There are two basic legal arrangements regarding residence permits in Turkish Law. The first is the Law No. 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection (“LFIP”) published in the Official Gazette on 11 April 2013. The second is Implementing Regulation on the Law on Foreigners and International Protection which has been in force since 2016. The LFIP draws a clear line between visas and residence permits. According to Article 19 of the LFIP, foreigners who intend to stay in Turkey longer than the visa or visa exemption period or in excess of ninety days are obliged to obtain a residence permit. The foreigners who are exempted from the requirement of residence permit are listed in Article 20 of the LFIP. Residence permits are classified in six groups in Article 30 of the LFIP. The types of residence permits listed in Article 30 are (1) short-term residence permit, (2) family residence permit, (3) residence permits for students, (4) long-term residence permit, (5) humanitarian residence permit, (6) residence permit issued to victims of human trafficking. The foreigners to whom each type of residence permit will be granted, conditions for issuing, rejection, cancellation or non-extension are arranged in detail in Articles 31 to 49 of the LFIP. There can be a switch between the different types of residence permits. For example, a short term residence permit can be converted into a family residence permit. In the event of termination of or change in the reason for which a residence permit was issued, foreigners may request a residence permit suitable to the new reason for residence. It should be noted that a work permit as well as work permit exemption document shall be considered a residence permit as per Article 27. Humanitarian residence permit, one of the six types of residence permits, is granted under the circumstances enumerated in Article 46 of the LFIP. This residence permit, issued for humanitarian reasons, is of an exceptional nature and its issuance is not subject to any conditions except those laid down in Article 46. Humanitarian residence permits may be issued and extended with a maximum validity of one year by the Directorate of Migration Management in each city. However, prior to its issuance or extension, relevant Directorate of Migration Management has to obtain an approval from the General Directorate of Migration Management under Ministry of Interior located in Ankara. Foreigners who can obtain humanitarian residence permit are enumerated in Article 46 in a restrictive manner. Article 46 provides that humanitarian residence permits may be issued in case (1) the best interest of the child is involved; (2) the foreigner, for whom a decision to deport or ban on entry to Turkey has been taken, cannot be deported from Turkey or when the departure is deemed unreasonable or impossible; (3) a deportation decision cannot be implemented; (4) the foreigner resorts to legal remedy against decisions concerning expulsion or inadmissibility of an international protection application or withdrawal of international protection application; (5) the proceedings concerning the return of the foreigner to the first country of asylum or safe third country are not finalized; (6) the foreigner is required to be allowed to enter into or stay in Turkey due to emergency reasons or for the protection of national interests, as well as in terms of public order and public security but who does not have the possibility of acquiring other types of residence permits due to the existence of circumstances that obstruct the issuing of a residence permit; (7) there are extraordinary circumstances. As mentioned, the humanitarian residence permit is exceptional and can only be arranged in the cases referred to in Article 46 of the LFIP. Therefore, it is not possible to extend the scope of or to add new circumstances to Article 46 either by administrative decisions or circulars. The Directorate of Migration Management in each city has a discretionary power in the evaluation and interpretation of the cases referred to in Article 46 of the LFIP. Although the administration has the discretionary power to evaluate the circumstances under which the humanitarian residence permit may be granted there is no discretion to extend the circumstances listed in Article 46. Until April 2018, 56,000 humanitarian residence permits were issued. The height of the figure shows that humanitarian residence permits have been used by the administration for other purposes, in particular to legalize illegal migration. The humanitarian residence permit set forth in Article 46 shall be granted without discrimination on any ground such as sex, race, color, religion, national or social origin. However, in practice, there are certain nationalities that are granted humanitarian residence permits. As in the case of Iraqi Turkmen, granting humanitarian residence permits to some groups is used as a remedy for legalizing their illegal stay in Turkey. In other words, one of the methods to register certain groups of foreigners who stay in Turkey illegally is to issue humanitarian residence permits. However, this method is neither legal nor has a legal base. This is also not fair and suitable method for public policy and public security. Applications for humanitarian residence permits to the Directorate of Migration Management in each city are sent to the General Directorate of Migration Management under the Ministry of Interior in Ankara before the humanitarian residence permits are issued. An investigation is carried out by the General Directorate of Migration Management on foreigners who apply for humanitarian residence. However, it is not possible to conduct a proper investigation for the foreigners coming from countries with political and administrative chaos, particularly from Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Palestine and African countries. Because of security issues that Turkey faces, humanitarian residence permits cannot be given in cases which are not stated in Article 46. Issuing humanitarian residence permit in a case which is not mentioned in this Article can also be considered by the administrative courts as violation of law. It should not be forgotten that although the administration has discretionary power in issuance of humanitarian residence permits, the administration does not have discretionary power to extend the reasons mentioned in Article 46 of the LFIP.