Sunday, May 8, 2016

Turkey Pres. Rips Europeans of Autocracy, Cruelty; Says They Have "No Mercy" for Rejecting Migrants

Turkey's president has kept up his rebuke of European nations, accusing them of "dictatorship" and "cruelty" for keeping their frontiers closed to migrants and refugees fleeing the Syrian civil war, the NY Times website reports today (May 8, 2016).

Addressing an audience attending a short film competition titled "Mercy and Justice" in Istanbul today, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said European nations had "no mercy and no justice."

Last week, Erdogan threw into doubt the future of a deal with the EU (European Union) which would allow Turkish citizens visa-free travel in Europe, by suggesting that Turkey would not meet an EU demand for his country to reform its anti-terrorism legislation.

His harsh words against the EU came after Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu -- who negotiated the deal -- announced he would step down this month, following a rift with Erdogan. Some international affairs experts believe that Erdogan forced Davutoglu to resign as prime minister so that he (Erdogan) could become an unchallenged dictator and lead Turkey on a path to implementing fascist policies.

No comments:

Post a Comment