05-12-2016, 09:57 PM
*** 13-May-16 World View -- EU-Turkey migrant deal unravels over brinksmanship on both sides
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
****
**** EU-Turkey migrant deal unravels over brinksmanship on both sides
****
![[Image: g160512b.jpg]](http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com/ww2010/g160512b.jpg)
Italy's coast guard rescued over 800 migrants from the Mediterranean Sea on one day, Thursday (Reuters)
Both Turkey and the European Union are issuing ultimatums.
Turkey is demanding that the EU honor its agreement to allow all
Turkish citizens to have visa-free travel throughout Europe's Schengen
Zone. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and former prime minister Ahmet
Davutoglu have been said repeatedly, since March 20 when the EU-Turkey
migrant deal was signed, that the EU must fulfill its pledge to permit
visa-free travel by Turkish citizens by June, or else Turkey would
cancel the deal and allow floods of migrants to resume flooding across
the Aegean Sea to Greece.
The EU is demanding that Turkey must bring its anti-terrorism laws
into line with European standards. Turkey's anti-terrorism laws are
so broad that they criminalize almost any kind of political dissent,
and are used to arrest journalists and academics critical of
government policies. They were used as justification for the seizure
of the country's largest newspaper, Today's Zaman, because it
criticized Erdogan's policies. ( "6-Mar-16 World View -- Turkey's 'shameful day for free press' as government seizes Zaman media"
)
Changing the anti-terrorism laws was one of the terms of the agreement
that the European Union negotiated with Turkey's prime minister Ahmet
Davutoglu. There were 72 conditions that Turkey would have to meet
before the visa-free travel could be implemented. Almost all of them
have been met, but the anti-terrorism change has not. Erdogan was
infuriated that Davutoglu made this concession, and fired him last,
saying that Turkey could not and would not change its terrorism laws
while it is being receiving terror attacks from both the Kurdistan
Workers’ Party (PKK) and the so-called Islamic State (IS or ISIS or
ISIL or Daesh). ( "7-May-16 World View -- Turkey's Erdogan threatens EU: 'We'll go our own way, you go yours!'"
)
Turkish officials point out that Turkey is currently hosting the
largest number of Syrian refugees in the world with 2.7 million, and
has spent more than 7 billion euros meeting their needs. Erdogan says
that the EU has a much smaller refugee problem and a much smaller
terrorism problem, and that EU officials are hypocritical for
criticizing Turkey.
With positioning hardening on both sides, people are looking for a
face-saving agreement. Otherwise, the EU-Turkey deal is going to fall
apart. Irish Times and Daily Sabah (Ankara) and Hurriyet (Ankara)
****
**** More refugees now reaching Europe via Italy than via Greece
****
For the first time since April 2015, more refugees arrived in Italy by
crossing the Mediterranean from Libya than arrived in Greece by
crossing the Aegean Sea from Turkey.
The change wsa mostly due to a slowdown of migrants arriving in Greece
since the EU-Turkey migrant deal.
In March, 26,971 people arrived in Greece, while 9,676 arrived in
Italy.
In April, after the deal 3,462 people arrived in Greece, while 9,149
migrants arrived in Italy.
Migrants arriving in Greece come from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Asylum seekers making their way through the Mediterranean are
primarily from Nigeria, Gambia, Somalia and other Sub-Saharan African
nations. EU Observer and Bloomberg
****
**** Italy rescues 800 migrants from Mediterranean Sea, many of them from Syria
****
There are signs in the last few days that a new wave of refugees from
Syria have shifted traveling through Turkey to Greece via the Aegean
Sea to a new route from Libya to Italy via the Mediterranean Sea.
The Italian coast guard says that it rescued more than 800 migrants
off the coast of Sicily in one day alone, Thursday, and that at least
150 of them were Syrian, and 40 were from Iraq.
Authorities had feared that with the closing of the "Balkan Route" for
refugees crossing the Aegean Sea to Greece, people smugglers would
begin redirecting refugees to Libya, to cross to Italy. Typically,
the people smugglers put hundreds of migrants into a single large
rubber dinghy, and give the migrants enough fuel to leave Libyan
waters and a cell phone to use to call the Italian coast guard.
Fearing a flood of migrants crossing Brenner Pass from Italy to
Austria, Austria is building a fence on the common border. ( "28-Apr-16 World View -- Austria votes to close border with Italy to slow refugees"
) Austria's plan
has received widespread condemnation from human rights groups and many
EU officials. Reuters and AFP
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, European Union, Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
Islamic State / of Iraq and Syria/Sham/the Levant, IS, ISIS, ISIL, Daesh,
Kurdistan Workers’ Party, PKK, Ahmet Davutoglu, Greece, Aegean Sea,
Austria, Brenner Pass, Italy, Libya, Mediterranean Sea
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- EU-Turkey migrant deal unravels over brinksmanship on both sides
- More refugees now reaching Europe via Italy than via Greece
- Italy rescues 800 migrants from Mediterranean Sea, many of them from Syria
****
**** EU-Turkey migrant deal unravels over brinksmanship on both sides
****
Italy's coast guard rescued over 800 migrants from the Mediterranean Sea on one day, Thursday (Reuters)
Both Turkey and the European Union are issuing ultimatums.
