European Union: Turkey uses refugees as a weapon
Desperate refugees are trying to enter the European Union, and we are beating them back like dogs, said Jaafar Abdul Karim in Germany’s DeutscheWelle.de. In response to a new wave of Syrians fleeing a regime offensive, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last week began “cynically instrumentalizing the refugees” in his country. He told them Turkey’s western border was open and that they could cross to Greece, an EU member. Greek authorities promptly suspended all asylum applications and dispatched troops to the border to block the approaching wave of tens of thousands of migrants. Greek border guards blasted tear gas “at children and infants,” and refugees say they were beaten and forced back to Turkey. EU leaders have supported the Greek response. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the EU would not allow Turkey to “resolve its own problems at the expense of refugees.” At a Brussels meeting this week, the EU agreed to take in a mere 1,500 sick or unaccompanied children currently housed in Greek camps, leaving thousands of families weeping in the cold. “Europe is losing its soul.”
Turkey has done its part, said Nur Ozkan Erbay in Daily Sabah (Turkey). This country already hosts some 4 million refugees, most of them Syrian. After the 2015 refugee crisis sent some 1 million migrants into Europe, the EU and Turkey struck a deal: Turkey would feed and house the refugees, and the EU would provide nearly $7 billion in aid and give Turks trade commitments and visa-free travel. But Brussels fulfilled “none of the commitments.” The EU has also for years ignored Turkish pleas for support in creating a safe zone in northwestern Syria, to prevent Syrians from being forced to flee in the first place. “If we are to come up with a road map with the EU, we expect them to be sincere,” said Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. “It is not only about keeping migrants in return for more money.”
Erdogan has made a coldhearted calculation, said Anne-Bénédicte Hoffner in La Croix (France). This is not some spontaneous outflow of refugees—it is entirely staged by Turkey. The Carnegie Europe think tank says a video is circulating online showing Turkish police forcing refugees toward the border at gunpoint and telling them, “Don’t come back.”
It’s easy to see why Erdogan has taken this path, said Ozan Demircan in Handelsblatt (Germany). When Turkey first took in the migrants, the country needed young workers and got plenty of EU money. Now “the economy is sputtering and social tensions are rising,” so Erdogan “wants to get rid of the migrants.” The authoritarian-minded leader, who has purged thousands of judges and civil servants and cracked down ruthlessly on opponents, is also increasingly threatened domestically. This week, his former deputy prime minister, Ali Babacan, established a new political party and called for reforms to strengthen the rule of law. The EU should “prepare for further problems with Ankara.”