The European Union’s (EU) first response has come after the statements of Turkey’s Minister for EU Affairs Ömer Çelik, saying "it is clear that EU will not take a fair and objective stand. It is time to reconsider the migration deal."
In its response Çelik regarding the migration deal, The European Commission stated that ‘‘the European Union adheres to the migration deal with Turkey.
Minister Çelik, had previously said that ‘‘although Turkey did everything regarding the migration deal, the European Union did not fulfill its commitments. Turkey has no obligations to carry out this agreement to the other party (referring the EU).’’
"We realized regarding the issue of visa liberty that the EU will not be able to produce an objective and equitable approach on this topic", said Çelik, remarking that ‘‘it is clear that EU will not take a fair and objective stand. I believe that it is time to reconsider the migration deal; I think that there is no reason to continue this deal.’’
The EU had reached a migration agreement with Turkey on the return of new asylum seekers last year. According to this deal between Turkey and EU, refugees and asylum seekers taking "illegal" routes to Greece from Turkey would have to be sent back to prevent the mass migration of the refugees towards Europe. The leaders of the 28 nations in the EU and the ruling Justice and Development Party of Turkey had approved the agreement despite serious objections from humanitarian aid committees, who warned that this deal violated international law regarding the refugees and asylum seekers.
The migration deal had projected to give Turkey about $6.6 billion aid to help non-governmental organizations for the refugees and migrants and had also promised a visa liberty for Turkish citizens in Europe if Turkey meets particular conditions of EU membership.
