Turkey Raises Anti-Smuggling Steps but Faces Uphill Struggle

Turkey all but turned a blind eye last year as more than 850,000 people, most of them Syrians, slipped into Greece from Turkey on smugglers’ boats. Now it’s promised the European Union that will change.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses a meeting in Ankara, Turkey, on Feb. 11, 2016. Erdogan has confirmed the minutes of a leaked conversation between himself and top European Union officials last year in which he threatens to send buses full of migrants to Europe if a favorable deal on handling the crisis is not reached. Erdogan said Thursday the minutes showed that he had defended the rights of Turkey and of the Syrians, adding it was not “a document of shame.” Murat Cetinmuhurdar/Presidential Press Service via AP

ANKARA, Turkey—Turkey all but turned a blind eye last year as more than 850,000 people, most of them Syrians, slipped into Greece from Turkey on smugglers’ boats. Now it’s promised the European Union that will change.

Since reaching a deal with the EU in November, Turkey has stepped up its counter-smuggling efforts, increasing sea patrols, detaining thousands before they make the sea crossings, cracking down on trafficking groups and raiding workshops that produce bogus lifejackets or dinghies.

In return for trying to stem the flux, Turkey is set to receive a 3 billion-euro ($3.3 billion) fund to help it deal with the refugee crisis, a much-awaited easing of EU visa restrictions for Turkish citizens and sped-up EU membership talks.

The government—under pressure to get results before a key meeting March 7 with the EU—is upbeat, insisting the measures have already made a “visible difference.” But the thousands of migrants still entering Greece every week paint a different picture, underscoring the uphill battle that Turkey and Europe face.

There has been a visible decrease in the numbers of migrants crossing illegally. To reduce the numbers to zero, however, is impossible. No country has the power to do so.

— Numan Kurtulmus, deputy prime minister, Turkey