A deal reached between Turkey and the European
Union on March 18 in Brussels has begun implementation starting from April 4,
as Greece deported hundreds of irregular
immigrants to Turkey while Turkey shipped an almost equal number of Syrian
refugees to some European countries last week.
Although
there are still some problems in the way of a more efficient implementation on
both sides, the agreement has proven to make clear to all potential irregular
immigrants that using the Aegean route to reach to Europe is no longer possible.
There has
been a drastic decrease in the number of immigrants reaching the shores of Greek islands in the recent weeks. Turkey
is about to complete the construction of temporary protection centers along its
Aegean coast in order to fully abide by the international law in a bid to ease
the concerns of human right groups.
Scot-free
implementation of the agreement will surely make the visit of some senior
European leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, to Kilis, a
southeastern Anatolian town on the Syrian border, on April 16 much more
comfortable.
For his
part, Prime Minister Ahmet
Davutoğlu will be able to host Merkel and other European guests in this tiny
village with his mind at peace. Davutoğlu and Merkel are expected to attend the
ground-breaking ceremony of some facilities in Kilis to be erected with the
funds provided by the EU for Syrian refugees. These activities will surely
promote Kilis’, a city that hosts more refugees than its population, potential
nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize.
This
summary represents only one side of the coin. The other side, however, concerns
Turkey’s expectation from the EU in return to stop the flow of refugees. The EU
has announced that it will open chapter 33 on budgetary policies in June to
show Turkey that accession process is continuing.
However, granting
Turkish citizens the right to visa-free travel in the Schengen area stands as a
contentious issue. Turkey has to fulfill all 72 criteria before May 4 but it
could accomplish only 43 of them so far, as Davutoğlu announced on April 8. The
prime minister seemed to be sure that his government will be able to complete
all of them in the next three weeks so that Turkish citizens will be able to go
to Schengen countries without a visa starting late June.
President
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s stance with regard to EU criteria is a little different
from that of Davutoğlu. Erdoğan earlier had criticized EU for making the
visa-liberalization process more difficult for Turkey by introducing these 72
criteria. On April 7, however, he used a more though language and threatened to
stop the implementation of the refugee deal if Brussels did not fulfill its
promises to Turkey.
It’s no
secret that Erdoğan is not very happy with the refugee agreement, as he thinks
the government has accepted receiving refugees from Greece without securing visa-free travel for
Turkish citizens.
This is
why the upcoming weeks for the government’s bid to fully meet necessary
requirements are very, very important, not only because the fate of the refugee
deal but also the future of Turkey-EU relations.
Ankara
and Brussels should continue to work very hard and in full coordination for the
continuation of this cooperation.
No comments:
Post a Comment