Erdogan’s stubbornness shatters on Greek border

Magdy Abdel Rasool

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is continuing his hostile policies towards Europe in order to reap more political or material gains in light of his declining popularity at home and the collapse of his country’s economy. He has pushed thousands of Syrian immigrants to Greece to face an unknown fate, arguing that his country has received more than 3.6 million refugees and ignoring the €6 billion given by the European Union in exchange for Turkey receiving the refugees.

Erdogan’s spearhead

Erdogan has wagered on the Syrian immigrants implementing his plans to break up countries he sees as adversarial and hostile, turning the Syrians – whether refugees or mercenaries – into a spearhead pointed at these countries. The migration of Syrian refugees to Greece could return the Greek economy back its pre-recovery phase and another stage of collapse, further complicating the country’s economic crises.

To prevent this from happening, the Greek army has increased troops on the border in anticipation of any attempts by migrants or refugees to enter the country from Turkey.

At the same time, Greece is trying to get out of its economic crisis, especially after the European Union and International Monetary Fund (IMF) granted it a total of €110 billion in 2016, in addition to the pledge of new financial aid by EU countries implemented since 2017.

Exporting crisis to Greece

According to international organizations, Erdogan paid several thousand Syrian refugees as part of his plan to export Turkey’s economic crises to Greece.

This clearly indicates Turkey’s desire to uncover Greece’s economic defects in exchange for easing the burdens on Turkey, which has received nearly €6 billion from the European Union. Erdogan is also demanding repayment of the cost of accommodating refugees, estimated at $40 billion, which he claims was paid for by Turkish citizens. At the same time, he is attempting to extort EU countries in order to raise the ceiling of financial aid to almost $20 billion instead of $6 billion.