FOLLOWING the successes of the Syrian army’s drive into Idlib province, President Erdogan of Turkey has begun to carry out his revenge policy.
Since the EU is not prepared to assist Turkey in Syria, where the Assad government is supported by Russia and Iran, ‘millions’ of refugees are being encouraged to head from Turkey to Greece, Bulgaria and the EU.
Erdogan has announced that Turkey will no longer enforce a 2016 deal with the EU whereby it was paid six billion euros to prevent refugees entering Europe. Refugees were turned into a commodity!
The EU is now paying the price for its policy of supporting the terrorist movements that, since 2012, had its backing in their struggle to overthrow the Syrian government of President Assad. These terrorists are now being defeated, leaving Turkey to fight their battles, risking war with Russia in the process.
Erdogan has nothing to show for his anti-Assad stand but millions of refugees. These have now been told that they can move into the EU, where they have been met with hostility and gunfire by the Greek armed forces and police, including with threats to sink their dinghies.
Meanwhile the Turkish government, unable to defeat the Syrian army and fearful of clashing with the Russian forces that support it, are now intervening in oil-rich Libya focusing on stealing Libya’s oil wealth before the French, Italians and the UK can do so.
In a televised speech, President Erdogan said the EU had provided no help for resettling Syrian refugees in ‘safe zones’ inside Syria, and must now pay the price of refugees moving west. Greece has responded that it has stopped almost 10,000 migrants from crossing its land border in 24 hours and admitted to the use of tear gas and threats to open fire and sink the refugees’ dinghies.
Even the EU’s top human rights watchdog, the Council of Europe, has condemned Greece and Turkey’s actions, calling the situation an ‘unprecedented humanitarian crisis’. EU Council President Charles Michel and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen went to the border with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis yesterday to support the border guards.
In a statement on Monday, the Greek government said: ‘Turkey, instead of curbing the traffickers has itself turned into a trafficker.’ Greece has blocked any new asylum applications for the next month, because of what it calls the ‘coordinated and massive nature’ of illegal migration from Turkey.
Frontex (European Border and Coastguard Agency) says it is examining how best to help Greece with a rapid deployment of EU border guards. Frontex already has nearly 400 personnel in and around the Greek islands, 60 officers in Bulgaria and a smaller contingent in the Evros region at the Greek-Turkish border.
The Greek Prime Minister Mitsotakis announced the suspension in asylum applications on Twitter on Sunday evening, and said Greece had invoked an emergency clause of an EU treaty ‘to ensure full European support’.
The issue however is must deeper than this. It is a class issue. Greece has been looted and devastated by the EU which refused to allow it to leave the bloc, instead, cutting the Greek workers’ wages, pensions and jobs through mass privatisations.
In France, workers and the middle classes now face having their pension gains wiped out by the Macron government pushing through a pension law without a vote in parliament. Even Erdogan has to have a vote on huge issues, but not Macron. In Germany the economy is facing disaster, while in Italy the working class and middle class are under heavy attack.
Workers from the UK to Greece must insist that refugees cannot be treated like animals, and must be welcomed and not threatened with shooting or drowning. Also, that the Syrians must be be allowed to run their own country.
The way to resolve the crisis in Europe is through a European socialist revolution that will remove the bosses and bankers and their political frontmen from power and bring in a socialist planned economy throughout the continent.
Refugees are not the problem. In fact they must be welcomed. It is the ruling classes of Europe and their political representatives that must be sent on their travels.
The workers of Europe must welcome refugees, and governments that refuse to do so must be removed. Syria must be allowed to have the government of its choice.
Imperialism must be overthrown by socialist revolutions. The working class of the world must be united to carry out this urgent task through the building of sections of the Fourth International in every country. There is no other way forward and there is not a moment to lose!!
