Thursday

28th Mar 2024

Turks do not want to live in the EU any more

  • Istanbul mall - the city is relatively rich. But in rural areas, around 10 percent of people live in poverty (Photo: maistora)

Turkey says future visa-free travel will work out well because Turks no longer want to live in the EU.

Its European affairs minister Egemen Bagis told EUobserver on Friday (22 June) that Turks these days travel to EU capitals "to spend [money]" in shops and hotels.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

"In the past, when Turks were asked do you want to live in Europe, 80 percent would say Yes. Now, 85 percent say No. Turkish citizens feel there is more hope in Turkey, better job opportunities," he said.

He noted that in 2010, 27,000 Turks went to live in Germany, but 35,000 German citizens moved to Turkey.

He added that "many" of the 5.5 million Turks who live in the EU are considering going to Turkey to seek a better life for themselves and their children.

Bagis spoke after EU countries earlier in the week agreed plans for visa-free travel by 2014 or 2015.

His words are backed up by economic data, to an extent.

While the eurozone stumbles from crisis to deeper crisis, Turkey's GDP per capita is galloping upward.

In the Ankara and Istanbul regions it is already on par with Greece, former Communist EU countries and parts of Spain and the UK.

Turkey is not just Istanbul and Ankara, however - in rural areas, around 10 percent of people live on the equivalent of less than $5 a day.

In return for the visa deal, Turkey is to implement a "readmission" pact - extra measures for stopping migrants from as far afield as China or Pakistan sneaking into the EU.

Bagis said Turkey will create a 50,000-man-strong civilian border police, "humane" detention centres and "new fences."

Turkey currently intercepts 70,000 people a year trying to get into Greece or Bulgaria. The number "could easily double or triple" once the new measures are in place, he said.

Bagis noted that 30,000 Syrian refugees are being housed in eight camps in southeast Turkey. But Turkish soldiers and gendarmes are making sure they stay put and that no weapons get in.

The EU visa deal will also see Turkey sign an "operational agreement" with the EU's joint police body, Europol.

A report by British MPs last year said Turkish-based organised crime groups are a growing threat to EU security on heroin and cocaine smuggling and human trafficking.

They said lack of intelligence-sharing, such as personal data on suspects, helps the gangs make hay.

Let Turkey into Europol, British MPs say

Turkey should be allowed to become a member of the EU's joint police body, Europol, no matter what happens with its EU membership bid, a new report by the British parliament has said.

Opinion

Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Rather than assuming a pro-European Labour government in London will automatically open doors in Brussels, the Labour party needs to consider what it may be able to offer to incentivise EU leaders to factor the UK into their defence thinking.

Latest News

  1. Orban's Fidesz faces low-polling jitters ahead of EU election
  2. German bank freezes account of Jewish peace group
  3. EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania
  4. 'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told
  5. Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza
  6. Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult
  7. EU unveils plan to create a European cross-border degree
  8. How migrants risk becoming drug addicts along Balkan route

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us