Turkey is demanding that the EU honor its agreement to allow all
Turkish citizens to have visa-free travel throughout Europe's Schengen
Zone. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and former prime minister Ahmet
Davutoglu have been said repeatedly, since March 20 when the EU-Turkey
migrant deal was signed, that the EU must fulfill its pledge to permit
visa-free travel by Turkish citizens by June, or else Turkey would
cancel the deal and allow floods of migrants to resume flooding across
the Aegean Sea to Greece.
The EU is demanding that Turkey must bring its anti-terrorism laws
into line with European standards. Turkey's anti-terrorism laws are
so broad that they criminalize almost any kind of political dissent,
and are used to arrest journalists and academics critical of
government policies. They were used as justification for the seizure
of the country's largest newspaper, Today's Zaman, because it
criticized Erdogan's policies. ( "6-Mar-16 World View -- Turkey's 'shameful day for free press' as government seizes Zaman media"
)
Changing the anti-terrorism laws was one of the terms of the agreement
that the European Union negotiated with Turkey's prime minister Ahmet
Davutoglu. There were 72 conditions that Turkey would have to meet
before the visa-free travel could be implemented. Almost all of them
have been met, but the anti-terrorism change has not. Erdogan was
infuriated that Davutoglu made this concession, and fired him last,
saying that Turkey could not and would not change its terrorism laws
while it is being receiving terror attacks from both the Kurdistan
Workers’ Party (PKK) and the so-called Islamic State (IS or ISIS or
ISIL or Daesh). ( "7-May-16 World View -- Turkey's Erdogan threatens EU: 'We'll go our own way, you go yours!'"
)
Turkish officials point out that Turkey is currently hosting the
largest number of Syrian refugees in the world with 2.7 million, and
has spent more than 7 billion euros meeting their needs. Erdogan says
that the EU has a much smaller refugee problem and a much smaller
terrorism problem, and that EU officials are hypocritical for
criticizing Turkey.
With positioning hardening on both sides, people are looking for a
face-saving agreement. Otherwise, the EU-Turkey deal is going to fall
apart. Irish Times and Daily Sabah (Ankara) and Hurriyet (Ankara)
****
**** More refugees now reaching Europe via Italy than via Greece
****
For the first time since April 2015, more refugees arrived in Italy by
crossing the Mediterranean from Libya than arrived in Greece by
crossing the Aegean Sea from Turkey.
The change wsa mostly due to a slowdown of migrants arriving in Greece
since the EU-Turkey migrant deal.
In March, 26,971 people arrived in Greece, while 9,676 arrived in
Italy.
In April, after the deal 3,462 people arrived in Greece, while 9,149
migrants arrived in Italy.
Migrants arriving in Greece come from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Asylum seekers making their way through the Mediterranean are
primarily from Nigeria, Gambia, Somalia and other Sub-Saharan African
nations. EU Observer and Bloomberg
****
**** Italy rescues 800 migrants from Mediterranean Sea, many of them from Syria
****
There are signs in the last few days that a new wave of refugees from
Syria have shifted traveling through Turkey to Greece via the Aegean
Sea to a new route from Libya to Italy via the Mediterranean Sea.
The Italian coast guard says that it rescued more than 800 migrants
off the coast of Sicily in one day alone, Thursday, and that at least
150 of them were Syrian, and 40 were from Iraq.
Authorities had feared that with the closing of the "Balkan Route" for
refugees crossing the Aegean Sea to Greece, people smugglers would
begin redirecting refugees to Libya, to cross to Italy. Typically,
the people smugglers put hundreds of migrants into a single large
rubber dinghy, and give the migrants enough fuel to leave Libyan
waters and a cell phone to use to call the Italian coast guard.
Fearing a flood of migrants crossing Brenner Pass from Italy to
Austria, Austria is building a fence on the common border. ( "28-Apr-16 World View -- Austria votes to close border with Italy to slow refugees"
) Austria's plan
has received widespread condemnation from human rights groups and many
EU officials. Reuters and AFP
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, European Union, Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
Islamic State / of Iraq and Syria/Sham/the Levant, IS, ISIS, ISIL, Daesh,
Kurdistan Workers’ Party, PKK, Ahmet Davutoglu, Greece, Aegean Sea,
Austria, Brenner Pass, Italy, Libya, Mediterranean Sea
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
