Erdogan virtually meets EU leaders under the coronovirus cloud

Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan held a video conference with Frenchman Emmanuel Macron, German Angela Merkel and Briton Boris Johnson to discuss the Syrian refugee crisis, Libya and the coronavirus pandemic. The mini summit was supposed to take place in Istanbul, but was held practically instead due to travel restrictions resulting from the spread of the virus. The number of cases reported in Turkey had risen to 98 at the last count, with one death so far.

Photographs showing Erdogan and his main collaborators seated around a table facing a giant screen have stifled growing speculation that the Turkish leader could have contracted COVID-19. His cheeks were red and he looked alert. Erdogan had not been seen in public since the Friday prayer, where thermal imaging cameras were used to monitor potential porters in the congregation.

Details of today's summit have not yet been released, but the main focus was the northwestern province of Idlib province, where the last Russian-backed regime offensive sent more of a million civilians fleeing to the Turkish border. As the EU stood, Turkey said that refugees inside its borders were free to leave, encouraging thousands to crowd along the Greek border. The hard bet was calculated to encourage the EU to increase aid to refugees and force it to be more active in ending the Syrian conflict and not to rely solely on negotiated terms by Russia.

EU leaders denounced the decision as blackmail even as they tried to appease Erdogan, sending Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov as an emissary at the start of the crisis.

Borissov is said to have relayed an offer of around one billion euros in additional financial aid in addition to the existing six billion agreed under a controversial 2016 agreement by which Turkey serves as a retention for refugees who might otherwise flood Europe, as they did in 2015.

Erdogan scoffed at the money, saying he wouldn't take it in a barely veiled ploy for more. He apparently came back empty-handed from a March 9 meeting in Brussels with the President of the Council of the EU, Charles Michel, and the Head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen – promising to keep the borders open soon after.

The immediate crisis was averted when Turkey and Russia agreed on March 13 to a ceasefire that cut the piece of Idlib where the rebels dominated by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) , a former affiliate of al-Qaeda, operate under the protection of the Turkish military.

Unlike pro-regime media reports, "HTS respects the ceasefire despite public criticism of certain elements of the agreement," said Elizabeth Tsurkov, a fellow at the Institute for Research in Politics. foreigner who closely monitors the Syrian conflict. "HTS has largely avoided violating ceasefires with the regime for about two years now, as the group increasingly changes its priority to maintain control of Idlib rather than trying to overthrow the … regime, a goal that currently seems out of reach, "Tsurkov told Al-Monitor.

Ibrahim Assil, a Syrian academic at the Middle East Institute, said that the EU could absolutely make a difference by "putting pressure on Russia so that it never pursues its military solution and do not commit to the ceasefire. "

He told Al-Monitor, "Freezing the lines of the conflict in Syria is a red line that should never be crossed again. The United States and the EU should help Turkey maintain the ceasefire agreement and hold Russia accountable. "

While the Euro bloc has repeatedly condemned Turkey for arming refugees, it has said little about the treatment of EU members Greece for those who have successfully entered its borders. Human Rights Watch lambasted Greece in a statement today saying that it has "detained, assaulted, sexually assaulted, robbed and robbed asylum seekers and migrants, then forced them to return to Turkey ", even as" senior EU officials welcomed the border control measures in Greece and provided support by through the European Border and Coast Guard Agency. Syrian man told surveillance group that Greek security forces touched his wife's breasts and attempted to remove his scarf and pants, while hitting him and his two-year-old daughter with a stick plastic while he was trying to repel them.

Back in Idlib, millions of desperate civilians face a new threat in the coronavirus, aid agencies warn. Jomana Qaddour, co-founder of the humanitarian relief organization Syria Relief and Development, said: "We are very concerned about the spread of the coronavirus in Syria, a country whose government continues to deny any virus epidemic and has armed vaccines in the past. , like polio vaccines in 2013-2014. "

Its rescue teams and others have teamed up with the United Nations to draft emergency response plans for north-western Syria, where no cases have yet been reported. confirmed and suspected cases have been tested and found negative.

Assil said: "Can we imagine the situation of the refugees in their camps? Refugee communities are among the most vulnerable to such a deadly virus, and the world should help them before it is too late. "

Editor's note: March 17, 2020. This article has been updated since its initial publication to reflect the increase in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases.