Mevlut Cavusoglu also harshly criticized the Greek authorities, “who used tear gas and fired at people”.
The European Union was politically reckless, spoiling relations with Turkey and not criticizing Greece for the abuse of refugees. This opinion was expressed by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in an interview published in the Financial Times on Sunday.
“In the year when Brexit was implemented, to push away the only major European state still aspiring to become a member of the EU and, moreover, as a responsible player, to confirm the words with action, is the biggest political recklessness in the memory of many generations. Turkey, the United Kingdom and the EU need to work together and stabilise their neighbouring regions, and the EU also needs to speed up Turkey’s process of membership”, – Cavusoglu wrote.
He also harshly criticized the Greek authorities, “who used tear gas and fired at people” who tried to break through the Turkish-Hellenic land border.
“Greece also illegally suspended its asylum applications. The UN has criticized the [Greek government], but the EU has not. People have died, dozens have been injured and the European prestige in the world has suffered”, – Cavusoglu pointed out, adding that the EU’s attempts to resolve the migration crisis caused by the conflict in Syria have failed.
“We cannot solve the problem in the countries where it originated, taking wishful thinking and teaching Turkey – the only country that takes active actions”, – the Minister said.
At the end of February, after the clash with the Syrian army, in which 36 Turkish soldiers died, Ankara decided not to stop the refugees from Syria, who seek to get to the EU. The EU is negotiating with Turkey to resolve the situation and promises support to Greece, which is facing an influx of refugees. The border between Turkey and the EU has been closed to migrants since 2016 as part of the agreement between Brussels and Ankara on a visa-free regime, which, however, has never been introduced.