ Structuration Theory, the analysis conceptualises migration and return as socially embedded practices mediated by institutional constraints and transnational imaginaries. Aspirational narratives of Europe, informed by digital media and social networks, initially guided mobility decisions but often collided with restrictive legal frameworks and socio-economic exclusion, prompting return as a reflexive recalibration. Rather than a linear or emotive process, return is framed as a negotiated response to structurally embedded conditions. The article advances debates on irregular migration and reintegration by calling for policy approaches that account for both structural determinants and the adaptive agency of returnees.