Opening Of European Borders By Turkey Heightens Syrian Refugee Crisis

-
Fresh memories of the 2015 migrant crisis during which many lives were lost and dissension among European Union (EU) members took place looks like reoccurring with Turkey’s recent actions. Last week, Ankara opened its borders for the refugees towards Europe. Turkey’s action is being viewed by European countries as a violation of Turkey's refugee agreement with the EU which had halted the migration crisis of 2015-2016. However, Turkey says that it has reached its capacity and can no longer hold the gates for Europe, as the EU has not stood by the promises made. Ankara has alleged that EU has not released the € 6 billion promised aid, nor increased trade with Turkey; or expedited negotiations on Turkey's accession to the EU or visa-free travel to the EU member states for Turkish citizens. The EU has refuted these accusations. In fact, the European Commission claims that the aid it was supposed to give to Turkey has been paid out in full—albeit to refugee aid organizations and not directly to the Turkish government.

On Turkey’s accusation of the non-negotiation on EU membership, it has to be viewed in the context of certain harsh actions taken by Turkish President Receip Tayyip Erdogan after the 2016 coup d’état. The Turkish government has been ruthless in its attacking journalists and critics. A large number of German citizens are stuck in Turkish jails. The overall weakening of global trade, has impacted trade between Europe and Turkey. The rise of right-wing conservative politics (including anti-immigration parties) within Europe and Turkey’s strong fundamentalist leanings and de-globalization in Europe has created an uncomfortable situation. Xenophobia and religious intolerance in Europe including against Turkey, a NATO ally has risen.

Europe is still recovering from the 2015 migrant crisis. However, the member states of EU and NATO do not want to push Turkey away from the orbit of the trans-Atlantic security architecture as the consequences could be heavy for Europe, including from the migration perspective.

It is an undeniable fact that Turkey is the largest country apart from Jordan to have absorbed 3.6 million refugees from Syria. However, Ankara has said that it is unable to take in more refugees. The domestic situation within Turkey is fragile. The country’s economy is in a bad shape. There is high inflation, unemployment and violence against the refugees. With Syrian refugees surging in, the domestic situation in Turkey could get further complicated.

With the ongoing conflict in Idlib, Syria; many Syrian refugees are trying to take refuge in Turkey. There has been forceful deportation of these refugees by Turkish government under the resettlement plan of 2019. More refugees mean derailment of peace and stability within the country. 

Ankara also wants Europe’s help for providing security to Turkey to defeat the Syrian Kurds and the Syrian government. The Syrian forces loyal to President Bashar al Assad are battering the Turkish forces in Idlib. Mr. Erdogan wanted to play a pivotal role in the Syrian war, but that role has eluded him so far. Ankara’s security and reputation in the Arab world and in the international community too is now delicate. The Turkish President stands to lose his popularity within his country as well as in the Arab world. He met with Russian President Putin in Moscow on the situation in Idlib.

As the violence continues in Idlib, a million Syrian refugees has fled from Idlib. The latest refugee crisis has the potential to create more problems for both Europe and Turkey. Hence, Turkey is trying to pressurize Europe to win some favours. This could work domestically for Mr. Erdogan. The EU believes Ankara might be able to stop the massive influx of refugees from flooding the Balkan Route as it had done in 2015-16.

India had criticized Turkey’s unilateral military action in North-western Syria and had said that Turkish action can undermine stability in the region as well as the fight against terrorism. New Delhi hopes that the power-play between Turkey and EU does not jeopardize the fate of the million plus Syrian refugees from Idlib, who are facing a catastrophic situation.




Script: Dr. Indrani Talukdar, Strategic Analyst On Russia, Cis & Turkey

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Data Darbar Suicide Attack

-
The deadly attack on the famous Sufi shrine Data Darbar in Lahore on the second day of the holy month of Ramadan that killed 10 and injured more than 25 people is yet another ghastly reminder that Pakistan still shelters terrorist groups that have now come to haunt its own State. The suicide bombing was apparently targeted towards the elite security force that was assigned to guard the Shrine as the inflow of devotees increase during Ramadan. This is not the first time a Sufi Shrine was targeted by terrorists in Pakistan. Many Shrines like Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan, Baba Farid in Pakpattan and Abdullah Shah Ghazi in Karachi were attacked in the past. The Sufi nature of these shrines has made them an easy target of the terrorist groups that consider Sufis to be heretics. The terror organisations within Pakistan such as the Pakistan Taliban, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Hizbul Ahrar (said to be a splinter faction of the local Taliban) that took responsibility for the latest bombings in
Read more

US Needs To Relook Into Talks With The Taliban

-
The US has deviated from its resolve to root out terrorism in any form. From July last year it has entered into a dialogue with Taliban. The sixth round of these talks began in Doha, Qatar last week and is still underway. The talks have not yielded any result so far. US Special Envoy for the talks, Zalmay Khalilzad is reported to have said that the talks revolve around withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan, guarantees against terrorism, ensuring negotiations between Taliban and Afghanistan government for initiation of political settlement and a lasting cease fire. Direct involvement of US in Afghanistan dates back seventeen years to September 2001; when terrorists attacked twin towers of the World Trade Centre in New York. Following this, America had declared a war against terrorism. It vowed to punish Al Qaeda and its leader Osama Bin Laden, whom it considered to be behind the attacks on American soil. It also declared to root out Taliban from Afghanistan for providing safe
Read more

India To Roll Out The World’s Biggest Covid19 Vaccination Drive

-
India will begin inoculating its 1.3 billion population against coronavirus starting January 16, in one of the world’s massive rollouts. The first phase of this daunting and complex task will cover 30 million frontline and health workers. This will be followed by the vaccination of 270 million people above 50 years of age and the under-50 population groups with co-morbidities or with high risk of infection. The aim is to vaccinate 300 million, equal almost to the entire US population, by July. This will be an unprecedented scale of immunisation. From developing, manufacturing to becoming a key supplier, India will play a crucial role in the global immunisation programme with two “Made in India” vaccines—Covaxin and Covishield. Covaxin, India’s first indigenous vaccine against Covid 19, is manufactured by the Hyderabad-based pharma company Bharat Biotech. The second, Covishield, was developed jointly by Oxford University and AstraZeneca, and is manufactured by the Serum Institute of Ind
Read more