Turkey (MNN) — Refugees into Turkey and the European Union often flee from war zones in Syria and Afghanistan. Some leave bad economic situations in Pakistan or India.
Unfortunately, these people have become caught in the middle of a political chess match as Turkey tries to leverage them against the EU. Tasos Ioannidis of AMG International says, “Over the last four years or so, there has been a lot of disagreement between Turkey and the European Union. Turkey has been trending more towards an Islamic government.”
Caught in a power struggle
The EU worries massive numbers of refugees will destabilize European countries. To gain leverage, Turkey threatens to let huge numbers of people into Europe. Ioannidis says, “A couple of years ago, when Turkey first started basically trying to blackmail the European Union, they brought several hundred thousand refugees to the border with Greece.”
Since then, Greece and the EU have built a border wall to keep people out. Read more here.
Pray the many refugees stuck in Turkey would no longer be used as pawns between nations. And pray people that do reach Greece would encounter the love of Jesus. AMG serves refugees at two locations in Greece: Athens and Thessaloniki. Read more here.
The header photo shows a Syrian refugee center on the Turkish Border. (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain)
