Turkey has opened the border with the European Union for refugees from Syria, said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He noted that the EU promised assistance to Ankara on the issue of refugees from Syria, but did not "keep their word."
“We have long said that we are not obliged to accept so many refugees. You promised us help, but you are not doing anything, and yesterday we opened our borders, ”Erdogan said.
According to the Turkish Interior Minister Suleiman Soilu, more than 47 thousand Syrian refugees have already passed in the EU in total.
“As of 23.50 (Saturday, February 29. - RT ), the number of migrants who have left our country through Edirne (bordering Bulgaria with the province. - RT ) is 47 113,” Soylu said in a Twitter message.
- Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan
- AFP
- © Adem ALTAN
In addition, Erdogan said that Turkey does not intend to close the border with Europe or in any way restrain migrants, recalling that there are already 3.7 million Syrian citizens in Turkey, and Ankara simply can not withstand a new wave of refugees.
On the eve of the Western media, citing sources in the Turkish government reported that the police, coast guard and border guards were ordered not to interfere with the situation with the flow of refugees into the EU.
At the same time, the representative of the press service of the European Commission Peter Stano said that the EU did not receive official notifications from Turkey about the change in its migration policy.
EU movement
After the news of the opening of the border by Turkey at the checkpoints, people began to accumulate, wishing to cross to Europe. According to Reuters, thousands of refugees and migrants went to the Turkish border city of Edirne for this purpose.
At the same time, hundreds of people gathered on the border with Greece at the Kastanies checkpoint in anticipation of the transition. Periodically, clashes between the assembled migrants and the Greek policemen. A similar situation has developed in the Evros region, where Greek security forces prevented about a thousand refugees from crossing the border.
At the same time, according to Western media, in Greece itself there are protests against a new influx of migrants, during which clashes have already begun between the country's native inhabitants and the police.
So, disobedience actions took place on the islands of Chios, Samos and Lesbos, where local residents protest against the reception of new migrants from Syria, other countries of the Middle East and Africa and the construction of centers for their detention. According to the inhabitants of the islands, this will lead to the undermining of the vital tourism industry.
It is worth noting that Greece became the main “gateway” through which a stream of refugees poured from Turkey to Europe during the 2015 migration crisis.
Reaction of Europe
Due to Turkey’s decision to open its borders and not impede the attempts of migrants and refugees to illegally enter Europe, the Greek Foreign Minister demanded the urgent convening of the EU Foreign Affairs Council. It is reported by the Athens-Macedonian news agency.
According to the agency, the head of the ministry, Nikos Dendias, phoned Josep Borrell, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy in Khartoum, and demanded an emergency meeting of the council at the level of the foreign ministers.
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In addition, 1 thousand Greek military and 400 police officers with armored vehicles were pulled to the Kastanies checkpoint on the border with Turkey. This was reported by the Greek newspaper Kathimerini.
Strengthened its border with Turkey and Bulgaria. Krasimir Karakachanov - Minister of Defense of Bulgaria - announced his readiness to send 1 thousand soldiers and army equipment to the border with Turkey, noting that he would not allow illegal immigrants to enter Bulgarian territory, DW reports.
Reacted to the actions of Turkey and in Germany. So, the representative of the CDU-CSU ruling bloc in the German government Matthias Middelberg said that the situation with the migration crisis in Europe in 2015 should not be repeated, and called Erdogan’s actions irresponsible.
“Instead of providing refugees with good conditions on the billions received from the EU, it uses migrants as a means to achieve their political goals,” the Handelsblatt newspaper quoted the politician as saying.
In turn, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia, Ivica Dacic, noted that his country is aware of its responsibility and is ready for the influx of migrants. At the same time, the Serbian Foreign Minister emphasized that his country would not host refugees in anticipation of being sent to other EU countries.
Clash in Idlib
Recall that the decision to open the border for refugees was made by the Turkish authorities immediately after the incident in Idlib, where 33 Turkish soldiers died as a result of shelling by the Syrian government. The Russian Ministry of Defense, commenting on what happened, noted that the reason for the incident was the presence of the Turkish armed forces in the ranks of the militants.
Experts believe that by opening the borders for Syrian refugees immediately after the aggravation of the situation in Idlib, Turkey wants to put pressure on Europe to gain support for its military operation in Idlib.
In a conversation with RT, Ivan Konovalov, head of the RISI military policy and economy sector, noted that control over the flow of refugees to Europe is a powerful lever of pressure on the EU and NATO leadership on the Syrian issue.
“Erdogan is profitable to open the border right now, because his relations with the EU are low, the once promised accession to the European Union no longer shines. Therefore, in this way, threatening Europe and using the situation to the advantage of itself fits into the logic of Ankara’s actions, ”the expert explained.
Corresponding member of the Academy of Military Sciences of Russia Alexander Bartosh agrees with this point of view.
“Migrants are Turkey’s main lever of pressure on the EU. If Turkey’s interests in Syria are not respected, Ankara will open up the possibility for refugees to enter Europe. There are about 2-3 million of them in Turkey, and they, of course, will try to take this opportunity as soon as possible, ”the expert said in an interview with RT.
Failed agreement
Recall that in 2016, Turkey and the European Union entered into an agreement under which the Turkish side committed to accept illegal immigrants trying to get into the EU through Turkey and Greece. In exchange for every illegal immigrant from Syria, the EU has pledged to take one legal Syrian refugee from Turkey.
- Migrants gather at the Greek border in the city of Edirne
- Reuters
- © Umit Bektas
In response to cooperation, the EU agreed to accelerate visa liberalization for Turkey, as well as provide financial support in the amount of € 3 billion.
However, in recent years, relations between Turkey and the European Union have been overshadowed more than once by mutual accusations, and Ankara’s decision to start Operation Source of Peace in 2019 only worsened the prospects for Turkish-European integration.
As the head of the European Parliament David Sassoli said in mid-October 2019, the EU should suspend the dialogue with Turkey on joining the EU because of the Syrian operation.
However, in practice, these negotiations were actually frozen for a long time - as far back as 2017, German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced the need to stop the dialogue on Turkey’s European integration. Subsequently, the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, made a similar statement.
As noted by an expert at the International Institute for Humanitarian and Political Studies Vladimir Bruter, the provisions of this agreement have not been complied with by both parties, but only because it is not possible to fully implement them.
“EU countries promised to accept legal refugees from Turkey, but there were too many of them. As for the funds for the maintenance of refugees who remained in Turkey, Europe paid them in full. Ankara previously agreed to restrain migrants on its territory, and now has decided to cancel this decision. Therefore, here, most likely, the issue is political, not humanitarian, ”the political scientist believes.
Assessing Erdogan’s decision to open the border with the EU for illegal migrants, political analyst Alexander Asafov noted that the new influx of refugees into Europe will have the most negative impact and destabilize the situation in the countries of the union.
“For example, it was precisely the problem with refugees in 2015 that led to an increase in the popularity of right-wing parties in Germany and other EU countries. Therefore, the new migration crisis will not add stability to either international relations or the stability and security of Europe itself, ”the political scientist said in an interview with RT.
In turn, an expert at the Center for Security Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences Konstantin Blokhin in an interview with RT emphasized that the influx of refugees from the Middle East is a serious problem for the EU, and Erdogan understands this well, which gives him an instrument of pressure.
“He wants to show that jokes with Turkey are bad, that it needs to be seen as not just some regional power, but as a country that can hold the EU by the throat. He wants other countries to not prevent Turkey from sorting out the same Syria, so that NATO and Europe give him carte blanche for Idlib, ”the expert concluded.