Europe again has two options: War and peace
German Chancellor Angela Merkel paid her second visit to Turkey this week after four months. Turkey-EU and Turkey-Germany summits and intergovernmental meetings came to the fore as a sort of continuation of Merkel's visit in October 2015. Germany regards the wave of migration, which reaches Europe via Turkey or the Mediterranean, as a systemic question for Europe. Although Germany encouraged unqualified labor migration from the countries that it considered to be "underdeveloped countries on the periphery," and particularly from Turkey, in the early 1970s and eluded to the crisis thanks to its reunification with East Germany in the 1990s, it now perceives the young migrant population on its doorstep a basic threat.
Merkel had a clear concern on her October visit, as she knew that the migration from Syria and Iraq would continue and it has begun pushing Turkey's limits. Despite all this, until the last moment, the Merkel administration and the EU's authorized bodies thought that Turkey would function as a buffer country for refugees with a few billion euros that they would provide for refugees in Turkey.
There were attempts to bring the oft-told 3 billion euros into question as a favor to the EU. Just a few days before Merkel's visit, German Government Speaker Steffen Seibert said that the parties partially fulfilled obligations that were specified in action plans in previous meetings and suggested that Turkey should further focus on refugees reaching Europe by sea. The refugee crisis was also a topical issue of Turkey-EU talks during the G20 Summit, which was held in Antalya one month after Merkel's October visit. Turkey-EU relations came to the brink of a rupture when Turkey realized that the European Commission (EC) regarded the refugee crisis as a temporary problem, which would be resolved with monetary assistance that would be offered as a "favor" to Turkey. This was followed by a Turkey-EU summit where the EU pledged that it would open some strategic chapters, such as energy and defense, as a part of Turkey's accession process. The EU thinks that the refugee crisis will be permanently resolved with superficial steps such as offering visa-free travel for Turkish citizens in the Schengen Area and providing monetary assistance to refugees in Turkey - which reveals that it fails to or does not want to understand the change and political tendency in Turkey.
All the steps that the West takes to deal with the refugee crisis, including the Syria Donors Conference in London last week, are a total fiasco. A journalist friend of mine who followed the conference in London said the West put on a theater play in London although it is aware of the tragedy. During the conference, world leaders pledged to raise nearly $10 billion for refugees, however they only raised 53 percent of the committed $7 billion last year. Let us suppose that they raised this amount of money and even pledged to provide an additional $100 billion. Nevertheless, do you not think that even this is hypocrisy without finding a political solution to the problem? With its own means, Turkey did all of the things that the West promised to do for refugees in conferences, like Kilis alone. I suggest for those who are interested, to get an appointment with Kilis Governor Süleyman Tapsız and visit the Elbeyli refugee camp, which has turned into a modern settlement with its schools, hospitals, rehabilitation centers and marketplaces.
Certainly, the U.N. is also a part of this theater play. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was hiding truths while he was saying in London that "some" countries behave generously toward refugees, but the international community remains incapable of eliminating the tragedy. He placed the incapability of the U.S. and the EU upon the whole international community and overlooked Turkey's endeavors for an economic and political solution, calling it one of the "some generous" countries.
Once again, Merkel came to Ankara not only as the German chancellor, but also as the strongest and most influential European leader. At this point, we need to ask the following question to the EU: Do you want to continue this theater play altogether, or take a step toward a comprehensive and radical political resolution process that will be supported by Turkey's full membership in the EU? Now, there is an indisputable fact that the refugee crisis remains on the agenda as a dynamic that will only intensify the EU's economic and political crisis. Indeed, the EU, and Germany of course, is on the brink of a greater and deeper economic crisis than the 1923 crisis, which brought about great pains for humanity. Fascism and World War II were the results of the wrong steps that were taken to handle that crisis.
Now, those who uphold alternatives such as instigating a more severe war and pushing Turkey into this war by destabilizing it in order to resolve the crisis will strive to maintain this theater play. They will organize all kinds of conspiracies against Turkish politics on the one hand, and pursue Fabian tactics to make Turkey a buffer zone for refugees on the other. Those who prefer this will not content themselves with the Syrian civil war, as they aim for a kind of "Balkanization" policy on Turkey, which is similar to the one in Yugoslavia, as a continuation of the Syrian civil war. They try to achieve this through paramilitary organizations such as the PKK and DAESH. Fortunately, Turkey is aware of this inhumane alternative and the big game.
Turkey's solution offer is also an ultimate step toward peace in the Middle East, as it suggests that firstly a solution that excludes President Bashar Assad should be found in Syria, and then paramilitary terrorist organizations such as the PKK and DAESH should be eliminated in Iraq. The EU should not accept Russia and Iran seeking new sovereignty areas in the Mediterranean through the Syrian civil war. Significant steps toward Turkey's full membership in the EU will be a beginning for the resolution of the Cyprus and Palestine questions.
