EU leaders and the Turkish prime minister sealed a joint summit with a commitment to re-energize Turkey’s long-stalled membership talks and bolster their common resolve to deal with the Syrian refugee crisis.
The 28 EU leaders leaned hard on Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to stem the flow of refugees and migrants seeking a better future in Europe’s heartland and European Council President Donald Tusk said the latest estimate showed that “approximately 1.5 million people” had illegally entered the bloc this year, a lot coming through Turkey.
It left the EU in need of help from Ankara, even if their recent relations have been sown with discord.
Photo: AFP
On Sunday, it was hugs all around as Tusk and Davutoglu completed what they called a breakthrough summit to put relations on an even keel again.
“Turkish membership will be an asset,” said Davutoglu after “no disagreements emerged” during the hastily-called emergency meeting.
Both sides got concessions: The EU desperately needs Turkish help to contain the flow of migrants into the bloc, and Turkey resuscitated long-mothballed hopes to join a bloc in which it would, by population, become one of the biggest member states. The refugee crisis has reminded European leaders just how much Turkey — whether a bloc member or not — is a pivotal partner for the EU and a buffer state from the bedlam rocking much of the Middle East.
The EU would need to monitor Turkey’s commitments “step-by-step,” deal with the migrant crisis, fight extremism and help end Syria’s political crisis, French President Francois Hollande said, adding that any funds for a 3 billion euro (US$3.39 billion) package to help Turkey deal with refugees would be released progressively as the commitments are checked.
Davutoglu said that money was not earmarked for Turkey per se, but for refugees on Turkish soil.
“Turkey must do its utmost to contain the illegal immigration into Europe and the number of refugees has to decline substantially,” Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said.
As a sweetener the EU is again discussing issues that were long off the table.
Davutoglu said Turkey stood committed to help, but could not make hard promises.
“I wish to say the number of migrants will decline, but we cannot say this because we don’t know what’s going on in Syria,” he said.
As part of the carrot approach, the EU promises to make haste with talks on easing visa restrictions and fast-tracking Turkey’s EU membership.
More than 2 million refugees from Syria live in Turkey, but according to Amnesty International, only about one in 10 are being helped by the government. The rest fend largely for themselves.
Even if support for closer relations with Turkey has often been lukewarm at best in many of the EU member states, the refugee crisis has forced a drastic revision of relations with Ankara.
“Turkey is right to expect that the EU provides relief,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said.
However, others said that any aid had to be offset by Turkish commitments on reform and respect for human rights.
Tusk put it straight to Davutoglu during the opening session of the summit.
In return for EU aid, “we expect to see an immediate and substantial reduction of irregular migrants arriving to Europe,” he said.
In addition, EU nations want Turkey “to realize the common objective of coming closer together through reforms, the upholding of the highest standards of human rights and media freedom and the implementation of agreed roadmaps and benchmarks,” he said..
Turkey could not be given a “blank check” from the EU to help it handle the refugee crisis, Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said, adding that his nation is not ready yet to free up money.
Although Turkey has long sought to join the bloc, Michel said Turkey is “far away from membership” and “there is much progress that needs to be made.”
In a recent membership progress report on Turkey, the EU criticized Ankara’s interference with its justice system and Turkish government pressure on the media. Last week, two more opposition journalists were jailed in Turkey.
EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Representative Federica Mogherini said that there was enough to bind both sides together.
“Turkey and Europe need each other. We are facing the same problems — from the war in Syria to terrorism to the stability or instability for the region. we can be partners,” she said.
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