IKV CHAIRMAN AYHAN ZEYTİNOĞLU: IT IS IMPORTANT FOR TURKEY AND THE EU NOT TO SACRIFICE THE LONG-TERM RELATIONSHIP WHILE SEEKING AN URGENT SOLUTION TO THE REFUGEE CRISIS

9 MARCH 2016

Prime Minister Davutoğlu has surprised everyone when submitting to EU leaders his new demands and proposals at the Turkey-EU Summit held in Brussels on 7 Mach 2016. A day earlier, the new proposition presented by Turkey in regard to the joint action plan on the refugee crisis during the meeting held by Prime Minister Davutoğlu with Chancellor Merkel and Dutch Prime Minister Rütte are as follows:

• To resettle, for every Syrian readmitted by Turkey from Greek islands, another Syrian from Turkey to the EU Member States,

• To speed up the disbursement of the initially allocated 3 billion euros and to provide Turkey with an extra 3 billion euros to help Turkey deal with Syrian refugees through to the end of 2018. ( To provide a financial assistance of 6 billion euros in total)

• To move forward the completion of the visa liberalization process for Turkish citizens at the latest by the end of June 2016 instead of October 2016

• To open new chapters in the accession negotiations to give momentum to Turkey’s ongoing EU accession negotiations. 

Considering Turkey’s proposal, it could be reasonable to set June 2016 for the completion of the visa liberalization process which is the same date when the Readmission Agreement is scheduled to enter into force. In this way, it would be ensured those two relevant issues go into operation simultaneously. In other words, 46 criteria out of the 72 within the framework of the second visa liberalization roadmap published on 4 March 2016 should be fulfilled.

Among these conditions, there are many benchmarks such as preventing passport forgery, enhancing the coastal guard command’s capacity, empowering the border control, ensuring that the relevant European Council Conventions are signed and ratified, aligning passports with the European standards, introducing visas for nationals of other potential sources of irregular migration, adopting legislation on the protection of personal data and some other key issues in line with EU and CoE standards.

The Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM), the Turkish government and all related ministries need to rapidly move forward to meet these objectives. Moreover, the visa liberalization goal should be supported by all segments of society. Nonetheless, one should note that even if visa-free travel did materialize for Turkish citizens, there is always a risk of being turned back at the EU Member States’ crossing points. Therefore, the Turkish public should be informed of these possibilities.

Whilst the funds that are requested by Turkey could be interpreted as bargaining, it should be considered more from the perspective of burden sharing with the EU.  Keeping in mind that the refugee issue is a continuing problem and that it is expected from Turkey to readmit irregular migrants, who are currently in the EU within the framework of the readmission mechanism, it could be perceived more as a problem of migration management. It is not possible to expect from Turkey to assume the entire financial burden in that respect. From that perspective, it is of utmost importance for such funds to be maintained and to be implemented in the context of a strong and effective cooperation between Turkey and the EU.

As for the issue of resettling for every Syrian readmitted by Turkey from Greek islands, another Syrian from Turkey to the EU Member States, it should be kept in mind that Syrian nationals, as individuals who are fleeing from war are enjoying the right to be provided with international protection. Within that framework, the accommodation of Syrian nationals in EU countries is a reality of international law. Furthermore, one should remind that the quota of 160,000 people with respect to Syrian refugees has still not been shared among EU countries. Moreover, some Member States have revealed that they would put in a referendum the issue of quota which falls upon them. The reluctance shown by many EU countries to accommodate within their realm Syrian refugees currently present in Turkish camps has rendered it a fair but unrealistic objective. In that situation, it is critical for Turkey to tread carefully by taking into account the EU’s realities.

Finally, Turkey’s request to reinvigorate the accession process is a fair one. However, one should remind that for the chapters on Energy; Judiciary and Fundamental Rights; Justice, Freedom and Security and Foreign, Security and Defence Policy to be opened to negotiations; the veto imposed by the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus must be lifted.  Moreover, in order to create a positive impetus in the accession negotiations by virtue of the rapprochement between the parties on the refugee crisis, Turkey should accelerate its reform process and take into account EU standards especially in issues regarding independence of the judiciary and freedom of expression and of the press.