Again, there are two options lying ahead of Europe a century later. Either it will try to overcome the crisis through a war - which means a disaster not only for the Middle East, but also for Europe - or it will agree on a peaceful solution with Turkey.
Merkel had a clear concern on her October visit, as she knew that the migration from Syria and Iraq would continue and it has begun pushing Turkey's limits. Despite all this, until the last moment, the Merkel administration and the EU's authorized bodies thought that Turkey would function as a buffer country for refugees with a few billion euros that they would provide for refugees in Turkey.
There were attempts to bring the oft-told 3 billion euros into question as a favor to the EU. Just a few days before Merkel's visit, German Government Speaker Steffen Seibert said that the parties partially fulfilled obligations that were specified in action plans in previous meetings and suggested that Turkey should further focus on refugees reaching Europe by sea. The refugee crisis was also a topical issue of Turkey-EU talks during the G20 Summit, which was held in Antalya one month after Merkel's October visit. Turkey-EU relations came to the brink of a rupture when Turkey realized that the European Commission (EC) regarded the refugee crisis as a temporary problem, which would be resolved with monetary assistance that would be offered as a "favor" to Turkey. This was followed by a Turkey-EU summit where the EU pledged that it would open some strategic chapters, such as energy and defense, as a part of Turkey's accession process. The EU thinks that the refugee crisis will be permanently resolved with superficial steps such as offering visa-free travel for Turkish citizens in the Schengen Area and providing monetary assistance to refugees in Turkey - which reveals that it fails to or does not want to understand the change and political tendency in Turkey.
All the steps that the West takes to deal with the refugee crisis, including the Syria Donors Conference in London last week, are a total fiasco. A journalist friend of mine who followed the conference in London said the West put on a theater play in London although it is aware of the tragedy. During the conference, world leaders pledged to raise nearly $10 billion for refugees, however they only raised 53 percent of the committed $7 billion last year. Let us suppose that they raised this amount of money and even pledged to provide an additional $100 billion. Nevertheless, do you not think that even this is hypocrisy without finding a political solution to the problem? With its own means, Turkey did all of the things that the West promised to do for refugees in conferences, like Kilis alone. I suggest for those who are interested, to get an appointment with Kilis Governor Süleyman Tapsız and visit the Elbeyli refugee camp, which has turned into a modern settlement with its schools, hospitals, rehabilitation centers and marketplaces.
Certainly, the U.N. is also a part of this theater play. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was hiding truths while he was saying in London that "some" countries behave generously toward refugees, but the international community remains incapable of eliminating the tragedy. He placed the incapability of the U.S. and the EU upon the whole international community and overlooked Turkey's endeavors for an economic and political solution, calling it one of the "some generous" countries.
Once again, Merkel came to Ankara not only as the German chancellor, but also as the strongest and most influential European leader. At this point, we need to ask the following question to the EU: Do you want to continue this theater play altogether, or take a step toward a comprehensive and radical political resolution process that will be supported by Turkey's full membership in the EU? Now, there is an indisputable fact that the refugee crisis remains on the agenda as a dynamic that will only intensify the EU's economic and political crisis. Indeed, the EU, and Germany of course, is on the brink of a greater and deeper economic crisis than the 1923 crisis, which brought about great pains for humanity. Fascism and World War II were the results of the wrong steps that were taken to handle that crisis.
Now, those who uphold alternatives such as instigating a more severe war and pushing Turkey into this war by destabilizing it in order to resolve the crisis will strive to maintain this theater play. They will organize all kinds of conspiracies against Turkish politics on the one hand, and pursue Fabian tactics to make Turkey a buffer zone for refugees on the other. Those who prefer this will not content themselves with the Syrian civil war, as they aim for a kind of "Balkanization" policy on Turkey, which is similar to the one in Yugoslavia, as a continuation of the Syrian civil war. They try to achieve this through paramilitary organizations such as the PKK and DAESH. Fortunately, Turkey is aware of this inhumane alternative and the big game.
Turkey's solution offer is also an ultimate step toward peace in the Middle East, as it suggests that firstly a solution that excludes President Bashar Assad should be found in Syria, and then paramilitary terrorist organizations such as the PKK and DAESH should be eliminated in Iraq. The EU should not accept Russia and Iran seeking new sovereignty areas in the Mediterranean through the Syrian civil war. Significant steps toward Turkey's full membership in the EU will be a beginning for the resolution of the Cyprus and Palestine questions.
Again, there are two options lying ahead of Europe a century later. Either it will try to overcome the crisis through a war - which means a disaster not only for the Middle East, but also for Europe - or it will agree on a peaceful solution with Turkey.