Pandemic dictates Ankara’s row with Athens

The outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has obliged Turkey to recall thousands of migrants massed at the border with Greece.

The migrants have been living in tents in cold weather conditions, ever since Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced last month that he would open the gates for them to make their way into Europe. On Friday, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu told the Turkish TV channel NTV that about 5,800 migrants, waiting at the border crossing in northern Edirne province, had been moved from the area overnight, and taken to migration centers in nine provinces as a precaution against COVID-19. Overpopulation, the lack of social distancing and inadequate hygiene standards are seen as enabling factors for the contagion.

Although the migrant issue has been dwarfed by efforts to stop the spread, the game is not over for decision-makers in Ankara. Soylu also warned that this did not mean a change in Turkey’s policy vis-à-vis migrants. “When this epidemic is over, we would not prevent whoever wants to leave,” he said.

The Greek government recently imposed a curfew on refugees and migrants living in the Moria camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, which is criticized for its poor living conditions and overpopulation, raising concerns among aid groups of a potential outbreak in Europe’s biggest camp for displaced people. Turkey consistently criticizes the EU for not providing enough financial support for the more than 3.6 million Syrian refugees in the country.

But, as the EU has become introverted due to the widespread impact of COVID19, Ankara is not likely to get what it wants as part of the 2016 EU-Turkey deal —financial help and visa-free travel for its citizens in the Schengen area — in the short term in return for stemming the flow of migrants.