Austria calls Turkey-EU refugee deal a faltering 'house of cards'
- 8 years ago
The deal to send back to Turkey the migrants reaching Europe’s shores is a house of cards falling apart, according to Austria’s foreign minister.
After a week of heated name-calling between Vienna and Ankara, Sebastian Kurz suggested the bloc should end membership talks with Turkey, saying Turkey had been moving “further and further away from the European Union.”
He also had harsh words for the migration deal EU leaders struck with Turkey in March.
“When these heads of governments realized we could not continue with this unlimited influx into Europe, they tried to avoid doing the dirty work – guarding the external borders themselves – and instead delegated it to Turkey. And now, this house of cards of failed immigration policy is falling apart,” Kurz said in an interview with ORF 2 television station, aired on Friday night.
The EU, Turkey and the refugee standoff: The failed coup in Turkey and the ensuing crackdown have created new… https://t.co/dKXUbndcsD— CNN WORLD (@cnnworId) August 5, 2016
Ankara’s crackdown on suspected dissidents in the wake of last month’s coup attempt has raised concern among European leaders and cast uncertainty over the future of EU’s ties with Turkey.
Austria this week suggested Turkey was heading towards dictatorship, to which Ankara replied Vienna should do its homework, calling it the “capital of radical racism.”
Turkey calls Austria 'racist' https://t.co/bKRr1EQze7 pic.twitter.com/evZk2HbrFw— euronews (@euronews) August 5, 2016
A massive protest against the failed coup is scheduled for this Sunday in Istanbul, and is expected to be another show of force for President Erdogan.
Sitzung d deutschspr. Außenminister in Liechtenstein – Diskussion zu #Türkei #Brexit #Migration #IS-Terror & #Syrien pic.twitter.com/6QvNHNxinB— Sebastian Kurz (@sebastiankurz) 5. August 2016
After a week of heated name-calling between Vienna and Ankara, Sebastian Kurz suggested the bloc should end membership talks with Turkey, saying Turkey had been moving “further and further away from the European Union.”
He also had harsh words for the migration deal EU leaders struck with Turkey in March.
“When these heads of governments realized we could not continue with this unlimited influx into Europe, they tried to avoid doing the dirty work – guarding the external borders themselves – and instead delegated it to Turkey. And now, this house of cards of failed immigration policy is falling apart,” Kurz said in an interview with ORF 2 television station, aired on Friday night.
The EU, Turkey and the refugee standoff: The failed coup in Turkey and the ensuing crackdown have created new… https://t.co/dKXUbndcsD— CNN WORLD (@cnnworId) August 5, 2016
Ankara’s crackdown on suspected dissidents in the wake of last month’s coup attempt has raised concern among European leaders and cast uncertainty over the future of EU’s ties with Turkey.
Austria this week suggested Turkey was heading towards dictatorship, to which Ankara replied Vienna should do its homework, calling it the “capital of radical racism.”
Turkey calls Austria 'racist' https://t.co/bKRr1EQze7 pic.twitter.com/evZk2HbrFw— euronews (@euronews) August 5, 2016
A massive protest against the failed coup is scheduled for this Sunday in Istanbul, and is expected to be another show of force for President Erdogan.
Sitzung d deutschspr. Außenminister in Liechtenstein – Diskussion zu #Türkei #Brexit #Migration #IS-Terror & #Syrien pic.twitter.com/6QvNHNxinB— Sebastian Kurz (@sebastiankurz) 5. August 2016