Turkey Opens the Border With Greece
In another test of alleged EU’s freedom of movement policy, Turkey opened its border with Greece.
Greece Responds With Teargas and Denials
DW reports Turkey Opens the Migrant Floodgates, Greece Fire Teargas
Greek police have clashed with migrants on the Turkish border where as many as 4,000 people attempted to cross into the EU. On Friday, Ankara said it would no longer stop migrants from crossing into Greece.
Migrants and Greek police clashed along the Turkish-Greek border on Saturday, as Greek authorities claim they blocked 4,000 refugees from “illegally” entering the EU.
Police fired tear gas at migrants who amassed at a border crossing in the Turkish state of Edirne. There were also reports of stones being hurled by refugees at the officers.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that around 18,000 migrants had crossed Turkey’s border into Europe. The president did not provide evidence for the number, but said it would rise.
Meanwhile, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias called for a special meeting with his EU counterparts after Turkey opened border crossings for migrants, according to Greek state broadcaster ERT.
The possibility of a new wave of migrants has spurred other European countries to prepare. Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz hinted that borders could be closed across the Balkans in response to Turkey’s threat.
However, Bulgaria denied that there were any problems at its border following a boost to security on Friday. “There is zero migration at our border with Turkey,” Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov said.
In the midst of a coronavirus outbreak in Italy where over 50,000 people in 11 cities are locked in, this move by Erdogan will put a huge strain on the EU.
Mike “Mish” Shedlock
Oh well, I guess if the EU is strained no one will have to worry about them screwing up even more crap and trying to take control of absolutely everything. Might be for the better when it’s over.
Erdogan is now fully engaged in IDLIB to save the last democratically ruled province of Syria (his saying) under (the facts) Islamic extremists rules (Charia laws, VBIED sacrifices, Al Quaeda bloody destruction of the US Twin towers…: yes together with ISIS AL BAGDADI (presumed dead now thanks to Trump), they still live there in great number…) .
The democracy promotors, the US-European coalition, which caused such mess by repeated destruction of very very bad (they though that, but had seen nothing yet) Middle East countries under dictatorship, apparently forgot their wallet somewhere and are presently unable to help him annex IDLIB to Turkey territory. What a shame!
There are a lot of very stupid peoples on this earth, but come on Islamic brotherhood leader, you cannot deceive anybody all the time.
This is Erdogan’s response for not getting the support for his intervention in Idlib, in support of islamists there. He knows the EU is weak, and weakness has a smell to it that attracts predators, like flies… Trump has proved that he can play them like a fiddle, too.
….makes me wonder, is Erdogan still chummy with Putin? Wasn t Turkey, against NATO rules, going to buy russian arms ? Turkey s now fighting with Russia’ s friend how is this going to end(it rimes)? I can t make head or tail of the present geopolitical mess, it looks more lethal than the Corana virus, if you ask me …
The relationship is rocky as could be expected, but on the positive side, NATO didn’t embrace the Turkish intervention(s). Will Erdogan try with Israel? We might be in luck with the US in presidential elections.
Russia, or at least the part closest to the Kremlin, is in the business of selling oil and weapons
The higher the prices Russian oil exports fetch, the better. And ditto, the greater the share of revenue from other oil exporters oil sales, which has to be spent on Russian arms in order to keep those exports safe. Both are aided by keeping Middle Eastern conflicts alive and hot.
Another Russian objective, is preventing openly Islamist factions from neither being, nor appearing to be, victorious anywhere. As that will give similarmindeds in, or close to, Russia, encouragement, or even material support.
And a third one, is keeping enough opposing sides in the Middle East military viable, to ensure neither The West nor China can easily become too hegemonic.
On account of all three, in practice, Russia can be counted on as a guarantor of permanent Middle Eastern instability.
Remember this video ?
Do you think same is true of the west, for similar reasons?
