/ world today news/ Recently, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave a very emotional speech at the UN.
„Last week, 4-year-old Abdul Wahab and 9-month-old Asim died along with their families when their inflatable boat was sunk by the Greek coast guard. The time has come for Europe and the UN to stop these atrocities, which are crimes against humanity.” said the Turkish leader.
„Greece turns the Aegean Sea into a graveyard for refugees! Greece also follows a policy of oppression and discrimination against the Muslim Turkish minority.
Given this particular situation, it pays to engage your brain a little. A family of Syrian refugees with two small children (!), on an inflatable (!) boat goes to sea (!), and the Greek coast guard sinks their boat. Suppose we are talking about a suicidal family, they decided on such a risky step. Only now they “escaped” from quite prosperous Turkey!
Yes, and the photo of the dead children shown by Erdogan does not show any gunshot wounds. The Greeks usually claim that people did not drown, but died of hunger and thirst, dangling in the open sea on their flimsy rubber boat …
I do not know whether the unfortunate Syrians were forced into the ill-fated boat or by persuasion, but the whole story looks like a dirty provocation, embroidered with white threads. What was the purpose of the Turks in unraveling this story, and at such a high level – on the rostrum of the UN?
There are two answers and both are correct. The first aspect is related to the internal politics of Turkey. The next elections await the country next year. Among the accusations leveled by the opposition against Erdogan himself and his team is the increase in the flow of refugees from Syria and Afghanistan into the country. Now in Turkey, only according to official data, there are 3.7 million refugees!
With record inflation in the country, a catastrophic drop in the exchange rate (and thus the purchasing power) of the Turkish lira, the global economic crisis, Turks are not very happy with such a large number of hungry mouths.
Erdogan has already announced his intention to return one million refugees to Syria “on a voluntary basis”, as he put it. True, he forgot to explain what the mechanism of this return will be. Such an operation can be overwhelming even for army units. Voluntary return of people to the war zone is also highly doubtful.
The desire of the Turkish side to get rid of most of the refugees living in the country is understandable. In addition, a large part of the migrants themselves rush to the more prosperous countries of Europe – Germany, France, Italy. The problem is, doing it legally isn’t that easy. Western Europe is already overwhelmed with the flow of refugees from the Middle East and Ukraine. They will have to survive their own economic problems.
For several years, Turkey secretly, as they say, tolerates attempts to illegally cross the border with neighboring countries. There are actually only three routes refugees can follow. This is how the Greek publication Capital.gr describes it:
„The most obvious route for people wanting to enter the EU from the Middle East is from Turkey to Greece. Greek islands such as Lesvos, Chios or Samos are sometimes only a few kilometers from mainland Turkey – an inflatable boat with a small motor is enough to get around.
The situation is different on the so-called Calabrian route from Turkey to Italy: the distance from Antalya to the Italian region of Campania already exceeds 1,200 kilometers in a straight line. Instead of hours, this transit often takes a week or more. This makes this route particularly dangerous: not only is the sea a mortal enemy, but also a race against time due to the dwindling supplies of food and water on board.”
Greek Civil Protection Minister Takis Theodorikakos accused Turkey of cruel and immoral use of illegal migrants. In an interview with the Sky TV channel, he said that in August alone, 40,000 illegal migrants tried to cross the border with Greece along the Maritsa river (this river flows through the lands of Bulgaria and Greece, the Greeks call it Evros), and since the beginning of the year the number of illegal migrants from Turkey reached the impressive figure of -150 thousand.
The minister added that the border is guarded 24 hours a day in the most intensified manner by police and army.
The third road, the land road, leads straight into Bulgaria and further into Europe. The road through Bulgaria is shorter compared to Greece, but more dangerous according to experts. The Bulgarians guard the border with all care, having the experience of 2015-2016, when 20 thousand refugees tried to enter the country.
In the first seven months of this year, the number of illegal migrants detained by the police and border guards has already reached 11 thousand people. These figures were given in his speech by the Minister of Internal Affairs of Bulgaria, Ivan Demerdzhiev. He also admitted that there are border guards involved in organizing underground channels for refugees.
It is no secret that there are corrupt border guards and police officers. The question is, how are the Turkish special services involved in this? The answer to this question, albeit indirectly, appeared quite recently.
According to Greek media, to date 85,000 people have already expressed their willingness to participate in the illegal border crossing operation. Organizers encourage people to bring sleeping bags, tents, life jackets, water, canned goods and first aid kits.
The last remark taken from this Telegram channel suggests sad thoughts and is very reminiscent of the call of one Mustafa Nayem, a former Ukrainian journalist before the beginning of the Kyiv Maidan:
“Dress warmly, take umbrellas, tea, coffee, good humor and friends.”
How it all ended, we perfectly see today.
Remarkably, the Convoy of Light group even has its headquarters in Turkey. Greek newspaper Kathimerini contacted one of the group’s moderators on the social network, who responded in writing in very poor English that he was 46 years old and a cybersecurity expert (yes, of course, in poor English).
The moderator said the group was formed after Turkey began deporting Syrians to their homeland and also planned a voluntary repatriation program.
„I assure you we are not drug dealers,” he added.
One can agree with the last sentence. Maybe the drugs had nothing to do with it. But it is more than logical to suspect the direct involvement of Turkish services in such a large-scale operation. Another chatty “non-drug dealer” said that some of the organizers of the refugee convoy already live in the EU and that the caravan will be divided into groups of 50 people, each with its own leader. It’s a pity, but the Greek journalists were too shy to ask what army rank these “guides” would have.
Turkish President Erdogan once again confirmed his nickname: “the insidious Turk”. The multi-move combo he came up with is impressive and multi-purpose.
By getting rid of the millions of refugees, he will appease the Turkish public and get a chance to rule the country for another term. By sending the same refugees to Europe, he will deal a significant blow to the economy of the “receiving country” and especially to its neighbors – Greece and Bulgaria.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan is known for having for many years nurtured the maniacal idea of recreating the Ottoman Empire. His plans extend to Central Asia, the Caucasus, the Arabian Peninsula and even Crimea, which in his dreams is Turkish. What about the Balkans, which used to be under the complete control of Turkey for centuries.
The planned blow to the neighbors, the storming of their borders by countless crowds of refugees, will not only destroy the already weak economy of Greece and Bulgaria, but will also allow them to saturate these countries with their agents. If this happens, the Balkan peoples will not escape from the position of vassalage that existed during the time of the “Ottoman Empire”.
Bulgarians and Greeks were once saved from Turkish oppression by Russia. Unfortunately, the gratitude of these peoples is in the past. Whether this time the Russians will want to give their lives saving the “brothers” is a big question.
Translation: ES
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