Syrian refugees on doorstep - Europe’s nightmare - COMMENT

The recent bombing of Syria's Idlib province by Bashar al-Assad forces has provoked a new wave of refugees. Turkey found a way out of the crisis by letting refugees head for the European Union (EU).

Leaders of EU member states, mainly Greece, have panicked by the wave of hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees. They were about to blame Turkey for the flock of Syrian refugees fleeing the country. However, the developments affirmed the EU's unpreparedness for humanitarian actions.

According to the report of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, 6,664,415 Syrian refugees have been registered in 45 countries as of December 1, 2018. Of those, Turkey is hosting nearly 3,600,000, Lebanon – 952,000, Jordan – 674,000, Germany – 534,000, and Iraq – 252,000.

The UN Agency estimated the Syrian population at 18,500,000 as of 2015. It also records an 8% decline in the figure. About one-third of the Syrian population has fled to foreign countries, mostly Turkey.

Earlier, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stressed that Turkey would no longer stop migrants from reaching EU countries. According to him, his country is not in a situation to handle a new wave of refugees.

"We said months ago that if it goes on like this, we will have to open the doors. They did not believe us, but we did it. We will not close these doors in the coming period," President Erdogan said.

According to reports, many asylum seekers heading to Europe are on borders with Greece and Bulgaria.

Even though the EU has so far failed to pay the promised €6bn fund for 3,600,000 million Syrian refugees in Turkey, it hastily allocated €700m to Greece to shelter 100,000 displaced people from Syria. President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen recently visited the Greece-Turkey border and familiarized herself with the situation. She said that the EU has already paid €350m of the promised amount to the Greek government. She also announced that the EU's Frontex border agency would send 100 extra guards, seven patrol vessels, two helicopters, one plane, and three thermal-imaging vehicles to Greece.

EU officials regard the migrant problem that Greece is facing, as an incident on Europe's border. However, Turkey is also a European country. Though the EU doesn't admit it, Turkey plays a crucial role in NATO. So, Turkey is the last frontier of the Alliance. NATO members' indifference to what is happening in Turkey is a sign of the attitude еthat the Alliance and the West show toward this country.

Thirty-four Turkish soldiers were killed in the attacks in Idlib on February 27. After that, Greece blocked NATO's statement in support of Turkey. The Alliance also serves to protect the EU from military intervention. Then Turkey's role in this regard is undeniable. How can we assess the fact that the West and the EU ignore Ankara's proposals regarding the Syrian refugees? Does the organization not provide prompt support to Syrian migrants in Turkey as in Greece?

Undoubtedly, there are many reasons for this. There is an anti-Turkish sentiment in EU countries. It is still there despite the passing years. Greek border guards fired shots at migrants at the border, killing two Syrians. But the European Union has not commented on this behavior of Greeks.

As is known, the West, including EU members, supports the militants of the PKK/YPG-PYD terrorist group in Syria, which poses a threat to Turkey's security. The EU countries train them, provide funds, and even give instructions to them. The mentioned terrorist group plays a significant role in causing conflicts in Syria and the flock of refugees fleeing their homeland. As a result, the EU has contributed to the emergence of unrest in Syria.

However, Turkey supports Syria's territorial integrity and peace in the neighboring country. Those who haven't accepted first the Ottoman Empire for hundreds of years, then the Turkish state, strive to force Turkey to meet the same fate as Syria. Those forces tried to inflict strikes to Turkey at the expense of the refugees fleeing Syria. That is why the EU fails to pay a €3bn fund to Turkey for five years. Nevertheless, a boomerang effect emerges. The European Union begins to 'reap what it sows.'

The EU member states are reluctant to assist Greece in welcoming refugees. German government spokesman Steffen Seibert stated that Berlin is not ready to accept migrants. Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz announced that they aim to protect the EU's external borders adequately and to stop the flow of illegal migrants. Austria was ready to send extra police to countries on edge, he said.

The European Union is developing new 'grounds' and 'arguments' to refuse to accept refugees, including Syrians. Recent reports confirm a growing number of coronavirus cases (180 in Germany, 5 in the Czech Republic, and 32 in Norway and others ) in the European countries that have the potential of hosting refugees. The EU may partially or fully close its borders to asylum seekers under the pretext of coronavirus threat.

Russia and Iran claim that they have been involved in the Syrian war by Bashar al-Assad. They have played a vital role in the destruction of Syrian cities and settlements, and the displacement of its citizens. However, there are no Syrian refugee camps in Russia and Iran. It turns out that Syrian migrants do not trust these countries.

At such a time when a third of its country's citizens have fled to other countries, while some have sought refuge, Bashar al-Assad intends to hold parliamentary elections on April 13. How will the 'expired' leader and his supporters involve Syrians in voting while they seek asylum on the EU doorstep? Or Assad's supporters need the new parliament more than him.