EU sending $3.2 billion to Turkey to send fewer Muslims its way - Thomas Lifson

by Thomas Lifson

Paying Muslims to go away and not bother Europeans is an old tradition, one the Barbary Pirates (among many others) made a handsome living off of for centuries.

In hopes of slowing, but not stopping, the flow of Muslims its way, the European Union, under heavy pressure from Germany, is promising to send 3 billion euros to Turkey.  James Kanter and Andrew Higgins of the New York Times report:

Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, speaking to reporters late Sunday, acknowledged that the agreement, under which Europe will provide 3 billion euros, about $3.2 billion, and other inducements in return for Turkish help on migrants, would not immediately halt the flow of asylum seekers from the Middle East and elsewhere. But Ms. Merkel said it would help “keep people in the region” and out of Europe.

Sounds pretty vague.  If it results in 100,000 fewer Muslims coming to Europe, that amounts to a payment of $3,200 per Muslim avoided.  But gee, if you put it that way, it does sound kind of like extortion, doesn’t it?  Paying Muslims to go away and not bother Europeans is an old tradition, one the Barbary Pirates (among many others) made a handsome living off of for centuries.

But of course Frau Merkel and her friends are getting no such guarantees from the Turks, whose economy is going to take a hit from the cessation of Russian tourism, thanks to President Putin’s response to the shooting down of one of Russia’s bombers in Syria (or Turkey, depending on whom you believe).

And Merkel is actually upping the ante on accepting more Muslims:

A group of eight European countries, including Germany, held a separate meeting on Sunday and discussed the possibility of sharply increasing the number of refugees who could be resettled to Europe from refugee camps in Turkey and elsewhere, giving more migrants a legal path to the Continent. That would sweeten the deal for Turkey, but any agreement among European countries on expanding resettlement may come only at the end of the year after the European Commission, the European Union executive body, prepares a draft plan.
“It is an uphill effort, but it is well worth the effort,” Ms. Merkel said Sunday.

So what is this money all about, anyway?  Is it a payoff for taking out a Russian plane?  I don’t know.  But the poor German taxpayer and various other Europeans are going to be coming up with money to end an authoritarian Islamist regime.

Thomas Lifson

Source: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2015/11/eu_sending_32_billion_to_turkey_to_send_fewer_muslims_its_way.html

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