This article analyses the background of measures taken at the EU-Turkey border that were part of the EU-Turkey deal in 2016 or came along with the latter. In doing so, it examines the new Turkish Law on Foreigners and International Protection and takes a closer look at its development. Hereby, the paper shows on the one hand that this national law was strongly influenced by the EU and that it constitutes an EU-orientated and often repressive migration policy in Turkey itself as well as at its borders. On the other hand, the text makes clear that the enforcement of the measures at the Turkish-European borders since 2016 would not have been possible without the establishment of this law on foreigners. To summarize, these current attempts at sealing European borders are not just the outcome of negotiations between the EU and Turkey in 2015, but rather a continuation of a long standing engagement of the EU with Turkey in order to control and decrease migration to Europe.