Turkey’s Refugee Scam - Stephen Brown

by Stephen Brown

Turkish government allows African migrants easy access to Europe’s borders.

As if Europe’s refugee burden wasn’t crushing enough, the British newspaper, The Daily Telegraph, reported recently that Turkey is deliberately adding fuel to the spreading fire.

According to the Telegraph, the European Union border agency, Frontex, is claiming that Turkey is responsible for an upsurge in African migrants illegally crossing the Turkish border into the Balkans. The agency noted “a threefold increase in Africans” arriving by this route “in the three months to June.” The Sub-Saharan African states of Ghana, Cameroon and Congo were cited as examples of source countries, refugees from these states having risen four, six and nine times respectively.

“In total it (Frontex) detected some 4,071 Africans out of 54,437 illegal border crossings,” the Telegraph states.

Frontex is partially blaming Turkish Airlines, Turkey’s national carrier, for the African upsurge. The airline, which claims it flies to the largest number of destinations worldwide, has opened “a raft of new routes to Africa” as part of a “commercial strategy.”

“It (Frontex) notes how the carrier now has the largest network in Africa, nearly doubling its weekly seat capacity from 38,000 to 70,000, and planning to open six new destinations,” writes Telegraph journalist Matthew Holehouse.

African economic migrants and genuine refugees are taking advantage of the Turkish Airlines’ widespread presence in Africa to fly to Istanbul. From there, they set out on foot for the Bulgarian or Greek borders, a walk of a couple of hours. Once across, they are Europe’s problem.

And what is worse for an already struggling Europe, the number of African refugees flying to Istanbul will likely only increase. Frontex reports Turkish Airlines will expand its African network by January to at least 45 destinations in 30 countries. 

Holehouse writes that the opening of so many new routes is “interpreted as a drive by (Turkish president Erdogan) to increase Turkish influence” in the region.

Erdogan made a state visit to Africa earlier this year, visiting Horn of Africa countries. He intends to visit more African states as part of an effort to strengthen Turkey’s economic and strategic position on the continent. The Turkish government has already made large investments in Somalia and Ethiopia.  

The Horn of Africa trip, however, did produce controversy. Turkey’s deputy Prime Minister Numan Kultulmus, who accompanied Erdogan, attempted to stir up anti-Western feeling when he said: “For the first time since the Ottomans left, Africans are now seeing a white hand that does not exploit, enslave or punch them in their heads…”  

Kultulmus appears to have conveniently forgotten Istanbul’s famous slave market, where many black Africans experienced, first-hand, that non-exploiting Turkish “white hand.” Especially some male African slaves, after having been made eunuchs, must have shed tears of gratitude at such high-minded treatment.

But who can blame African migrants bound for the West for choosing a means of travel that deposits them so quickly and so safely on Europe’s doorstep? Besides, a flight almost to a migrant’s destination in a comfortable plane is obviously less physically exhausting and probably much cheaper than a dangerous trek across the Sahara Desert, followed by a hazardous trip in an unsafe boat across the Mediterranean. And Turkish Airlines ticket agents are undoubtedly much politer and easier to deal with than people smugglers.

What also makes the Turkish route even more attractive to illegal migrants, and not just those from Africa, but also for the thousands flying to Istanbul from the Middle East and Afghanistan on their way to Europe, is the ease with which they can acquire a visa for Turkey. One can both apply and pay for the document on line.

The Telegraph states one of its reporters, “pretending to be from Afghanistan,” applied for such an e-visa and completed the process in five minutes. This “major weakness in Europe’s border controls,” as it has been called, is also compounded by the fact that Turkish officials do not perform effective paper checks on African arrivals.

“Those applying for an e-visa from countries considered a source of illegal immigration should have extra documents, such as a residency permit for the Schengen countries,” writes Colin Freeman, another Telegraph journalist. “However, there is no online process for verifying the documents.”

And while Freeman adds this check should be done on the migrants’ arrival in Turkey, he states “the authorities do little” beyond checking that they are not security risks.

This “lax” visa procedure, European officials say, has resulted in Istanbul becoming “an important hub” for the migrant assault on Europe. It is estimated the city contains tens of thousands of people heading for the European paradise, the number constantly being replenished.

One now must ask why Turkey, which itself is burdened with more than a million refugees and knows well the problems they pose, is facilitating an increase in Europe’s migrant crisis?

One reason is that Turkey reaps a financial benefit from migrants using the Istanbul route in the form of airline ticket sales and visa fees. Addressing this cynical profiteering from human misery, Holehouse states: “While the world’s attention has been on illegal smuggling gangs, the allegation (by Frontex against Turkish Airlines) suggests that major corporations – acting entirely legally – also play a major and poorly-understood role in the mass migration affecting the continent.”

Another concerns Turkey’s desire to increase its influence in Africa. Like Mexico, corrupt African governments want to decrease their number of poor thereby lessening social pressure for change. Such regimes would appreciate Turkey for providing a societal release valve in the form quick and easy access for unwanted poor to travel to Europe, from where, hopefully, migrants will eventually send home money.

But there is possibly a more sinister reason behind Turkish complicity in helping to flood Europe with illegal migrants. The Erdogan government, although a NATO ally, is most likely an active partner in the plan to Islamize Europe with Third World immigration.

Unknown to many, the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) now has its headquarters in Istanbul where they were welcomed by the Erdogan government last year after being forced to relocate from Qatar. An alliance between Erdogan, who wants to lead the Islamic world, and a MB, which is plotting to make the world Islamic, would make perfect sense and could already exist.

And although not all African migrants travelling via Istanbul are Muslim, every one that reaches Europe still constitutes a drain on a host country’s treasury, money that could be used for defense, wealth creation or infrastructure. After all, military strength is based on financial strength. A European financial collapse, like ACORN had planned for America by overloading its welfare system, is something the MB would definitely desire.

Even if the European financial system does not collapse, thousands of the new, Muslim arrivals will probably fail to integrate or find jobs, posing a never-ending threat to the host countries’ social fabric. Worse, such frustrated individuals could provide recruits for any future, jihad-related disturbances in European cities. One only has to remember France in 2005.

In the end, Turkey’s fanning the flames of the refugee crisis can only strengthen its position as it weakens Europe’s. And this can only delight the West’s Islamist enemies.

Stephen Brown

Source: http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/260273/turkeys-refugee-scam-stephen-brown

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