Less to Turkey-EU deal than meets the eye

BRUSSELS: An EU-Turkey deal struck at a summit in Brussels is unlikely to significantly slow the flow of migrants to Europe or bring Ankara much closer to joining the bloc, analysts said yesterday. European Union leaders pledged Sunday to give Turkey three billion euros ($3.2 billion) in aid for Syrian refugees and kick start its stalled membership bid in return for Ankara’s cooperation in tackling the worst migrant crisis since World War II.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the first such summit in 11 years was a “historic day” and vowed that his country would keep its promises, in the face of skepticism from some countries in the 28-member EU. “What the Europeans are asking of Turkey is unrealistic and unrealizable,” said Cengiz Aktar, a political scientist from Istanbul’s Bahcesehir University. “They must be dreaming. Nobody can prevent these migrants from heading to Greece or Bulgaria because they have no future in their own country or in Turkey,” Aktar said.

Turkey hosts more than two million refugees from the Syrian conflict and is the main launching point for migrants coming to Europe, via Greece. EU president Donald Tusk said 1.5 million people have illegally come to Europe this year. Davutoglu conceded Turkey’s efforts were likely to end in failure even while promising to fulfill all the terms of the deal. “I wish to say to you that ‘yes, the number of the migrants will decline,’ but we cannot say this because we don’t know what will be going on in Syria,” the premier told a press conference late Sunday.

Meanwhile Turkey’s EU membership bid is likely to remain in the doldrums despite the deal, analysts said. At the summit the EU agreed to open a new “chapter” of Turkey’s accession bid next month and look at opening others in 2016.—AFP