An alliance of civilisations, Vienna global forum, 2013. Wikicommons/Bundesministerium für Europa. Some rights reserved.When politicos start using the word “game-changing” to refer to a negotiation, you can be sure that something truly heinous is going to come out of it, usually in the fine print. This is true of the Trans-Pacific and Trans-Atlantic trade pacts being negotiated, and it is equally true of the deal brokered in Ankara yesterday.
“Details need to be worked out” is another red flag to watch out for as it usually means that the agreement is actually inoperable until some substantial concessions are agreed upon. The “surprise” Turkish proposal – which is surprising to no one that is familiar with the extortion racket – contains both.
In essence, the Davutoglu-Erdogan government has agreed to increase the resources being used to reduce the flow of migrants to Greece, and to take back refugees that actually reach its neighbor. That sounds great, just what the EU and especially Angela Merkel needed. But the devil is in the details:
