Feeding the troll
The Europeans are the only ones to blame for the situation they have found themselves in with the refugee crisis, that was one of the points that Turkish president Erdogan made during his meeting with the EU. And he may have a point, because Europe had long ignored the drama with the millions of Syrians fleeing a war that has been raging for years now. Somehow, the Europeans were kind of hoping the disaster would bypass them. And this, while 4 million refugees had already found refuge in neighboring countries. Half of them are in Turkey. So Erdogan did have a point when he said that Europe only started to pay attention when large masses of people started coming its way. And so he has taken a beneficial position, and will be trying to blackmail Europe by all the rules of the game.
It was depressing to watch the EU-Turkey meeting. It was a pathetic grotesque masquerade. The European bureaucrats were courting Erdogan, praising him as if they hadn't criticized him until yesterday. JC Juncker was particularly noticeable in this respect, he didn't spare efforts to swear his dedication to his friendship with Erdogan, presenting him as some Turkish reformist. It's true that politeness and hypocrisy are part of diplomacy, but bringing it to such extremes is also a slippery slope to tread on.
Any normal, thinking person would naturally ask themselves, how is it possible that the autocratic Turkish president whose human rights record and anti-democratic policies have made him rather infamous in recent times, has now become Europe's most important partner just overnight? Well, the reason for this is our very own failures as Europeans, and our almost pathological fear of external instability. What's more, the Syrian war has been raging for 4 years, and the outcome of it should've become patently clear from the get-go. But somehow, it didn't.
In any case, Erdogan made it very clear in Brussels that he'd be demanding the highest price for his cooperation on the refugee issue. The EU will now have to tolerate his assault on the Kurds in Iraq and Syria. He even went as far as to treat the Kurds in the same manner like the jihadists from the Islamic State, and call for a fight against everybody he deems a terrorist. What's more, Erdogan was initially supportive of the IS, probably counting on a double success: Assad would fall, plus he'd deal with the Kurds in the same shot. But now the tune has changed, and he says he's prepared to fight the Islamists - only, he insists on EU support for his battle with the Kurds as well. Those same Kurds who earned a lot of international sympathy with their defense against the Islamic State, and who were supported with arms and intel by the international community.
While Realpolitik does allow for the occasional compromise with principles and values, the Euros should be very careful not to squander their credibility. Most measures that've been discussed have mostly been a distraction anyway. The fight against human trafficking for example will likely never be successful because there's just too much money in that business. And the idea that EU asylum applications should be processed as early as the refugee steps on Turkish territory, is neither practically nor legally applicable. So how can you convince a Syrian that they should stay in Turkey and wait in the camps for the end of the war? And why would Erdogan need to agree to such terms, especially if he's now pushing for sending half a million refugees to Europe?
Turkey cannot and will not solve Europe's refugee problem. We'll have to do it ourselves. That is exactly why it's absolutely unthinkable to even begin doing concessions to Erdogan, which we cannot justify. Europe shouldn't legitimize his ascent to dictatorship for the sake of buying some time with the refugees. We shouldn't become his accomplices in his attempt to ignite a civil war in the Kurdish regions.
There are tens of millions of people fleeing from armed conflicts or natural disasters around the world. Only a minute part of those have arrived in Europe thus far. We'll neither die as a civilization nor disappear as a political entity if even another million people come from the Middle East in the next year. The population of this continent is almost half a billion people. Europe is hardly at the brink of its capacity. It's rather a question of political will whether we'd have the courage to show humanity, remain true to our proclaimed values, and do what's right. Shady deals with the likes of Erdogan are not the way.
It was depressing to watch the EU-Turkey meeting. It was a pathetic grotesque masquerade. The European bureaucrats were courting Erdogan, praising him as if they hadn't criticized him until yesterday. JC Juncker was particularly noticeable in this respect, he didn't spare efforts to swear his dedication to his friendship with Erdogan, presenting him as some Turkish reformist. It's true that politeness and hypocrisy are part of diplomacy, but bringing it to such extremes is also a slippery slope to tread on.
Any normal, thinking person would naturally ask themselves, how is it possible that the autocratic Turkish president whose human rights record and anti-democratic policies have made him rather infamous in recent times, has now become Europe's most important partner just overnight? Well, the reason for this is our very own failures as Europeans, and our almost pathological fear of external instability. What's more, the Syrian war has been raging for 4 years, and the outcome of it should've become patently clear from the get-go. But somehow, it didn't.
In any case, Erdogan made it very clear in Brussels that he'd be demanding the highest price for his cooperation on the refugee issue. The EU will now have to tolerate his assault on the Kurds in Iraq and Syria. He even went as far as to treat the Kurds in the same manner like the jihadists from the Islamic State, and call for a fight against everybody he deems a terrorist. What's more, Erdogan was initially supportive of the IS, probably counting on a double success: Assad would fall, plus he'd deal with the Kurds in the same shot. But now the tune has changed, and he says he's prepared to fight the Islamists - only, he insists on EU support for his battle with the Kurds as well. Those same Kurds who earned a lot of international sympathy with their defense against the Islamic State, and who were supported with arms and intel by the international community.
While Realpolitik does allow for the occasional compromise with principles and values, the Euros should be very careful not to squander their credibility. Most measures that've been discussed have mostly been a distraction anyway. The fight against human trafficking for example will likely never be successful because there's just too much money in that business. And the idea that EU asylum applications should be processed as early as the refugee steps on Turkish territory, is neither practically nor legally applicable. So how can you convince a Syrian that they should stay in Turkey and wait in the camps for the end of the war? And why would Erdogan need to agree to such terms, especially if he's now pushing for sending half a million refugees to Europe?
Turkey cannot and will not solve Europe's refugee problem. We'll have to do it ourselves. That is exactly why it's absolutely unthinkable to even begin doing concessions to Erdogan, which we cannot justify. Europe shouldn't legitimize his ascent to dictatorship for the sake of buying some time with the refugees. We shouldn't become his accomplices in his attempt to ignite a civil war in the Kurdish regions.
There are tens of millions of people fleeing from armed conflicts or natural disasters around the world. Only a minute part of those have arrived in Europe thus far. We'll neither die as a civilization nor disappear as a political entity if even another million people come from the Middle East in the next year. The population of this continent is almost half a billion people. Europe is hardly at the brink of its capacity. It's rather a question of political will whether we'd have the courage to show humanity, remain true to our proclaimed values, and do what's right. Shady deals with the likes of Erdogan are not the way.