The European Union will pay an additional one billion euros to Türkiye in 2024 to support the healthcare and education of Syrian refugees in the country. This was announced today by the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen from Ankara, where she flew to meet the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has forcefully returned to the center of the game after the takeover of Syria by Sunni militias such as the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
Ankara has been receiving money from Brussels for migrant management for 13 years
The new European economic support will serve to contribute to the management of migration and borders, including the voluntary repatriations of Syrian refugees, explained the president of the EU Commission. “Turkey continues to be a fundamental partner in the management of migration along the eastern Mediterranean route”, specified the President of the Commission, underlining how Ankara has taken a leading role in the management of Syrian migrants. The same ones who were at the center of an agreement between Ankara and Brussels, with the latter having paid almost 10 billion euros to the Turkish government for the management of Syrian refugees over the last 13 years. By virtue of this agreement, Turkey took charge of the refugees from neighboring Syria.
So Sultan Erdogan takes “free” Syria
Already at the end of May, the European Commission had indicated, on the occasion of the eighth edition of the conference on support for the future of Syria and the region, that the EU had promised 2.12 billion euros for 2024 and 2025. It was a We assist both Syrians within Syria and those in neighboring countries, as well as their host communities in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq. Among the promises, a community note indicated, was also “one billion euros to support Syrian refugees and vulnerable host communities in Türkiye”. A promise that has now been kept.
The Turkish government wants the European Union to actively participate in the reconstruction of Syria, a crucial condition for speeding up the return of refugees. According to UNHCR, Turkey hosts 3.2 million Syrian refugees with temporary protection, which however does not provide a defined path to obtaining Turkish citizenship. Most of them have arrived since the start of the conflict in Syria in 2011, and have had to register in only one province to access aid, services, and look for work.
Erdogan pushes for EU membership
During their handshake, von der Leyen emphasized the essential role that Turkey and Erdogan play in stabilizing the Syrian neighborhood region. For the Turkish leader, however, the priority is the defense of the territorial integrity of the new Syria, a country that must be freed from the terrorist threat “of both ISIS and Ypg/Pkk”.
Erdogan’s words must be read as a message A clear message to von der Leyen and to several European countries, including Germany, which have repeatedly shown closeness and solidarity to the Kurdish separatists. An unacceptable circumstance for the Sultan, who is adamant in considering YPG/PKK terrorists for whom there is no future in Syria. Erdogan took the opportunity to ask the EU to “support an inclusive political system” in the new government in Damascus and pushed for a collaboration with Brussels different from that of 2016, on the containment of migratory flows.
The 🇪🇺🇹🇷 relationship is important.
Our economic relationship is growing stronger every year.
And Türkiye remain a key partner on migration.
An extra €1 billion for 2024 is on its way to support Türkiye’s efforts to host Syrian refugees. pic.twitter.com/cr3Tfaz7l9
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) December 17, 2024
The central role assumed by Erdogan’s Türkiye in Syria allows him, now as in 2016, to reclaim his position and relaunch his country’s candidacy for the European Union. For Turkey, becoming a member “remains a strategic objective”. Possible membership “will bring significant contributions and advantages” for both, Brussels and Ankara. But if EU membership seems like a distant dream, the one on which Erdogan is focusing most realistically it is the updating of customs agreements and the liberalization of visas for Turkish citizens who want to visit European countries.
