Ankara warns EU migrant deal in jeopardy

The Turkish government has recently issued multiple warnings to the European Union saying that the migrant deal reached in March 2016 was in jeopardy, amid a war of words between Ankara and Brussels.

Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, in a televised interview on Wednesday, said the Turkish government may revoke the refugee deal with the EU.

The minister's remarks come at a time, when the Turkey-EU relations have hit at an all-time low, especially after last week's barring and detention of Turkish ministers and officials by the Netherlands.

Meanwhile, Turkey's EU Minister and Chief Negotiator Ömer Çelik told a foreign news agency on Thursday that there was currently no sense for Turkey to continue implementing an agreement with the EU on refugees.

"Turkey has fulfilled all its obligations, under the agreement, while the EU has not complied with any of them. The EU has not taken a single step to receive refugees as part of the voluntary accommodation. Only a small part of financial assistance promised to Turkey has arrived and the issue of visa liberalization [for Turkish citizens in EU countries] has not been resolved. There is no reason for us to continue implementing this agreement," Çelik told TASS, a Russian news agency.

The EU minister said "the EU is benefiting from the agreement while Turkey is not," adding, "So, in my opinion, there is no sense in continuing to implement this agreement."

In response to Ankara's warnings, European Commission spokesperson Margaritis Schinas on Thursday claimed that the EU was loyal to the deal, and added that Brussels expected the same from Ankara.

"We continue to remain loyal to the Turkish-EU deal. It is an agreement depending on mutual trust, and we expect both sides to respect that," the spokesperson said.

Turkey and the EU signed a refugee deal in March 2016, which aimed to discourage irregular migration through the Aegean Sea by taking stricter measures against human traffickers and improving the conditions of nearly three million Syrian refugees in Turkey.

The deal included a 6 billion euro ($6.8 billion) aid package to help Turkey care for the millions of refugees hosted in the country. However, Turkey has so far received only 677 million euro.

The agreement also allowed for the acceleration of Turkey's EU membership bid and visa-free travel for Turkish nationals within the Schengen area that comprises most EU states.

However, "the issue of severing the agreement should be solved at the level of the president or the premier," Çelik said.

Last week, the Netherlands detained the Turkish chargé d'affaires in The Hague, Alper Yüksel and Rotterdam Consul-General Sadin Ayyıldız. The Dutch premier Mark Rutte later apologized to his Turkish counterpart Binali Yıldırım for the detentions.

EU officials, refusing to condemn the actions of the Dutch government, have opted to remain silent.

"European Commission head [Jean-Claude] Juncker and Commissioner for Enlargement [Johannes] Hahn are making anti-Turkish statements that do not comply in any way with the EU principles and values," Çelik said.