“Completely unacceptable”: Merkel criticizes Erdogan - Merz demands signal to refugees

Turkey: Erdogan opens the border with Greece. CDU politician Friedrich Merz wants to signal to refugees that "there is no point in coming to Germany".

• Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has opened the borders
• Greece feels left alone by the EU.
• Clashes on the border and on the Greek islands

Update from Tuesday, 03.03.2020, 11.12 a.m .: The EU is reacting to the pressure from Turkey: After the border opening for refugees to Greece, the EU tries to defuse the crisis by talking to Ankara. According to the EU Commission, EU External Relations Officer Josep Borrell and Crisis Commissioner Janez Lenarcic are currently traveling to the region. They are expected to hold talks with Turkish government officials "on the ongoing escalation in the northwest Syrian province of Idlib, the humanitarian consequences for local civilians and the situation of Syrian refugees in Turkey".

The Commission noted that Borrell and Lenarcic's two-day visit to Turkey will take place ahead of a two-day meeting of EU foreign ministers from Thursday (05.03.2020). Lenarcic also visits refugee facilities in southeast Gaziantep near the Syrian border. Due to the tense situation, a special meeting of the EU interior ministers is planned on Wednesday (04.03.2020).

Friedrich Merz to refugees in Greece and Turkey: "We cannot accept you here."

Update from Monday, March 2nd, 2020, 6:16 pm: Friedrich Merz , candidate for the CDU chairmanship, warns of a situation like 2015. There must be a signal to the refugees that "there is no point in coming to Germany", Merz told the Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR). "We cannot accommodate you here." In Germany, everyone involved agreed that something like 2015/2016 should not be repeated, Merz added.

If such a situation should occur again, Germany must keep control of its own borders, Merz demands. The word "loss of control" was rightly used in Germany in 2015 and 2016, and should not be repeated.

At the same time, the # Federal Government must also clearly say to those affected that they can neither expect to enter the European Union nor continue on to #Germany. (Tm)

The left foreign politician Sevim Dagdelen demands a different policy towards Turkey and Syria and a fight against the causes of flight. Someone like the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan , "who himself is a personal cause of flight through his wars of aggression in Syria" should not be supported any further.

Angela Merkel criticizes Erdogan for dealing with refugees - open border with Greece

Update from Monday, March 2nd, 2020, 4:41 pm: Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) has criticized Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan harshly for dealing with refugees. "The Turkish president does not currently feel adequately supported," said Merkel in Berlin on Monday. With all understanding, however, it is “completely unacceptable that this should now be carried out on the backs of refugees. Because the refugees have now been put in a situation where they go to the border and basically end up in a dead end ”.

Fluxes of Refugees to #Europe: Will 2015 Repeat? The federal government says no - Angela #Merkel understands # Turkey, but criticizes #Erdogan's behavior. pic.twitter.com/YpgkA0a3Ee

"Turkey has achieved a lot," said Merkel. The situation in the Syrian province of Idlib is "a huge challenge," said the Chancellor. That is why she also understands that Turkey is expecting more support from the European Union. The current refugee situation on the Greek-Turkish border can only be resolved if the EU-Turkey agreement is again accepted by both sides as "sufficient and also implemented". She said: "I was very busy with that at the weekend."

Erdogan speaks of “millions” of refugees - pressure on EU increased

Update from Monday, March 2nd, 2020, 3:00 p.m .: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has further increased pressure on the EU in the dispute over the opening of the border to refugees . The borders remained open, Erdogan said in a television speech on Monday. Now it is up to the EU to carry its “part of the burden”. Against the backdrop of increasing tensions in the Syria conflict , Erdogan also announced a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday.

"Hundreds of thousands" have fled to Europe since the opening of the border, "soon there will be millions," said Erdogan. However, according to observations by the AFP news agency on site, these figures seem to be greatly exaggerated.

Refugees are waiting at the Turkish-Greek border.

© AFP

As a result of the escalation of the military conflict in northern Syria, Turkey had opened its borders to refugees who want to enter the EU at the weekend. Thousands of people then tried to cross the border into Greece. Ankara justified the step with the fact that the EU does not adhere to its obligations under the refugee agreement concluded with Turkey in 2016.

Update from Monday, March 2nd, 2020, 12.35 p.m .: According to the government in Athens, the video published online on Monday about a migrant allegedly shot by a Greek soldier is not genuine. "The video is..fake news," tweeted the Greek government spokesman Stelios Petsas. He called on the media to watch what "Turkish propaganda" publishes.

Update from Monday, March 2nd, 2020, 11.35am: In the Greek border district Evros, a Syrian refugee is said to have been shot dead by border guards on Monday morning. The BBC journalist Mughira Al Sharif reports on Twitter. The man is said to have tried with hundreds of other people to cross the border.

Update from Monday, March 2nd, 2020, 10.40 a.m .: A toddler drowned in a rubber boat off the island of Lesbos on Monday morning. Greek TV (ERT), citing the coast guard, reported that the victim came from Turkey on board an inflatable boat with 48 migrants. When the migrants saw a patrol boat from the Greek coast guard, they perforated the inflatable boat to be rescued as a shipwreck.

Migrants flee from Turkey to Greece

The coast guard is then obliged to take people in and bring them to Greece. The boat went under. The coast guard saved the migrants, it was said. All help came too late for the child, the state broadcaster reported.

Update from Monday, March 2nd, 2020, 8.50 a.m .: Greece has announced the highest alarm level in view of the massive influx of refugees after the Turkish border opening. Among other things, patrols on land and water in the northeast of the country are to be strengthened, as Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Sunday evening after a crisis meeting of the National Security Council in Athens.

The EU border agency Frontex meanwhile expects the situation on the Greek-Turkish border to worsen. According to the Greek government spokesman Stelios Petsas, the country does not want to accept new asylum applications for a month. Petsas spoke of an "asymmetrical threat to the security of our country". He criticized Turkey for wanting to exert diplomatic pressure by opening its borders. Ankara has thus “become a tractor itself”.

Greece: target practice in response to an increase in migrants

In the meantime, units of the Greek army are said to carry out extensive target practice on the islands in the east of the Aegean. This was reported by the Greek state television, citing the Ministry of Defense in Athens.

Greek border police shoot tear gas at refugees.

© picture alliance / dpa / Giannis Papanikos

From the point of view of commentators, the exercises are a reaction to the increase in migrants who had transferred the previous day from Turkey to the islands of Lesbos, Chios and Samos. While almost 100 people have come from Turkey every day since the beginning of the year, a good 700 migrants migrated to the islands on Sunday.

First announcement on Sunday, March 1st, 2020, 9:35 pm: New details on the riots on the island of Lesbos in Greece are known. Near the beach at Skala Sykamineas, an AFP photographer is said to have observed how Greeks set fire to an unused UN welcome center for refugees.

Another group of Greeks has meanwhile tried to block a police bus with migrants with chains and stones from entering the desperately crowded Moria camp, the Greek news agency ANA reported.