The EU-Turkey Statement: Background, recent developments and its impact on EU-Turkey relations
In 2015, the EU negotiated a controversial deal with one of its neighbours and “partner”, Turkey, to curb migration from the Middle East to Europe. Regrettably, the deal has ever since caused more concerns than relief due to the unreliable nature of the EU’s partner country. As a result, it remains questionable whether the deal will hold at all and what the repercussion on the EU’s reputation as a global actor will be in the long term.
The EU-Turkey Statement – A human rights violation by design?
2015 brought an unprecedented challenge to EU leaders and governments when they had to develop political solutions to the so-called “migration crisis”. For lack of quick fixes or better alternatives, they rushed to negotiate a deal with Turkey, which came to be known as EU-Turkey Statement. The “deal”, however, not only lacks any long-term sustainable solution to the challenge and made the EU cut a deal with an unreliable, authoritarian “partner” but, more importantly, outright violates refugees’ human rights.
