Notes / Observatoire de la Turquie et de son environnement géopolitique
21 septembre 2017
The EU Facility for Refugees in Turkey – Prevailing Misperception vs. Actual State of Play

The EU-Turkey refugee agreement, also known as the “EU-Turkey deal,” was highlighted in the news in late August 2017 when European Commissioner for Budget, Günther Oettinger, stated that EU countries must pay more money from their national member state budgets to meet their obligations under the EU-Turkey deal. Since its creation, many aspects of the EU-Turkey deal have provoked significant controversy in public opinion: the 1 for 1 Syrian refugee swap, the slow pace of relocation and resettlement of refugees, potential legal ramifications of the deal, etc. But one component of the deal in particular, the fund known as the EU Facility for Refugees in Turkey (herein referred to as the “Facility”), has generated heated criticism largely due to a prevailing misperception over how Facility funding is allocated.
A mistaken perception present in EU public opinion is that this Facility will eventually transfer a total of 6 billion euros of EU money directly to the Turkish government in exchange for Turkey continuing to support and manage Syrian refugees in its territory and to block them from illegally entering the EU. This point of view has fueled impressions in EU public opinion that the government of Turkey is being too demanding and is cynically taking advantage of the Syrian refugee crisis to extort money from the EU. Such misperceptions have contributed to souring public opinion in certain segments of the EU against Turkey at a time when there is a pressing need for the EU and Turkey to work more cooperatively to find durable solutions to the Syrian refugee crisis. Future cooperation is endangered by negative public opinion, which risks exacerbating the existing crisis…