Pro-Erdogan media defending his blackmail of Europe

Sharif Abdelzaher

Turkish media throws its full weight behind the decision of Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to open his country’s border to let thousands of refugees through to Europe.

Most Turkish media outlets have specified a large space for covering the concentration of refugees on the Greek border. The same outlets broadcast dozens of reports about the refugees and their desire to cross Greece into Europe.

According to the same reports, the refugees on the Greek border contain Syrians, Iraqis, Yemenis, Pakistanis, Afghans and Africans. These refugees now have renewed hopes, the reports said, of crossing into Europe.

However, the presence of this large number of refugees on the Greek border is stirring up fears from a new migration wave, similar to the one which happened in 2015.

Western journalists based in Turkey have divulged Erdogan’s attempts to blackmail Europe by using the refugees.

The Turkish opposition news site, Turkey Now, referred to calls by some pro-Erdogan activists for the closure of a leftist newspaper for running an article that criticizes Erdogan’s wars in the region.

In the article, the newspaper quotes the former Turkish defense minister as saying that the poor only fall victim to Erdogan’s wars, while his son-in-law reaps millions of dollars in profits from the same wars.

The same former official refers to $36 million channeled by Erdogan to a company owned by his son-in-law.