Erdogan is weaponizing refugees on Turkey's European border while he creates more in Syria's north.
Erdogan, President of Turkey, often boasts of his 'humanitarianism' regarding the number of Syrian refugees he has allowed into his country. To date, Turkey is host to an estimate of around 3 million Syrian refugees. What he often fails to acknowledge, however, is that these refugees are the product of a brutal conflict that Turkey has openly and discreetly perpetuated.
Every Al Qaeda linked militia operating in Syria today, namely, HTS (Hayat Tahrir al-Sham), which has become an amalgamation of many Salafist jihadi groups that have been active throughout Syria's civil war, is a beneficiary of arms, funds, and backing from the Turkish state. In Idlib province, HTS is the largest rebel militia. On the ground, supported by drones in the sky, Turkish troops are seen working in tandem with HTS and smaller allied militias. The Turkish offensive seeks to confront the Syrian army, and allied forces of Russia and Iran, who are attempting to regain control of Idlib. Idlib is the last remaining stronghold for rebel groups in Syria.
Today, in substantially bolstering the firing power of fringe jihadist groups in Idlib, and using Turkish drones to directly attack Syrian soldiers, Erdogan has managed only to prolong the 8-year long conflict in Syria, further destabilised the region and increased Syrian suffering. Turkish arms, drones and boots on the ground are fuelling a much fiercer battle in Idlib province, and once again more Syrian's are fleeing the violence and terror of a conflict Erdogan himself is actively perpetuating.
Over the past few days, refugees, not only from Syria but from many states affected by war and instability, including Afghanistan, Yemen, Libya and Iraq, have been attempting to reach the shores of Greece through Turkey. This new wave of refugees attempting to reach Europe, however, is not simply another unforeseeable byproduct of regional instability, in fact, this mass influx of refugees to Europe is the consequence of a very deliberate decision by Erdogan to "loosen" the presence of security at Turkish borders.
Erdogan's "loosening" of security at his own borders, and the use of state busses to reportedly ship refugees to border towns, knowing the dangers they face, is an explicit and intentional exploitation of Syrian and other refugees. Families seeking a better life, away from war and economic instability are simply political pawns to Erdogan.
In a video uploaded to twitter, one Syrian woman who'd been on a migrant bus to the border city of Edirne warns others not follow. Speaking in Arabic, she says "Nobody come, nobody come to Edirne." A Syrian man, seemingly on the bus with her, appears towards the end of the video. "Advice from me to every Syrian in Turkey", he adds, "Don't think of leaving through the (Turkish) state, because it is all lies."
Many other videos have documented the chaos at the Greek and Turkish border. A chaos that has been deliberately manufactured by the Turkish state in their undermining of the sovereignty of both Greece, and Syria too.
Throughout Syria's civil war, Erdogan has consistently wielded the threat of a refugee crisis. In 2015, days after Turkish forces shot down a Russian fighter jet in Syria, Erdogan, speaking to leaders of the European Union in Brussels, warned the refugee crisis that at that point alone had been the worst faced by Europe since WWII, would only get worse unless more action was taken on part of European states. His proposed action being direct engagement in the conflict that millions had already been fleeing from. Erdogan's "solution" to the Syrian crisis in 2015, remains his proposed "solution" today, wanting more states to engage directly in the Syrian war on behalf of Turkish interests.
Even today, Erdogan claims that failure to back his "solution," will result in a far worse refugee crisis for Europe, all the whilst making known his ability to manifest that crisis into existence by opening Turkish borders.
In the early stages of the war in Syria, Erdogan's decision to "loosen" security at Turkey's Syrian border allowed for over 30,000 foreign fighters to illegally enter the war. In Syria, Erdogan is not the saviour of refugees he makes himself out to be. In fact, his actions as leader of one of Syria's largest neighbours have explicitly worked to create more refugees by actively aggravating the conflict in which they have been fleeing.
To Erdogan, the tragedies of the modern refugee seem to be nothing more than another form of political leverage in order to pressure European and western governments to further support his dirty war in Syria.
This article has been written and produced by Adam Abdullatif for Alaquarium.media. The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author/s and do not necessarily reflect any opinions or views held by Alaquarium.media or its contributors