Director of Communications Fahrettin Altun shared a thread on his Twitter account, indicating that Greece just suspended the temporary protection for migrants, and continued: “This is not only a total failure to help those in desperate conditions but also a denial of the fundamental international norms and foundational principles of the European Union. Greece’s treatment of refugees along its borders and in the Aegean Sea as well as its refusal to honor temporary protection for Syrians are a declaration of war on Europe’s own values and principles. Next time we get lectured about those values, we will remind them of this.”
Noting that Turkey targeted multiple chemical weapon sites in Syria, Altun stated the following:
“The existence of those sites is the proof that the international community has been deceived until now. The world must stop pretending to care and actually act against this murderous regime. Lack of serious sanctions against the Assad regime allowed it to continue to operate chemical weapon sites. It hasn’t shied away from using chemical weapons against civilians to empty out major urban areas. Relevant international bodies must inspect and shut down these sites.
The EU decided to convene an emergency meeting not when millions of civilians were being bombarded in Idlib but when only a few hundred refugees showed up at their door to seek protection. The EU must be meeting with a serious agenda to address the larger regional crisis. The EU’s failure to work with Turkey in a serious way to meet the unprecedented migration crisis has led to this day. They have failed to fully honor our 2015 agreement, leaving Turkey to deal with it and hoping we’d prevent refugees headed to Europe. We will not do it anymore.”
“Turkey has accomplished more than the international community”
Altun said that Europe must act on principle in the most serious challenge of our age, the migration crisis, and continued: “It will not be resolved by denying entry to thousands of refugees seeking protection. It starts with working with Turkey on comprehensive solutions and a European-wide mobilization. What Turkey has accomplished to protect civilians in the past few weeks has not been accomplished by the international community in the past 9 years. We have exposed that the regime’s cowardly actions against its own people and showed that they could have been stopped long time ago.”
Indicating that Turkey always stood by the oppressed and this was what it was doing in Syria, Altun noted the following:
“Our people sacrificed a lot in the past 9 years and they still do. But western allies are failing to support us in a robust manner. Nevertheless, we will continue to be the last hope for the oppressed. Turkey’s operation in Idlib aims to stop the humanitarian crisis. It also aims to ensure Syria’s territorial integrity. Turkey has no interest in acquiring any territory in Syria. We simply seek to prevent renewed refugee outflows and to establish stability and peace.