The coronavirus is upsetting everything, but European leaders still have other emergencies to deal with. Originally planned for Istanbul, the conference between Emmanuel Macron, Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was finally held on screens Tuesday, March 17. It lasted just over an hour. It was more a question of maintaining the diplomatic link than of achieving a result, given the unfavorable conditions.
According to the Elysee Palace, the discussion confirmed already known convergences of view, in particular on the situation in Idlib, in Syria. However, requests for"Clarifications", on the migrant crisis as on his politico-military tête-à-tête with Vladimir Putin, addressed to the Turkish leader remain dissatisfied, even though he claims the support of his allies in NATO. On March 5, Erdogan and Putin signed a new ceasefire agreement in Moscow, which is fragile but will help to stop the escalation on the ground.
Turkey has taken advantage of the dramatic situation of 900,000 displaced Syrians, concentrated along the Syrian-Turkish border north of the province of Idlib, with several thousand fighters, to blackmail the European Union, encouraging migrant flows to its western borders, sea and land, with Greece.
"Blackmailing migrants"
Ankara is calling for a revision of the migration agreement signed with the EU. That was not the purpose of the videoconference on Tuesday. The Commission and the High Representative Josep Borrell are responsible for this file.
The expected meeting on this issue is the European Council on 26 and 27 March. Ankara wants to believe in rapid progress at this summit. Turkish officials criticize the EU for not respecting several provisions of the migration agreement signed in March 2016 with Brussels, in particular the promise to liberalize visas for Turkish nationals and the modernization of the agreement Customs Union.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan is calling for more support for Idlib, in terms of aid to the displaced, but also in the military field, with the request to create a "safe zone". The Turkish president also calls for increased financial aid to Syrian refugees settled in Turkey (3.6 million).
Ankara wants to see its demands met, but its "blackmail of migrants" proves to be counterproductive. By announcing the opening of borders with Europe in late February, the Turkish authorities caused the influx of thousands of refugees to the Greek border, thus raising the specter of the 2015 migration crisis.
