Erdogan threatened to flood Europe with migrants

FEBRUARY 10, 2016 | EDIT

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to “put refugees on buses” and flood Europe with migrants if EU leaders did not offer him enough cash to help curb the influx of asylum seekers, a leaked record of a high-level meeting claims.

“We can open the doors to Greece and Bulgaria anytime and we can put the refugees on buses,” Erdogan was quoted as telling European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and European Council President Donald Tusk after being told that the EU was offering Turkey €3 billion over two yearsThe minutes of the meeting that apparently took place in November in Antalya have been published by the Greek financial news website euro2day.gr

After Tusk mentioned the difficult situation in the European Union, Erdogan, who reportedly demanded €6 billion over two years, said: “So how will you deal with refugees if you don’t get a deal? Kill the refugees?”

GLOBAL LEADERS TO MEET AT THE FIRST-EVER WORLD HUMANITARIAN SUMMIT

23 – 24 May 2016, Istanbul, Turkey

WHO:  Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations

Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President of Turkey

Mr. Mogens Lykketoft, President of the United Nations General Assembly

Mr. Stephen O’Brien, United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator

Over 5,000 participants, including Heads of States and Governments, representatives of crisis-affected communities, CEOs from the private sector, Heads of multilateral organizations, international and national NGOs, youth representatives, civil society, diaspora, civil-military, and academia

WHY: Humanitarian needs are rising with 125 million people affected by conflict and disaster. There are more people displaced today than ever since the Second World War: over 60 million. The human and economic cost of disasters caused by natural hazards is also escalating. The impacts of climate change become more profound, and disasters are expected to become more frequent and more severe. Never before has humanitarian action delivered so much for so many vulnerable people around the world. But unless we adopt more effective ways to address their suffering, we cannot aspire to a world of peace, security and sustainable development where no one is left behind.

WHAT: The first-ever World Humanitarian Summit is a call to action to unite around our shared humanity. The aims of the Summit are: to reaffirm our shared commitment to humanity and the universality of humanitarian principles; generate greater global leadership and political will to end conflict, alleviate suffering and reduce risk; and agree on a set of concrete actions and commitments to able us to better prepare for and respond to crises. The United Nations Secretary-General will use this historic moment to call for placing humanity at the centre of global decision-making. He will highlight five core responsibilities that the whole international community must shoulder:

1.                  Securing global leadership and political will to prevent and end conflicts;

2.                  Respecting the norms that safeguard our humanity, including international humanitarian and human rights law;

3.                  Leaving no one behind and reaching the furthest behind first, including by improving gender equality and empowering women and girls;

4.                  Moving from delivering aid to ending need, by putting people at the centre and reinforcing local and national systems, and ending the humanitarian-development divide; and

5.                  Investing in humanity by diversifying and optimizing humanitarian financing.

Acting on these responsibilities is not just a moral imperative, but a strategic necessity to confront today’s global challenges. To outline what is needed to deliver on the five core responsibilities, the Secretary-General will put forward an Agenda for Humanity that will provide the framework for the Summit. In Istanbul, the Secretary-General will call on leaders at the highest level from all humanitarian stakeholder groups – including Governments, international and regional organizations, affected communities, civil society, humanitarian organisations, the private sector and academia – to announce commitments and bold actions to deliver on the Agenda for Humanity.

WHEN:           Monday, 23 May 2016: from 9.00 a.m. to 9.00 p.m and Tuesday, 24 May 2016: from 9.00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (GMT + 2)

WHERE: Istanbul Congress Center (ICC) and Lutfi Kirdar Convention & Exhibition Center (LKCC) in Istanbul, Turkey

.Media reports