Thursday, March 2: Turkish Embassy

Post date: Mar 09, 2017 1:50:40 AM

By Michael Manansala and Nicholas R. Wallace

Following our meeting with the Director of Prime Minister Tsipras’s Diplomatic Office, our group took a short walk to the Turkish Embassy in Athens, where we met Ambassador Yaşar Halit Çevik at his residence. Joining us was Feyza Barutçu, the Embassy Counsellor in charge of addressing the refugee and migrant crisis in Greece on behalf of Turkey. Although he is new to his post in Athens, Ambassador Çevik is a well-regarded diplomat whose career spans various posts as Turkey’s Consul General in Switzerland, Ambassador to Syria, and Permanent Representative at the United Nations in New York. Ms. Barutçu is a human rights lawyer who was a department head at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs before taking up post in Athens.

Seated around a table filled with tea and pastries, Ms. Barutçu and Mr. Çevik discussed Turkey’s role in addressing the refugee crisis, noting Turkey’s disproportionate involvement in welcoming refugees displaced by the Syrian civil war since 2011 when compared to their European counterparts. Ambassador Çevik explained that this is because Turkey views migration as a natural phenomenon; he wanted to make it clear that Turkey had learned from the faults of the Kurdish migration to Turkey, and this time around the country was a safe and welcome place for refugees. He stated that when people are in need, the right thing to do is to help them, which is what, in his mind, Turkey has been doing. Nick asked where the refugee crisis fell on a list of Turkey’s most important issues, and we learned that amongst threats of terrorism and changing political regimes, the refugee crisis was not at the forefront of the Turkish government’s list of priorities, although it was still a matter of great importance.

Walking through the crisis chronologically, they touched on NATO's involvement and the challenges of using a military body to address a humanitarian issue. Though refugees are typically the product of armed conflict, they are usually assisted by humanitarian organizations and institutions, and the military is rarely, if ever, involved. Most of the conversation, however, centered on the March 2016 EU-Turkey joint statement (or “deal”). They expressed frustration that the EU had not followed through with some of its promises, including committing 3 billion euros and implementing a visa waiver for Turkish citizens. Meanwhile, Turkey claims that it has significantly stemmed the tide of mass migrations into Europe through the Eastern European Route, and it has fulfilled most of the requirements for EU accession. Despite this, Ambassador Çevik had nothing but kind praise towards Greece, who he said had shown good will in handling the crisis and forming a unified front towards the EU.