Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was entitled, Tuesday, April 6, to preferential treatment, which few heads of state can boast of having benefited from.
Charles Michel, the President of the European Council, and Ursula von der Leyen, her Commission counterpart, both came to the Bestepe presidential palace in Ankara to outline the “new chapter” that the European Union (EU) wishes to open up in its relationship with Turkey.
The visit took place at the invitation of Mr Erdogan, anxious, at a time when his country is under US sanctions and as its economy falters, to pick up the pieces of the relationship with the Old Continent. , damaged by its blackmail to migrants, its energy ambitions in the Eastern Mediterranean, the sending of Syrian mercenaries to Libya and the Caucasus.
The 2016 agreement on prolonged migration flows
EU leaders want to capitalize on the concessions made recently by Turkey’s number one, which has become more conciliatory towards Greece and Cyprus. Turkish ships prospecting for Greek and Cypriot gas fields in the Mediterranean have been recalled to port, and direct talks between Athens and Ankara, interrupted since 2016, have resumed.
The Twenty-Seven want to believe in the resumption of a peaceful relationship with Ankara, a “Important partner”, in particular on the question of the reception of refugees, mostly Syrians. “We are grateful to Turkey for welcoming refugees”, insisted on underlining Mr. Michel during his visit.
The agreement, signed in 2016 with Europe and by which the Turkish authorities commit to blocking migratory flows to Greece in return for financial assistance, i.e. 6 billion euros, will be extended. “I am very attached to ensuring the continuity of European funding”, insisted Mme von der Leyen after talks with the Turkish president.
As the 3.6 million Syrian refugees currently hosted by Turkey have left to stay, humanitarian aid is no longer enough; integration projects must be developed. This subject is of particular concern to Germany and Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democracy (CDU) during this election campaign period. A concern shared by Mr. Erdogan, who said he was in favor, according to his spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin, to a “Rapid extension” of the pact, which expired in March.
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