Turkish opposition leader blasts deal with EU
Turkish biggest opposition politician, Ekrem Imamoglu, has publicly criticized the country’s refugee deal with the EU, saying it had brought more harm than benefit to his country. In particular, he attacked Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for using Turkey’s record refugee population as “bargaining chips” against Europe, while enriching himself. fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin
Ekrem Imamoglu, who is also the mayor of Istanbul, Turkey’s most populous city, said that Europe was using Turkey as a “wall” to protect itself against refugees, according to Turkey’s daily Cumhuriyet newspaper.
Imamoglu pointed out that the issue of migration had turned into a universal problem, requiring an equally universal approach which he thought was missing.
“The source may be hunger, thirst, climate crisis. Worse, it could be war,” he said at a meeting with business leaders in the West German city, adding that the root causes of migration and displacement were not being addressed by the international community.
“Unfortunately, Turkey has instead become a country where they throw money at the problem to keep the refugees there. The Republic of Turkey, its government, have failed this test.”
Sharp criticism of Erdogan
He further stressed that Turkey’s interference in the political affairs of neighboring countries at times of war had led to a further deterioration of the overall migrant and refugee situation in the country.
“Let me underline, we have triggered migration by interfering in certain disturbances in Syria or Iraq, especially in Syria, in a way that equally interferes in the internal affairs of the Republic of Turkey, and is contrary to the Republic of Turkey’s view of foreign relations in the world.”
Imamoglu further said that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had allowed the country to become a place where refugees were deliberately being held back from pursuing what they had set out to do, while Erdogan’s government enriched itself with EU funds.
Escalating foreign population numbers
Imamoglu stressed that all these trends had also resulted in unmanageable population growth in Turkey.
The population of Istanbul alone had grown by 2.5 million refugees over the past 10 years, making almost one in every five residents foreign, he highlighted. “This is unfair to the refugees and it is also unfair to the people of Istanbul,” he said.
The government meanwhile claims the number of refugees in the megacity to be notably lower in a bid to quell public discontent, according to Imamoglu. Turkey as a whole has become the new home of over 3.6 million refugees, according to the UNHCR.
It has taken in more refugees than any other country in the past decade, with the vast majority originating from neighboring Syria, which descended into civil war in 2011.
The EU- Turkish deal
The EU had signed a “statement of cooperation” with Turkey in 2016, which stipulates that — in exchange for several billion euros — Turkey would keep irregular migration into the EU at bay.
Furthermore, the deal also dictates that neighboring Greece could send migrants, who have arrived irregularly on its Aegean islands back to Turkey.
For every Syrian national sent back to Turkey, the European Union supposed to accept one Syrian refugee from Turkey.
However, that part of the deal in particular is widely regarded as faulty, as only a few of these exchanges have ever taken place successfully. The government has since looked at launching its own schemes to lower the number of Syrian refugees, including sending them back to Syria. Migrants and refugees continue to try the Aegean Sea from Turkey to Greece, resulting in countless deaths each year | Photo: Aegean Boat Report
Critics of the EU deal — like Imamoglu — further contest that the deal has resulted in a constant increase in the number of refugees in Turkey, putting the Turkish government in a position to use refugees as a “bargaining chip” against Europe.
In the past, President Erdogan has repeatedly threatened to “open the borders” and let migrants and refugees “flood” into the European Union.
A different relationship with the EU
Imamoglu widely considered a worthy contestant to Erdogan in Turkey’s next election after his opposition CHP party swept to victory in a municipal election earlier in the year.
However, the next general elections are due only to held in 2028, until which point much can still change.
Positioning himself as a viable alternative to Erdogan, who has been leading the country either as president or as prime minister for over two decades, Imamoglu said that rather than cutting deals with the EU, Turkey should try to move closer to the EU with a view of getting back on track with becoming an EU member.
“I am one of those who think that the continuation and sustainability of EU relations, the use of some of the criteria put forward by the EU for the benefit and favor of our country and the steps to taken in this regard are important for the happiness of the people of the country, despite the difficulties that the membership process suffered,” he said in Düsseldorf.
Under Erdogan’s leadership, Turkey has increasingly distanced itself from the EU and its core values, as the country’s fragile economy has also contributed to not making it a viable member state.
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