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Turkish
stalemate
By Mehreen
Khan in Brussels and Laura Pitel in Ankara
March 9,
2020
Turkey’s
president Recep Tayyip Erdogan is visiting Brussels today to confront EU
leaders with a dilemma, veiled as a threat: help me or I will unleash a fresh
migration crisis on your borders.
It’s been
over a week since Erdogan vowed to open Turkey’s frontiers with Europe,
sparking a flare-up on the border with Greece. Thousands of refugees and asylum
seekers made their way to Europe’s land and sea frontier only to be met with
tear gas, water cannons and plastics bullets.
Erdogan’s
trip to Brussels — where he will see European Council president Charles Michel
and the commission’s Ursula von der Leyen — comes three days after Europe’s
foreign ministers rebuffed Turkish demands for more financial aid under a 2016
migration deal. The Europeans are holding firm on their refusal to start
talking terms with Erdogan — about more cash or visa liberalisation — under the
threat of “blackmail”.
So what to
do next? Diplomats acknowledge that the EU’s recent history with Erdogan is
littered with often hollow threats about sending 3.6m Syrian refugees into
Europe. Germany in particular wants to advance talks about providing more help
to Ankara to keep alive the 2016 migration deal and assuage concerns from
Erdogan that Europe has failed to live up to its promises.
But
Erdogan’s rabble-rousing is hardening attitudes in Brussels and drowning out
the pleas of Berlin and others to begin constructive talks. To make the point,
the Turkish president on Saturday goaded Athens for worrying about a fresh
influx of refugees and migrants. “Greece, these people aren’t going to stay
with you. They will go onto another European country. Why are you so worried?
Greece, open your gates and free yourself of this burden.”
Today is
the second time Erdogan will have met EU officials after a crisis meeting with
Michel in Ankara last Wednesday. Diplomats described a tough encounter with
their Turkish counterparts where the Europeans were told there was “no trust”
and “no relationship” left with the EU.
Erdogan is
likely to repeat his list of complaints today. He wants the EU to resettle more
refugees from Turkey and accelerate the payment of around €3bn of a promised
€6bn to refugee projects under the migration deal. Turkey is also pushing for
progress on talks to liberalise visas for Turkish citizens and modernise the
EU-Turkey customs arrangement.
A
breakthrough on all those fronts is not on the horizon yet. The EU has walked
back from ideas that it could free up an extra €1bn for Turkey after events in
the last week. Josep Borrell, Brussels’ top diplomat, has said that although he
is willing to listen to Turkish gripes, the two sides “have different points of
view” on how the deal is functioning.
Meanwhile,
EU officials note that the situation on the sea border with Greece has calmed
after Turkish authorities ordered the coastguard to stop sea crossings.
Migratory flows at the land border have also eased off. Despite some signs of
normalisation, Erdogan’s provocative rhetoric is likely to dominate the
headlines.
“We have
provided $40bn dollars of support [to refugees],” the president said on
Saturday. “We just about managed to secure €3bn [from Europe] but where is our
$40bn from Europe? Where is our [further] €3bn?”.
mehreen.khan@ft.com;
@mehreenkhn
laura.pitel@ft.com;
@laurapitel
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Erdogan vai a Bruxelas na segunda-feira
Gabinete do
Presidente turco anunciou a viagem sem espeficifar o programa da visita de 36
horas. Mantém-se a tensão na fronteira greco-turca, com disparos de gás
lacrimogéneo e uso de canhões de água.
Lusa e PÚBLICO 7
de Março de 2020, 15:31
O Presidente
turco, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, vai estar na próxima semana em Bruxelas, anunciou
o seu gabinete numa altura de tensão entre a Turquia e a União Europeia por
causa dos migrantes e refugiados e em que a polícia grega voltou a disparar gás
lacrimogéneo contra aqueles que tentam cruzar a fronteira desde território
turco.
O comunicado
divulgado este sábado pelo gabinete de Erdogan refere apenas que o Presidente
chegará a Bruxelas na segunda-feira, não especificando onde estará durante a
visita de dia e meio nem a natureza do trabalho.
Nos últimos dias,
a tensão entre Ancara e Bruxelas aumentou após a Turquia ter anunciado a
abertura de fronteiras para deixar passar migrantes e refugiados para a União
Europeia, ameaçando falhar os compromissos assumidos com a Europa.
A UE e a Turquia
celebraram em 2016 um acordo no âmbito do qual Ancara se comprometia a combater
a passagem clandestina de migrantes para território europeu em troca de ajuda
financeira.
Erdogan lembrou
que a Turquia abriga mais de 3,5 milhões de refugiados sírios e anunciou que
iria deixar de ser a guardiã da Europa.
As declarações
foram criticadas pelos chefes da diplomacia da UE, que lamentaram o “uso
político de migrantes” e pediram a Ancara que não quebrasse os compromissos no
acolhimento de refugiados.
“Rejeitamos o uso político de migrantes por
parte da Turquia”, afirmou na sexta-feira o ministro de Estado e dos Negócios
Estrangeiros português, Augusto Santos Silva, em declarações à agência Lusa
após uma reunião dos responsáveis pela diplomacia comunitária, num encontro que
decorreu na Croácia.
A Grécia é o país
que mais sente a pressão migratória nas suas fronteiras externas com a Turquia,
um problema que afecta a Bulgária e o Chipre. De acordo com a Euronews, as
autoridades usaram canhões de água contra migrantes em Kastanies, uma vila
grega junto à fronteira.
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