Turkish EU Affairs Minister Urges EU to Stop 'Building Walls' Against Migrants

As many European countries moved to tighten border control, the Turkish Minister for EU Affairs has called for "building bridges" rather than "walls" in order to deal with the refugee crisis that has been raging for the last couple of years.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Turkey's Minister for EU Affairs Omer Celik urged Europe on Thursday to tackle the refugee crisis instead of "building walls" against migrants.

"Turkey is the only country which strongly embraces those who flee death. Europe should not build walls against migrants but build bridges for them. This is a test of humanity," Celik said on Twitter as quoted by Anadolu news agency.

Celik's comments come amid a tendency in a number of European states to tighten anti-migration policies.

In July, Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz pointed out during a meeting in Vienna with his Italian counterpart Angelino Alfano that illegal migrants saved in the Mediterranean Sea should not be transported to mainland Italy, where they can then go north to other EU countries. He suggested that those refugees should be kept on the island of Lampedusa.

In early July, Kurz had already threatened to close the Brenner pass on the Italo-Austrian border in the eastern Alps in the event of the arrival of a large number of migrants

"There are still countries which close their borders with fences and armed forces… Europe should be open, safe and provide fair ways to migrants instead of isolating them. The refugee issue should be something to be managed, not something to be fought against," the Turkish minister said.

In March 2016, the European Union and Turkey agreed that Syrian refugees arriving in Greece would be returned to Turkey if their claim for asylum is rejected, while Syrian asylum seekers in Turkey would be resettled in Europe on a one-for-one basis. The agreement was supposed to address the overwhelming influx of migrants and refugees to Europe.