English

Ambassador Ozan: Turkey can’t handle this burden anymore

Napeto na grčko-turskoj granici

Since Turkey decided to open its border for migrants and let them head towards the EU, the situation on Turkish-Greek border has been chaotic. Conflicts between police and migrants are constant and don’t seem to wane.

Mr Recep Tayyip Erdoĝan, Turkish president, called on Greece yesterday to open the gates to migrants.

Mr Erdoĝan is travelling to Brussels today to discuss migrant crisis with the EU officials.

Brussels says that Turkey’s decision to open its border with Greece is unacceptable.

Turkish Ambassador to Montenegro, Ms Songul Ozan, says that the country hasn’t breached Agreement from 2016. She says Turkey can’t withstand the pressure and keep the situation under control.

Ms Ozan asserts that Turkey abides by the protocol with the EU from 2016.

Ms Songul Ozan

 

“If migrants want to leave Turkey, they are free to do so. Thanks to us, the EU was spared. On the other side, there were very few promises that the EU kept”, Ms Ozan says.

She says that the EU has promised so much when the Agreement was signed but failed to keep its promises.

Ms Songul Ozan says that the migrant problem can be solved.

In order for that to happen, a safe zone must be formed n Syria, Ms Ozan says, emphasizing the fact that permanent peace and stability must be established in Syria.

“Turkey reiterates that this is a serious problem. We’ve been drawing attention to it for so long, we’ve been warning NATO, the EU and UN. Migrations indeed are one of the biggest problems. It’s a global issue. Europe knows how much we sacrificed. But Turkey alone can’t bear with this anymore”, Ms Ozan warns.

She stresses that Turkey has been preventing migrants from leaving for EU but that it won’t keep doing that anymore.

“We can’t keep them anymore. If they want to go, they will go”, Ms Ozan says.

There are around 3,7 million of refugees in Turkey.

Ms Songul Ozan provides some important data on the refugees.

“One million children among them. Around 550.000 born from 2011. Around 600.000 go to elementary of secondary school. Hundreds of thousands have obtained work permit. Turkey has spent around €40 billion for refugees from Syria since 2011”, ambassador said.

She also touched on Syria and said that Turkey wanted it in peace.

“We will continue to fight against terrorism. We want to create safe zone for the civilians”, ambassador pointed out.

Mr Putin and Mr Erdogan

Presidents of Russia and Turkey, Mr Vladimir Putin and Mr Rcep Tayyip Erdoĝan stated on 5 March that they had reached agreement that could bring battles in the Northwestern Syria to an end. The ceasefire came into force on 6 March, in Idlib.

The agreement envisages establishment of the security corridor in Syria’s Idlib province along M4 road.

The meeting held between Mr Putin and Mr Erdoĝan was aimed at easing tensions in the relations between the two countries caused by violence in Syria.

 

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