Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is holding talks with the EU in Brussels on Monday regarding the migrant crisis at the Turkish-Greek border. Moreover, Erdogan seeks a fundamental change in the relationship between the EU and Turkey.
On Friday, Erdogan told German Chancellor Merkel that the so-called Turkey deal on the refugee issue no longer functions and must be revised.
More than a week ago, Erdogan opened the border between his country and the EU to refugees. He aims to pressure the EU to take his side in the conflict in Syria. Turkey supports Syrian rebels there, while EU countries back different groups, and Russia supports Syrian President Assad. The pro-Turkish rebels are threatened with losing their last stronghold in Idlib, which would also put Turkey’s access to northern Syria at risk.
Greece and Bulgaria currently prevent tens of thousands of migrants on Turkish soil from crossing. Erdogan says he is preventing refugees from crossing by boat to the Greek islands. However, his policy remains that the journey of refugees traveling overland to the European Union is not hindered.
Chaotic situations have arisen in the border area between the two countries due to the Turkish decision to no longer stop migrants seeking to enter Europe. Greek police try to stop the refugees and have used tear gas, among other means.
On Saturday, clashes again occurred between law enforcement and migrants wanting to cross the border. Sources close to the Greek government said earlier this week that about 35,000 people have already been stopped in a few days who attempted to cross the border illegally.
Greece plans to build two new temporary refugee camps on the Greek mainland. The Greeks want to build two closed centers in the northern Serres region and an area near Athens. These are intended to relieve the Greek islands, where about 1,700 new refugees arrived in the past week.