Turkey warns of migrant surge in spat with EU
The Turkey-EU migrant deal is largely sticking because both sides have benefited from it, but Ankara is working to leverage the plight of refugees in exchange for cash and visas.
Turkey has renewed a warning to the European Union about a new surge of migrants as its impatience grows over foot-dragging on visa-free travel, exposing the divide between Ankara and the bloc it says it still wants to join.
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu also complained in an interview published by the Turkiye newspaper on Aug. 11 that the EU’s refusal to open new chapters in membership talks was “entirely political” and Western allies had failed to sufficiently support President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after he faced down a military coup last year.
Under a 6 billion euro deal agreed last year, EU money has been coming in, giving Turkey’s sluggish economy a boost and helping it manage the world’s largest population of refugees.
But Brussels has not delivered on pledges to allow Turks to travel to most EU countries without a visa and to accelerate membership talks. Instead, it has heaped criticism on Turkey for human rights abuses in the crackdown that followed the failed coup and persisted through a constitutional referendum in April that gave Erdogan sweeping new powers.
