Luxembourg’s Minister of European and Foreign Affairs Jean Asselborn arrives for a news conference after an European Union interior and justice ministers emergency meeting on the migrants situation in Brussels on Sept. 14. (Photo: Reuters)
The EU has categorized Turkey as not safe for refugees, citing the recent escalation of clashes between security forces and the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Speaking at a press conference following a meeting of EU interior ministers on Tuesday, Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn announced that the categorization of Turkey had been officially changed, as it can no longer be considered a safe country for refugees, the Milliyet daily reported on Wednesday.
In order to aid in the swift processing of applications from asylum seekers, the EU categorizes the countries from which candidates arrive as safe or unsafe. For a country to be considered safe by the EU, it has to fulfill the Copenhagen criteria at a basic level, including guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities.
Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Kosovo, Serbia and Montenegro are included in the list of countries and territories deemed safe by the EU.
A Prime Ministry Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) report released early in May indicates that the number of Syrian refugees in Turkey is 1.6 million, but the actual figure is thought to be around 2 million. The government has said it has spent $6.5 billion in humanitarian aid since 2011, when the civil war in Syria broke out.
Turkey has been the scene of an unprecedented surge of violence since July, when the government halted a settlement process it had initiated with the PKK in 2012. At least 130 members of the police force and soldiers have been killed in nearly daily PKK attacks.
Dozens of protests have been held nationwide, responding particularly to a PKK ambush in early September that killed 16 members of the military. In response to the PKK’s attacks, protesters attacked the homes of Kurds and set their vehicles on fire.
Local branches of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) were also subjected to violence, with over 150 HDP headquarters being attacked by protesters hurling stones and draping the buildings with Turkish flags.