Turkey Opens its EU Border, “Weaponizing” Syrian Refugees

Kurdish refugees in a refugee camp on the Turkish side of the Syria-Turkey border.

Turkey announced on February 28 that it would open its northern border with Greece, allowing refugees to flow freely into the European Union (EU). This action violates a 2016 agreement in which Turkey would receive financial aid from the EU in exchange for preventing Syrian refugees from crossing into the EU. As Turkey’s refugee population is approaching 3.5 million, Turkey claims that the EU has fallen short on its financial commitment.

Since Turkey opened its border, thousands of migrants have attempted to cross into Europe, which has caused violence that one migrant compared to a “horror movie.” Greek forces have greeted migrants at the border with gunfire, tear gas, and brutal beatings as Greek policymakers order all refugees to be sent back to Turkey. 

The EU’s current policy is clear: the border to Europe is closed. Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief, released a message to migrants hoping to cross into Greece: “The border is not open. If someone tells you that you can go because the border is open…that is not true.” 

The opening of Turkey’s borders also coincided with the intensifying conflict in Idlib, Syria. That week, 33 Turkish troops were killed by Russian-backed Syrian airstrikes. Officially, Erdogan’s release of the migrants into Europe was a direct effect of the unusually high influx of Syrian refugees. However, the EU foreign minister argues that the policy was more “political” in nature.

It is possible that Turkey’s policy is meant to extort support from NATO allies in the Syrian conflict. Sinan Ciddi, the Executive Director of the Institute of Turkish Studies at Georgetown University, explains that Erdogan’s new border policy is a way of “turning up the heat” on the EU, motivating European countries to support Turkey in its military endeavors. Ciddi describes this strategy as the “weaponization of migrants and refugees.” 

Despite Erdogan’s strategy, the EU foreign minister pointed out that the EU is not able to directly influence NATO’s decision on whether or not to send military aid to Turkey. “We can try to influence the United Nations and NATO, it’s a good idea,” the minister said. However, sympathy from NATO is unlikely. Turkey’s relationship with its fellow NATO allies is currently strained due to Turkey’s purchase of Russian missiles, which significantly damaged the Western military alliance. 

“Turkey, instead of curbing migrant and refugee smuggling networks, has become a smuggler itself,” said the Greek government in a statement.