Olaf Scholz is visiting Turkey this Saturday October 19. The German chancellor was received by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, while Berlin-Ankara exchanges have intensified in recent months. In Turkey, Scholz came above all to talk about immigration and cooperation in the economy and defense, but also about the war in Ukraine and the situation in the Middle East. Erdogan chose this meeting to make a surprising statement about welcoming refugees.
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With our correspondent in Ankara, Anne Andlauer
Officially, the “open door” policy towards refugees is no longer in force in Türkiye. Two months ago, the Interior Ministry claimed to have not registered any Syrians since June 2022 and to have returned nearly 690,000 of them to their country over the past five years – returns presented as “ volunteers “. Turkish leaders assure that their country, which still shelters more than three million Syrians, cannot accept “ one more refugee “.
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The president’s remarks Erdogan during his press conference with the german chancellor were therefore quite surprising: “ Our doors have always been open to refugees coming from Syria. They still are today, and even more so during this period of war in the region. If there are those who can come to Türkiye – notably, among them, refugees from Lebanon – we keep our doors open for them too. »
Even if these comments risk being poorly received by a Turkish population very hostile to refugees, they are perhaps aimed at putting pressure on the Europeans in their negotiations with Ankara or their support for Israel. Because Recep Tayyip Erdogan knows it: the vast majority of refugees do not want to stay in Turkey, where their asylum request has almost no chance of being accepted, or even registered. Many therefore aim to go to Europe.