Istanbul summit…Will Europe solve the refugee crisis?

Istanbul will host a summit next week, as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meet European leaders to seek a solution to the migrants’ crisis.

However, he said he would not stop migrants trying to cross Turkey’s border into Greece in the meantime, despite EU pressure to do so.

The summit will be convened on March 17 with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and possibly British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Tens of thousands of migrants have been trying to get into Greece since Turkey said on Feb. 28 it would no longer keep them on its territory as part of a 2016 deal with Brussels in return for EU aid for the refugees.

Tensions between the Turks and the Greeks have escalated in recent days, with the Greek government accusing Turkey not only of shuttling migrants to the border but using an EU-funded vehicle to attempt to rip down parts of the Greek border fence.

In February 2020, Turkey decided to open its borders to refugees seeking to enter Europe, while entering an open debate with neighboring Greece, at a time when Turkey is hosting about four million refugees, most of whom are Syrians, and is calling for more aid related to the conflict in Syria.

Europe says it will consider receiving 1,500 refugee children, but has focused more on strengthening measures at its border with Greece.

Turkey agreed in 2016 to prevent migrants from leaving for Europe, in exchange for receiving six billion euros in European aid, but it opened its borders to refugees to Europe at the end of February 2020, in response to the Syrian regime forces launching a military operation to restore Idlib Governorate in the north, the last major stronghold For the armed factions in Syria.

On the other hand, according to United Nations reports, the Turkish military operations in Syria, caused the largest wave of displacement of civilians, to search for safe havens away from the war.

The European Union believes that Turkey’s behavior is a violation of the terms of the immigration agreement concluded between Ankara and Brussels, and demands that Turkey keep its borders closed to migrants eager to cross into Europe, and not to put it under “extortion”.