MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th March, 2020) The European Union was the first to violate the refugee deal with Turkey, which then also breached the agreement, Ozturk Yilmaz, a member of the Turkish parliament from the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), told Sputnik.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said earlier on Wednesday that Turkey would not close its borders with the European Union for migrants until the bloc fulfilled its promises to Ankara under the 2016 deal. At the time, Turkey agreed to take back undocumented migrants who arrived in the EU via its territory in exchange for major concessions on membership and visas. The EU also pledged funding to help Turkey host migrants already on its territory.
"I think migration [deal] has been violated by Europe first and then now by Turkey. Each of them violated [it] but first it was violated by Europe given the fact that this free visa regime has not been put in place. Secondly, customs [union] has not been updated and chapters [for Turkey's EU membership] have not been opened up ... the European process has been stopped," Yilmaz said.
According to the opposition lawmaker, the deal has not been successful.
Earlier this year, Turkey said, amid its standoff with Damascus in the Syrian province of Idlib, it would no longer prevent migrants from attempting to cross over into the EU.
"There might be some anger in the EU," but migration poses a big problem for Turkey, Yilmaz said. There is little the EU can do except "talk to Turkey directly," the CHP lawmaker added.
As of late 2018, Turkey was hosting almost 5 million refugees, about 3.6 million of them Syrians.
