Everyone is talking about the corona pandemic. The situation of the refugees on the Greek-Turkish border has almost been forgotten again. On Tuesday, the Chancellor wants to negotiate this in a three-way summit – by video.
Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) wants to discuss the Syrian conflict and its consequences with the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday. The main concern is the situation of the refugees on the Turkish-Greek border. The three originally wanted to meet in Istanbul, but because of the Corona crisis, the meeting was turned into a video conference.
Erdogan had already met with EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen and EU counselor Charles Michel in Brussels last week. The reason for this was the decision of the Turkish president to stop refugees and migrants from entering the EU. As a result, thousands of people came to the border with Greece.
The EU refugee pact with Turkey in March 2016 actually stipulates that Ankara will fight illegal migration. In return, the EU should co-finance the care of refugees in Turkey with six billion euros. According to the EU Commission, 4.7 billion euros have been contractually awarded and around 3.2 billion have been paid out.
Nine years of war in Syria
The meeting should also be about now defused situation in the contested Syrian province of Idlib go. It is the last major area with Islamist rebels. NATO country Turkey is helping rebel groups in Idlib, while Russia and Iran are supporting the Syrian government under President Bashar al-Assad. In the meantime, Moscow and Ankara have agreed a ceasefire for Idlib, which they have been monitoring together since Sunday.
The weekend of the 9th anniversary of the war in Syria began. Germany, France, the United States and Great Britain had called for an end to the fighting in Idlib and a nationwide ceasefire for the Syrian government. “We demand that the Assad regime stop ruthless killing,” said a joint statement.
“The unscrupulous military offensive on the part of Assad, Russia and Iran in Idlib only causes further suffering and an unprecedented humanitarian crisis, as medical and humanitarian infrastructure is destroyed and forces and civilians are killed,” said the four NATO states. They didn’t mention Turkey.
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