Migrant deal at risk as EU fails to front
The Turkish prime minister has accused Europe of failing to live up to its side of the migrant deal as his government shows signs of losing patience with an agreement designed to solve the continent’s refugee crisis.
Binali Yildirim said the EU was acting ‘‘unfairly’’ by failing to provide the cash it had pledged and to resettle refugees.
Turkey was promised billions of euros in aid money and visa-free travel in the Schengen zone in return for taking back migrants who travelled illegally to Greece.
Europe also agreed to take in up to 72,000 of the most vulnerable Syrians from Turkey. Brussels, however, had fallen far short, Yildirim said.
‘‘We signed an agreement with the EU and it has not been implemented. Europe has only received 1000 Syrians, when they should have taken 100,000. Three billion euros of aid was committed to us and we have not heard anything about this. Nor have we heard anything about the visa exemption. This is unfair – it is a one-way road.’’ Yildirim also said: Turkey would be willing to open up to Russian troops its Incirlik airbase, which is jointly run by United States forces.
A more active role would be pursued in the Syrian conflict to prevent the formation of a breakaway Kurdish state.
President Bashar Assad could be part of a transition government in Syria but he would eventually have to step down.
Relations with neighbours such as Egypt and Israel would be repaired as part of a foreign policy shift.
His comments on the migrant deal will set alarm bells ringing in European capitals.
Migrant crossings from Turkey to Greece are on the rise again after falling sharply when the deal was struck in March.
The failed Turkish coup in July has driven another wedge between Ankara and Brussels, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan furious that much of Europe’s reaction was concentrated on the government crackdown after the failed takeover rather than the assault on Turkish democracy.
European leaders are banking on the deal to end the crisis that has brought almost 1.3 million refugees into Europe since last year. The influx has shut many of the Schengen area’s open borders and shaken the EU.
There are doubts, however, whether all EU capitals are ready to sign off the new visa relaxation rules for Turks by October. Turkey has suggested it would respond by refusing to take back refugees from Greece.
The deal had initially appeared to be working, with Turkey increasing security to stop the lucrative human smuggling trade from its coast. The agreement is now teetering on a knife edge.
Brussels wants Turkey to relax its anti-terrorism laws before the liberalisation is approved – a red line for Ankara, which is mired in conflicts with Islamic State and the Kurdish separatist militia the PKK.