Tusk has said that Turkey could be rewarded if it can do more to stem the influx of migrants and refugees flooding across the country and into Europe, where there is a significant asylum-seeker crisis which is threatening some of the major pillars of the European Union.
"An agreement with Turkey makes sense if it effectively reduces the inflow of refugees," Tusk said ahead of the arrival of a delegation of senior European Commission officials to Ankara.
According to the European border agency Frontex, the total number of migrants who crossed the EU's external borders in the first nine months of this year rose to more than 710,000 — with the Greek islands on the Aegean continuing to be the most affected by the unprecedented inflow of people. This compares with 282,000 recorded in all of last year.
- Due to an increasing shortage of boats in Libya and worsening weather conditions, the number of migrants arriving in Italy halved in the month of September to 12,000. That has led to a massive increase in those using Turkey as the transit route from the Middle East to Europe.
Greece has thus become the main country of entry. The Greek islands, especially Lesbos, continuing to face massive migratory pressure, with the number of detections in the January-September period reaching 350,000.
- Athens vs Ankara
But the offer of concession to Turkey — including visa-free travel and an acceleration of its full membership of the EU, having been only an associate member since 1963 — could spark off old enmities between Turkey and Greece, which — ironically — has most to gain from Turkey cracking down on the influx of asylum-seekers.
It will also cause concern among other EU member states as Germany, France and others are reluctant to accept populous Muslim Turkey into the EU and raise human rights concerns over Erdogan's policies towards, among others, Kurds and the media.
There is considerable animosity between Greece and Turkey dating back centuries, but most recently centered on Cyprus, where — in 1974 — Turkey occupied a third of the island in response to an Athens-backed coup aimed at annexing Cyprus to Greece................http://sptnkne.ws/UbK
14/10/15
--
-
Related:
Turkey, EU agree to migrant action plan (Report)
Greece 'can't discuss' Aegean refugee patrols with Turkey
---
EU Displays 'Zero' Ability to Defend External Borders From Refugees - (Milos Zeman)
UN resolution allows EU naval action on migrant boats
---
Millions more refugees could flee Syria, Turkey warns EU
Syrian refugees increasingly return to war zones in homeland
GR
FR
DE
ES
IT
RU
EU
Status als sicheres Herkunftsland..... Alles gut in der Türkei? ...
ReplyDeleteDie Türkei - ein sicheres Herkunftsland? Die EU tendiert zu einem Ja, und das hat vor allem mit der Flüchtlingskrise zu tun. Auch die Bundesregierung möchte die Türkei auf die EU-weite Liste sicherer Staaten setzen. Die Opposition ist strikt dagegen.
Auf die EU-weite Liste der sicheren Herkunftsländer kommen nur jene Staaten, die erwiesenermaßen die Menschenrechte achten, Presse- und Meinungsfreiheit herrschen und politisch Andersdenkende nicht verfolgt werden. Asylanträge von Menschen aus einem sicheren Herkunftsland haben in der Regel keine Chance auf Anerkennung.
Die EU-Kommission möchte die Türkei zu einem sicheren Herkunftsland erklären. Dieser Standpunkt habe sich durch die jüngsten Anschläge in Ankara nicht verändert, sagte eine Sprecherin der Brüsseler Behörde. Die Türkei sollte auf die Liste sicherer Herkunftsländer gesetzt werden, weil das Land Beitrittskandidat für die EU sei und deshalb vorausgesetzt werde, dass dort bestimmte Standards bei Menschenrechten erfüllt würden................http://www.tagesschau.de/inland/tuerkei-sicheres-herkunftsland-101.html
Germany’s Merkel says Turkey key to solving refugee crisis...
ReplyDeleteGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel said Turkey plays a key role in solving the "historic task" of dealing with Europe's migrant crisis and that the European Union should do more to help Ankara deal with the influx of refugees.
As a bitterly divided EU struggles to cope with hundreds of thousands of people fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East, Asia and Africa, securing cooperation of non-member Turkey is seen as increasingly central to managing the problem.
Addressing the Bundestag lower house of parliament before attending a European Union summit in Brussels later on Thursday, Merkel said a joint European effort was required to tackle the influx.
"Without a doubt Turkey plays a key role in this situation," she said. "Most war refugees who come to Europe travel via Turkey. We won't be able to order and stem the refugee movement without working together with Turkey."
This included giving Turkey more support in caring for the refugees and providing humanitarian aid, as well as helping to secure borders and combat criminal smuggling rings, she said................http://www.todayszaman.com/latest-news_germanys-merkel-says-turkey-key-to-solving-refugee-crisis_401565.html
15/10/15