Showing the kind of blindness that fuels the worst refugee crisis since WWII, 61-year-old German Chancellor Angela Merkel joined European Union Council head Donald Tusk and European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans visiting two refugee camps in Nazip, Turkey. Hailed by President Barack Obama for opening Germany’s doors to Syria refugees, the Saudi, Turkey and U.S. policy of toppling Syrian President Bashsr al-Assad causes the problem. Close to collapsing for a second time in Geneva, U.N. Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura faces failure, unable to convince the Syria government to give up sovereignty. Bolting the peace talks Friday, Saudi Arabia’s High Negotiation Committee got no concession from Syria, despite battling al-Assad’s regime for the last five years. Merkel’s visit comes with the irony that the EU’s refugee crisis is caused by the U.S., Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
Housing some 2.7 million refugees, Turkey’s 62-year-old President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has received $6.7 billion from the EU to manage Syria’s mass exodus from war-ravaged areas. Caught in the middle of a Saudi-funded proxy war, various terrorist groups including the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria [ISIS], al-Qaeda’s al-Nusra Front and Saudi, U.S. and Turkey-backed rebel groups like Jaysh al-Islam all work to topple Syria’s al-Assad. Since the so-called Saudi-backed “Arab Spring” toppled Tunisia’s Zine El Abidine Bin Ali Jan. 14, 2011, Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak Feb. 11, 2011, and started the Syria War March 11, 2011, al-Assad has ferociously resisted the Saudi-backed proxy war against his Shiite government. Causing over 250,000 deaths and millions displaced to neighboring countries and Europe, the Syria War continue to wreak havoc on the region and European Union.
Merkel’s visit to two refugee camps in Turkey near the Syrian Border could not be more ironic and hypocritical. Saudi Arabi’s King Salman, EU Commmision President Jean-Claude Juncker and Obama all bear responsibility for fueling the Syria War to topple al-Assad. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani fully back al-Assad’s right to sovereignty against the Saudi, U.S. and Turkish proxy war. De Mistura’s Geneva peace talks are doomed to fail because Russia and Iran have no intent to abandoning al-Assad’s right to sovereignty. Instead to working with Putin and Roubani to end the war, the U.S., Saudi Arabia and Turkey continue to battle al-Assad, driving more civilians out of Syria. Calling Merkel’s leadership “courageous,” Obama should stop backing the Saudi proxy war making life impossible for Syrian civilians caught in the crossfire.
Touring sanitized refugee camps in Turkey make good headlines for Merkel but does nothing to resolve the Syria War. Nothing could be more self-serving than Turkey backing Saudi Arabia’s proxy war against al-Assad, accepting billions from the EU to warehouse Syrians unable to live in Syria because of the war. Turkey wants the EU to fast-track its EU membership, something opposed by Hungary’s Viktor Orban, already seeing too much terrorism spreading to Europe. “The security of the European Union cannot be in the hands of a power outside the EU,” said Orban, referring to Turkey. Orban believes the EU “sold out to Turkey,” sealing the Hungary border, wanting no part of Merkel’s refugee plan. Erdogan has threatened to stop taking Syrian refugees if the EU fails to implement Turkey’s visa-free travel demands. Merkel hoped to get a sense of how Turkey’s handling the refugee crisis.
Instead of visiting two refugee camps for photo-ops, Merkel should show up a de Mistura’s Geneva peace talks. She needs to know firsthand what’s driving the Syria war, forcing civilians to flee Syria. Human Rights Watch Deputy Director for Europe Judith Sunderland urged Merkel to go to detention centers in Greece where conditions don’t look so “sanitized.” Whether Merkel visits refugee camps in Turkey or Greece, the real issue is how to stop the Syrian War. Merkel’s shown flexibility taking refugees but little insight into what can stop the war. Backing the EU position of Damascus regime change has fueled the civilian deaths and refugee crisis. If Merkel put pressure on de Mistura in Geneva to end the Saudi proxy war, the Mideast and Europe wouldn’t deal with today’s humanitarian disaster. Visiting refugee camps does nothing to end the Saudi, U.S. and Turkey-backed proxy war.
Visiting Nizip’s refugee camps, European Council President Donald Tusk expressed concerns about Erdogan’s crackdown on Turkey’s free press. “Our freedoms, including the freedom of expression, will not be subject to any political bargaining. This message must be heard by President Erdogan,” said Tusk, referring to extraneous issues inside Turkey. Whether Turkey gets visa-free-travel to Europe has nothing to do with ending the Syria War. Making billions from the EU on the refugee crisis, Erdogan has no incentive to see the war end anytime soon. “We have schools and hospitals, life is good here,” said Mohamed Tomas, 49, who lives in Nazip 2 with his wife and four kids. “But we want to know hat our future holds. If the war ended today, tomorrow I could go to Syria,” said Tomas. U.S. and EU officials need join Putin and tell Riyadh and Ankara to stop funding the Syrian War.
