Turkey's threat to open doors for refugees no longer frightens EU

Barçın Yinanç writes: The European Union is fine with keeping the 2016 migration deal limited to providing financial assistance in exchange for Turkey’s efforts to keep refugees crossing Europe. They feel less the pressure of migration. Turkey’s threat to open the doors does no longer frightens the EU capitals.

Friday March 19 2021 12:01 pm

Duvar English

As the EU-Turkey migration agreement reached its five year anniversary, Turkey’s threat to open the doors for refugees no longer frightens the European Union, journalist Barçın Yinanç wrote on YetkinReport on March 19.

“Germany and some other countries are fine with keeping the deal limited to providing financial assistance in exchange for Turkey’s efforts to keep refugees crossing Europe. Yet some others are unwilling to put their money in their pockets to contribute to the funding. That’s because they feel less the pressure of migration,” Yinanç wrote.

“And also, they see no moral problem in countries like Greece pushing back migrants illegally violating all international regulations. As a result, Turkey’s threat to open the doors does no longer frightens the EU capitals.”

Yinanç said that although Turkey would like to revitalize all the articles of the deal about Turkish-EU relations, it has missed this chance due to the democratic backpedaling that followed the coup attempt.

“Now it wants to seize the opportunity by trying to convince EU capitals that it will reverse its course. Yet in addition to improvements in human rights records, the EU wants to see the easing of the tension in the East Mediterranean,” she wrote, adding that Ankara's attempt to close the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) will make the EU more skeptical about Turkey’s willingness to implement democratic reforms.

“Turkey will yet again miss the chance to revitalize a positive agenda with the EU,” she wrote.

Yinanç's piece can be reached in full here.