EU leaders propose further funding to Turkey for Syrian refugees, but, at Greece’s insistence, issue a warning that the bloc “condemns any attempt by third countries to instrumentalize migrants for political purposes.”
Turkish prosecutors issued an arrest warrant Thursday for exiled mobster Sedat Peker, whose video exposes have implicated high-level officials and left ruling party insiders struggling to respond.
Northern Syria Security Dynamics and the Refugee Crisis Getty/Delil Souleiman/AFP
A boy watches a Turkish military convoy drive past a Syrian village on the outskirts of Tal Abyad along the border with Turkey, September 2019.
Sam Hananel
Introduction and summary
The Syrian conflict, now entering its second decade, has cost more than 500,000 lives and forced 13 million Syrian civilians to flee their homes more than half the prewar population including 6.6 million who are refugees outside the country.
1 This profound humanitarian crisis also threatens the stability of Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey. Moreover, the out-migration has contributed to the growth of right-wing populism across Europe and severely affected the project of European unity.
12 May in 22:15 Al-Monitor
Syrian investors pumped approximately 58.7 million Turkish liras (about $7 million) into 124 companies during the first quarter of this year, according to statistics published May 1 by the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey, Al-Monitor writes. While this was only a fraction of the more than 3,200 foreign companies established in Turkey in cooperation with local Turkish partners in the first quarter, it still shows the value of Syrian investment in the country. A large number of Syrian refugees in Turkey it was estimated at 3.6 million last year has helped lead to a 5% overall increase in the number of companies registered in Turkey.
Last Updated On: May 12 2021 12:54 Gmt+3
“We will seek ways to repair the relationship with a more positive agenda with Saudi Arabia,” President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Spokesperson Ibrahim Kalın said last week.
“Parallel to the developing diplomatic relations with Egypt, we want to strengthen our trade and economic ties in the coming period,” Trade Minister Mehmet Mus said on May 3.
There is plenty of room for improvement for Turkey in trade with both countries. And Turkey must try hard to achieve those gains.
“Turkey’s hard currency revenues have been significantly decreasing on the back of EU and US sanctions. Wooing Egypt and the Arab world is an attempt to loosen the noose on Ankara,” Rashad Abdo, head of the Egyptian Forum for Economic and Strategic Studies, told Al-Monitor last month.