German Chancellor Angela Merkel has called for the EU to cut funding for Turkey linked to its bid to join the bloc. While raising concerns about the rule of law in the country, she praised Ankara's support for refugees.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/O. Matthys
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As she arrived at an EU summit on Thursday, Merkel said she considered developments in Turkey "very negative" in terms of European democratic values.
"Not only are Germans being arrested, but the entire rule of law in Turkey is moving in the wrong direction. We are very worried about this. And I will back a reduction in pre-accession funds," Merkel said.
NATO ally Turkey's drawn-out bid to join the European Union has stalled amid a crackdown on dissent and political opponents of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. A failed coup attempt in 2016 led to wide-scale purges of the armed forces, state institutions, media and academia.
Some 50,000 people have been jailed pending trial. A referendum this year giving Erdogan sweeping new powers, which rights groups say lack checks and balances, is seen as another roadblock to EU membership.
However, Merkel stopped short of calling for the EU and Turkey to now abandon the more than a decade-long push for Turkey to join the bloc. Many European politicians, including Austria's likely next chancellor Sebastian Kurz, have called for negotiations to be broken off.
Praise for taking in refugees
At the same time, Merkel also said that the European Union would keep its side of a refugee deal struck with Ankara in 2016. The deal largely stopped people traveling to Europe via Turkey in smugglers' boats to seek asylum in large numbers.
"I will also make clear that Turkey is doing a great job on the refugees and that we have obligations under the EU-Turkey deal. We have promised 3 billion euros for the coming years in addition to the 3 billion that we have already committed. We need to deliver on this promise," she added.
Turkey, a country of 80 million people compared with the EU's 500 million, hosts more than 3 million refugees and asylum seekers, mostly Syrians who fled the war in their country.
Integration problems for Syrians in Turkey
As war rages on in their country, Syrians find language skills and decent wages hard to acquire in Turkey, despite having lived in the country for several years. Diego Cupolo reports from Nizip, southeastern Turkey.
Image: DW/D. Cupolo
Outside looking in
A boy looks out from a school in Nizip 2 refugee camp in southern Turkey. Many Syrians have lived here for more than five years, but have difficulties integrating into Turkish society due to language barriers and the trappings of informal labor. This camp offers high-end accommodations by international standards, but some residents continue to struggle with social isolation.
Image: DW/D. Cupolo
Better than expected
Built on the banks of the Euphrates River in 2012, Nizip 2 offers free education, health care and supermarkets to its residents. Families live in individual shipping container-sized homes, complete with bathrooms, heating and air condition - a stark difference from traditional canvas tent camps that are at the mercy of inclement weather. About 4,500 Syrians currently live in Nizip 2.
Image: DW/D. Cupolo
We do need an education!
According to the Turkish Ministry of National Education, 40 percent of Syrian school-aged children are out of school. In camps like Nizip 2, free education is offered for students of all ages in Arabic, Turkish and English. Yet some refugees have found the process of learning Turkish to be slow, inhibiting their prospects for higher paying jobs in the country.
Image: DW/D. Cupolo
Safety first
"For children, it’s better outside the camp because they are learning Turkish very slowly and would learn faster if they were in class with Turkish students," said Mustafa Omer, an English teacher in the Nizip 2 school, who is originally from Homs, Syria. "But they feel safe in the camp with their community, and that is most important to us," he told DW.
Image: DW/D. Cupolo
Finding the right personnel
"The interaction between the [Syrian and Turkish] children is important to ease the social tensions," says Omar Kadkoy, a researcher who specializes in economic and social refugee integration. "However, both public schools and temporary education centers suffer from a mutual shortcoming: the lack of qualified personnel to teach Turkish as a second language."
Image: DW/D. Cupolo
"It’s easy to learn Turkish"
Yet there are success stories. Mahir Ismail, 17, right, said he’s been studying Turkish for one year. "It’s easy to learn Turkish," he told DW. "I can understand 70 percent of it." When Ismail finishes high school he hopes to study engineering. According to Camp Director Ibrahim Halil Demir, 39 camp residents currently attend the nearby Gaziantep University.
Image: DW/D. Cupolo
Finding the right job
Unemployment is high among Syrians, but many find low-skilled jobs, mainly in hard labor sectors, while others start their own companies. Of the 6,000 Syrian companies established in Turkey between 2011 and March 2017, 13 percent were located in the Gaziantep province, according to Kadkoy. Still, many Syrians struggle to transfer their skills into Turkey’s workforce.
Image: DW/D. Cupolo
No time to study
Kahraman Marash, 24, seated, was in the camp to visit his grandparents on a day off. He works 12-hour shifts, seven days a week, at a kebab shop in a nearby city for 1,000 liras ($270, 256 euros) a month. "I want to learn Turkish and go to school but don’t have time," he told DW. "My parents depend on my salary."
Image: DW/D. Cupolo
Longing to go home
Overwhelmingly, camp residents have one thing on their minds: going home. Mohamed Haaji, left, 17, picks vegetables and fruits for 35 liras a day ($9.50, 9 euros). He says there's no point in going to school because he wants to go back to Syria. Zakaria Aried, 57, right, is from Raqqa and is waiting for the city to be liberated from the "Islamic State" group.
Image: DW/D. Cupolo
A question of nationality
Ayush Ahmed, out of frame, holds one of her two granddaughters. She has lived in Nizip 2 for five years and was one of the first camp residents. Both her granddaughters were born while her family lived in the camp. "If we stay here, my granddaughters will be Turkish," Ahmed said. "If we go home, they will be Syrian."