Migrant crisis: Turkey’s Erdogan tells Greece ‘open your gates’
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday he is not willing to close the Turkish border with Greece to prevent the flow of Europe-bound migrants and refugees despite ongoing talks to revise the 2016 deal with the European Union.
“Now they (Greece) are covering all their borders with barbed wires. But of course, we are not thinking of closing these gates anymore,” Erdogan told reporters on his way back from a one-day summit with European leaders in Brussels.
“My recommendation to Greece; open your gates. These people will not stay in Greece permanently. Let them move from Greece to other European countries,” he added.
Erdogan’s comments follow several meetings with top European officials to discuss the revision of their 2016 deal, which obliges Turkey to prevent millions of migrants crossing into Europe via Turkey.
The deal was struck at the height of the 2015-16 European migrant crisis, when more than a million people arrived in the European Union, mostly from Syria and Afghanistan.
In return, Turkey was supposed to receive 6 billion euros, free visas for Turkish nationals visiting Europe, and fast-tracked EU membership.
Hundreds of migrants and refugees have flocked to Turkey’s western border with Greece and Bulgaria in recent days attempting to reach Europe after Erdogan lifted restrictions on February 28.
Ankara fears a fresh wave of refugees could spill over its southern border from Syria’s Idlib, where a Russian-backed regime offensive has displaced almost a million people.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, who accompanied Erdogan on Monday, told state media agency Anadolu they have initiated a new phase of talks with the EU to revise the deal – but said “concrete steps” must first be taken by the EU.
“We will discuss [with the EU] what we can do [on migrants] under the new circumstances,” said Cavusoglu.
“Turkey needs the EU but the EU needs Turkey much more. Especially if it wants to be a global actor,” he added.
Turkey is also pressuring the EU to accelerate its accession to the bloc and to help Turkey provide aid to 3.6 million Syrian refugees sheltered in Turkey.
“Turkey has paid a great price for the ceasefire and protecting civilians in Idlib, Syria. Now the EU must do its part,” Erdogan told reporters.
Up to 60 Turkish soldiers have been killed by Syrian regime forces in Idlib since February 3. A ceasefire brokered by Turkey and Russia last week has mostly held.
Following its losses in Syria, Turkey opened its border with the EU to allow migrants to pass.
The move was widely seen as an attempt to pressure Western powers to help Turkey as tensions escalated with Russia in northern Syria and a new refugee wave beckoned.
Tens of thousands of refugees have attempted to enter Greece in recent days. Athens has responded by deploying troops to the border. Migrants have been met with teargas, water cannons, and rubber bullets.
There are also claims of Greek forces using live ammunition, beating captured migrants, and robbing them of their shoes and clothes. Athens has denied the allegations.
Cavusoglu described the response of Greek border officials as “embarrassing”.
“Honestly, people are embarrassed when they see the treatment against asylum seekers on the Greek border … and they [Europeans] are talking about civilizations and democracy, also trying to give humanity lessons,” he said.
Macron and Merkel to visit Istanbul
Following the talks in Brussels, Erdogan said that French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will visit Istanbul next week to discuss the migrant crisis and the situation in northern Syria.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has also been invited to the talks, he said.
Speaking at a forum in Berlin on Monday, Merkel said the Turkish approach to the migrant crisis is “unacceptable, and so I strongly advocate the EU-Turkey agreement being taken into a new phase.”
Under Merkel’s leadership, Germany has taken in hundreds of thousands of migrants and refugees from war-scarred regions in recent years.
Merkel acknowledged Turkey has borne the brunt of hosting millions of refugees from Syria, but it “can expect no understanding if it tries to solve its own problems on the back of refugees who then get stranded in a dead end at the Turkish-Greek border”.