The Greeks appear to be taking a harder stance on refugees/migrants now
It’s not just the border security issue. The bigger problem is the ruling globalist elites within the EU, assign full fledged rights to anybody who manages to cross the holy ground of the EU. No documents, no problem, the poor thing had to eat them to survive. The ancient rules to protect the truly politically prosecuted, have turned into a tool for global st-hole to dump their surplus population to still viable, decent places, turning them into st-holes in the process. And the ultimate destruction of all life on the planet continues.
It is a very old tactic. The Roman army for example was large part mercenary, they would hire locals from one corner to conquer another corner that those mercenaries had no allegiance to, that they did not even know. That was part of its downfall eventually, because Rome could not absorb and integrate newcomers fast enough, particularly those from the north during the migration period. Different peoples and local rulers started getting their own ideas, which led to disintegration and the dark ages. The Arab conquest was nearly a case of just walking in. You can look at it in religious or cultural terms, or simply in terms of ethnicity. For example the Arabs were actually mostly Berber ( and north Africa still is, Arab addmix is small ) , and before Roman conquest, say in Spain as that was longest under Arab rule, the population were more homogeneous with north Africa – it’s still under study along with a lot of pre-history. The Greek chroniclers called those south of now Barcelona Ethiopians (Egyptians – who they knew). So where do we start ? The celtic culture came from the east, the current Germanic ( franks are Germanic, as were saxons, as were the goths that took over Spain after Rome, and in whose name it was reconquered from Arab rule, etc. ) trend is from the whole north of Europe, the Brits are part Germanic.
So by a certain view what is going on now is already history, but in a different way. Here globalists, ideologues, elites are carrying out a form of warfare, but it is demographic and economic warfare ( for us, not for the migrants who come from warzones of the making of those elite). I don’t know if people have become too civil, or stupid, or naive, or spoilt, or oppressed, but they seem to welcome this, or if not don’t bother to oppose it.
I live most of my life as a European migrant in Europe myself, if you will, but I don’t ask for any benefit from that, and my own country couldn’t care less for me. Even countries that were once welcoming to me in Europe have also just become odd and mismanaged, corrupt and often unkind.
It’s strange times we live in, there cannot be a renaissance of 20th century Europe, that is a dream but what is remembered as good of that can be carried over into whatever countries eventually do make themselves into again, which due to more recent history will therefore be different somehow. They won’t do that till they’ve really had enough of EU, so this can go on for a long time, just as easily as there could be an upheaval and revolt at it all tomorrow. There are costs whichever way anything goes.
Doesn’t it take two countries to open a border? Greece should have the right to close its border regardless of what Turkey does.
Turkey didn’t open its border, it just stopped trying to keep refugees/migrants in. Not Turkey’s problem if they want to leave, but Greece’s problem if they want to go there.
Hard for Greece because EU law is no hot returns, and Turkey would not accept them back probably anyway – the last attempt at that was in return for visa free travel to EU for Turks , which didn’t pan out.
They’ll probably give them tickets to Brussels, and Brussels will redistribute them around Europe, the ones they don’t lose track of, they’re behind on the migrant quota scheme etc. Otherwise I guess they’ll just have to start shooting them at the border to dissuade them.
There are other alternatives obviously, like attacking own citizens who oppose migration
Or drawing new borders inside the country to create a migrant enclave
Usually though, if someone has unknown people breaking down the door of the house they are inside, if they have a weapon they are going to let off a few shots.
The wider context is Turkey fighting in Syria, wanting support for that “or else the new refugees from there will not be witheld” , but that is another story.
Turkey is trying to get the EU, hence NATO, to put pressure on Putin to stop supporting Assad drive to push further millions of Syrians into Turkey. Turkey wants to carve out a large enough chunk of Syria as safe space for Syrians not on Assad’s good side, to disincentivize those millions from flooding Turkey. But as long as Russia is siding rather unconditionally with Assad (or more likely, with whomever whose policies are most likely to result in higher oilprices and greater weapons demand….), Turkey is a bit constrained in their effort to do that.
