UPDATE!! TURKEY DEAL IN TATTERS: Visa-free deal falling apart as EU reaches deadlock

Europe’s migrant deal with Turkey may be unraveling. But it was flawed from the start


May 25 at 5:53 PM

Erdogan warned European leaders that he would block the deal if the European Union refused to lift visa restrictions for Turks — one of the pact’s key provisions. He said that Turkey would not take any more steps to implement the agreement.

Under the deal, Turkey also agreed to accept the return of asylum seekers whose applications are rejected in Greece and to crack down on the smuggling networks that facilitated much of the migration.

But even as Turkish and European leaders publicly spar over the details, critics have warned that the deal — hastily negotiated in the midst of the refugee crisis last year — has been flawed from the start. The agreement is based on the premise that Turkey, which hosts more than 2 million Syrian refugees, is safe for asylum seekers and that returning migrants to Turkish territory does not violate European or international law.

But some of the first deportations under the deal have already exposed abuses by Turkey’s government, and Turkish authorities have forcibly returned refugees fleeing war in Afghanistan and Syria, rights groups and E.U. lawmakers say. Last week, a Greek tribunal ruled that a Syrian national who had appealed his deportation from Europe could stay on the island of Lesbos. The court said there is no guarantee refugees will be provided full protection in Turkey.

[link to www.washingtonpost.com (secure)]

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Terrorists are more likely to attack European countries as a result of a controversial deal to allow Turkish citizens to travel across the continent without visas, EU leaders have admitted.

Foreign terrorists and organised criminals are “expected” to seek Turkish passports to reach continental Europe “as soon as” the visa waiver program comes into force, a European Commission report said.

The disclosure came as Sir Richard Dearlove, the former head of MI6, warned that the decision to give Turkey visa-free travel is “perverse” and compared it to “storing gasoline next to the fire”.

Sir Richard also said that the EU will face a "populist uprising" if it fails to control migration.

Turkey’s 75 million citizens will have the right to enter the Schengen zone for up to 90 days at a time with biometric passports from the end of June if Ankara passes key anti-corruption and terrorism reforms.

The decision was part of a hastily-assembled deal brokered by Brussels to halt the flow of migrants from Turkey to Greece.

However, the European Commission report acknowledges the “increased mobility into the Schengen area of criminals and terrorists who are citizens of Turkey, or who are foreigners based in Turkey.”

It came as:


A referendum poll for this newspaper finds that Remain is now ahead on 51 per cent, with Leave trailing on 45 per cent of the vote.

A new analysis found that European immigrants to Britain cost taxpayers £3 million a day last year.

Boris Johnson said that EU migration is driving up A&E waiting times, as he claimed a Brexit would help end the "scandal" of long queues for emergency care.

George Osborne said that a Brexit will see the UK miss out on £200billion a year of trade by 2030 and compared Leave campaign to conspiracy theorists who think the moon landing was faked.

The European Commission has recently also proposed visa-free travel deals with Kosovo, Ukraine and Georgia, which are blighted by organised crime.

“The proposed visa liberalisation for Turkish citizens travelling to the EU could potentially have an impact on the terrorist risk in the EU in as far as the movement of terrorists of Turkish citizenship to and from the Schengen area is concerned,” the report states.


[link to www.telegraph.co.uk]
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prev thread title: BREAKING!! NEW article JUST NOW!!!!! Turkey demands EU hands over €3 BILLION for refugees!! Turkey EU deal FALLING APART!!!

Turkey is demanding that the EU hand over €3bn promised in aid for Syrian refugees under the landmark agreement so that Turkish authorities can spend it as they see fit. Brussels has resisted, prompting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to accuse the 28-member union of “mocking the dignity” of the Turkish nation.


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The money was agreed to by EU leaders in exchange for Turkey’s help as they scramble to prevent a repeat of the chaotic scenes of last year, when more than 800,000 refugees and migrants paid smugglers to put them on boats to Greece.

Ankara is asking Brussels to hand over €3bn — funded from the EU budget and by contributions from member states — directly to the Turkish government and its agencies. It wants to use the money to build new schools and new hospitals for the country’s 2.75m registered Syrian refugees, and to upgrade refugee camps.

The European Commission is insisting that the funds must be directed through UN agencies and international NGOs in accordance with its strict rules on aid spending. So far, €190m has been approved, with grants to organisations including the World Food Programme and International Organisation for Migration, and charities such as the Danish Refugee Council. The Commission has promised to assign a total of €1bn by the end of July.




[link to www.ft.com]

Last Edited by Digital mix guy Spock on 05/26/2016 02:20 PM