Austria calls for cutting aid to the Turkish regime

Nicosia, (ST) – The Austrian Minister of European Union Affairs, Caroline Adstadler, called for cutting aid to the Turkish regime because of its exploitation of immigrants and their use as a pressure card on the Union.

The Turkish newspaper Zaman quoted Adstadler as saying on Sunday that, no one can blackmail the European Union, as Turkey deliberately sends migrants to Greek Cyprus and exploits persons to obtain political gains from the European Union.

 Adstadler indicated that, Austria is the EU member state that has received the most immigrants in comparison to its population, and that 80 percent of these immigrants crossed through Turkey or Turkish Cyprus. He stressed that, “we, as the European Union, must react to this and send a clear and explicit message to Ankara.”

It is noteworthy that the attempts of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to exploit the migrant file and blackmail Europe to achieve new political and financial gains began to anger the “old continent” at the political and media levels. Meanwhile the voices are increasingly condemning Turkish President’s use of the immigration card to pressure European leaders, considering his plans in this context just failed blackmail.

Raghda Sawas