Much vilified, in Europe, wall builders Trump and Netanyahu; will probably feel pretty smug and vindicated, if this move turns into a multi million man/woman/child march on the EUs borders……
…we can discuss this for a long time, and still be little the wiser. Assad was being welcomed into western/EU direction until pressure was mounted on him to redistribute power via elections, which he held and apparently won (via observers) and did not go direction wanted by west, at which point protests began and it became hardline on both sides. That is Sunni, Israel, US, EU, Iran complex that I won’t approach. Add in IS and Sunni rebels ( Kurds can be sort of ignored in the equation because they are not too allied with any side) , and the civil war ends with Turk allies in Idlib, and Turkey protecting them on Syrian soil. Russia has always sided with Assad, and Syrian nation, for various reasons, it has had dealings with Turkey also, depending. Turkey is good at playing off sides.
So, the refugees are part US EU design, because of Iraq, because of agitating in Syria, because of Israel, because of regional crossroads of west to Asia, because of oil, because of EU ideology etc.
So you are saying Syria should allow Turkey to govern or take over a region of its country to accomodate those in Syria that are on the wrong side of its government, who have had a war fought against Syria in their name. I don’t think so.
Clearly many are genuine refugees, relatively uninvolved in this, many arent. When faced with a population that does not surrender, which houses armed enemy, well they go to war. It is very sad, and the population there will be both hostage of their own antagonists as well as untrusting of Syria due to likely retribution.
If you ask me to lay blame, to take sides, well no. I’m just maping how we got to this. Greeks don’t want the refugees and migrants , most people in Europe don’t want the refugees and migrants. Average people in European countries did not create these problems, they don’t care who created them, they cannot accept their own countries being ruined because of them. Sorry, but that is what borders are for, nothing to do with Trump or anyone else.
“So you are saying Syria should allow Turkey to govern or take over a region of its country to accomodate those in Syria that are on the wrong side of its government, who have had a war fought against Syria in their name. I don’t think so.”
Then, the other alternative is Turkey allowing those guys to pass through to regions where people “don’t think so.”
The European fantasy, that first Turkey, or if that fails Greece, will host 5 million and ever growing, increasingly fed up people in internment camps indefinitely, is just fantasy.
The current government, and military, of Turkey is barely able to stay on top of domestic pressures as it is. Keep ramping up pressure in that cooker by millions, and you’ll have civil war like developments spreading to Turkey proper, in not too long. And then, the floodgates will really open.
That is something I am aware of, and one reason that I view the whole show in the region, including the involvement of our countries, as a continuing disaster. The deconflict possibilities that existed have been trampled time and again, in endless brinkmanship, there is no trust. It is a very bad situation that I have no answer for anymore. As European countries don’t have much of their own policy left , I expect that the reply to whatever degeneration would be EU led, something that would fit well with EU own pursuit of power – if EU still existed at that point.
Anyone want to speculate what the average European’s reaction to Brussels will be when the first coronavirus case is confirmed among these poor refugees?
Excellent and compelling point.
oh but, don t worry; our phlegmatic, confident and ever so efficient EU ‘leaders’, not to mention our national heroes, must have planned a wine and dine meeting somewhere next week or later to discuss the issue….That s what we got ‘leaders’ for…or is it loaders rather…freeloaders?
Some truth in that & not to forget Ringelmann.
“Ringelmann Effect: Members of a group become
lazier as the size of their group increases. Based on
the assumption that “someone else is probably taking
care of that.”
Good point, and it might jibe with my theory of alpha-males (as much as I hated the idea, modern reality proved me wrong). In nature, alpha-males take charge and protect their territory. The reverse paradigm is taming of the wild beast, and the result is; a one ton ox is easily herded by a little human.
This will potentially transform the EU as we know it. Another slow-motion-train-wreck let lose.
Transform it will one way or another.