The deal signed between Brussels and Ankara last March to limit the flow of refugees to Europe through Turkey is a reminder of the “dumping policy” the Cuban regime used against Washington during the early ’90s to extract compromises. Back then, Fidel Castro threatened to immerse the U.S. with Cuban citizens, prompting Americans to retaliate with “the wet foot, dry foot” policy that only allows those who make it to U.S. shores to remain in the country.
But with the Turkey- EU deal, things look the opposite. This time, illegal migrants crossing from Turkey to Greek islands, as of March 20, would be sent back. And for every Syrian returned to Turkey from Greek islands, the EU would resettle another Syrian refugee residing in Turkey. Moreover, Ankara will be granted six billion euros in two payments, in addition to a promise to lift the Schengen visa requirements for Turkish citizens, though the latter is becoming increasingly difficult to achieve, especially after the recent coup attempt and its expected aftermath on social stability in Turkey.This may be the first time in which the expulsion of refugees who set foot on European soil is legalized, contradicting immigration laws and the right to seek asylum in the EU and in stark contrast to the human rights values and standards long-adopted by Brussels.The difference here too is that Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, unlike Castro, used refugees from another country as a weapon to gain cheap political points from the Europeans, by throwing nearly one million humans on European shores in 2015, as the Turkish leader himself admitted in a statement months ago.It is indeed a fact that Erdogan has exploited the migration crisis as a weapon to be used both internally and externally. By pushing EU countries to enact laws that tighten the state’s security grip in fear of possible chaos caused by the influx of migrants from the MENA region, he provided himself with pretexts to justify his totalitarian approaches and repressive policies towards media, judicature and civil society organizations, enabling him to come forward and tell his critics that the European system of values and laws is not much different than that he practices at home.In this context, it comes as no surprise that while Erdogan shuts down an opposition newspaper, Denmark strips a man of his citizenship over “terror links.” And as the Turkish president insists on passing anti-terror laws to smother his political opponents, France grasps on to the state of emergency, with authorities even threatening to implement it on protests over a labour reform bill. And while Turkish parliament voted to lift MPs’ immunity from prosecution while granting it to the armed forces, various European governments have expressed interest in recruiting more people to work with intelligence agencies, in a gradual shift to the police state concept.Furthermore, Erdogan used the failed coup attempt as another tool to justify a readily made plan to tighten his grip on power. Ironically, on the same day he declared a state of emergency, lashing out at France for rebuking him over the arrest and firing of thousands of alleged participants in the coup and sympathizers to the “parallel structure.” He made sure to point out that France has also introduced a state of emergency after the Paris attacks eight months ago, indirectly branding the coup as a “terrorist plot”.EU countries have also found themselves forced to tighten asylum and integration rules: Sweden will, from now on, grant refugees temporary residence permits rather than permanent ones, limiting as well the right to family reunification. Greece is now virtually out of the Schengen area with airport security frequently preventing certain passengers from boarding to European destinations, thus enforcing a de facto border control. Other European countries have meanwhile built border fences to keep migrants out, thrashing the principle of free movement upon which the EU was initially founded. In addition, the flow of migrants has left negative effects on the inter-relation between Muslim and non-Muslim Europeans, with mosques coming under attack from local populations angered by the growing number of migrants who have exhausted the budgets of host countries already reeling from the impact of successive economic crises.History will note that Erdogan, with the aid of Europe’s leftists irrationality, has destroyed European societies. More than five centuries after his ancestors invaded the continent, he “reconquered” it by sending a million desperate, hopeless and helpless refugees to their deaths, transforming the Mediterranean sea into a mass grave; merely for the sake of personal pretension and to feed his aspirations to pose as a 21st century Ottoman Caliphate.In all cases, the EU has failed to address the question of illegal immigration, not only because it caved in to Erdogan’s blackmailing and offered him what he sought — to turn the European states into banana republics — but also because the deal itself does not solve the roots of the migration crisis. Refugees will, in turn, search for alternative routes to reach Europe (Italy via Libya for instance), leading other countries to follow the example of Ankara. Rauf Baker is a journalist and researcher with expertise in the Middle East. Thinking of submitting an op-ed to the Washington Examiner? Be sure to read our guidelines on submissions.
