ANKARA, Republic of Turkey. Turkey has indicated that it wants more financial aid from the EU just a few months after a €3 billion (£2.3 billion) migration deal.
The Turkish prime minister has suggested the figure was not enough to deal with the refugee crisis in the country.
Although there have already been issues with Ankara receiving the money from the deal made last year, Ahmet Davutoglu suggested that if Brussels was serious about sharing the refugee crisis burden, then there would need to be more talks about money.
“The €3 billion is just to show the political will to share the burden,” he told the German Press Agency (DPA). “We will review it again and again because nobody knows how long it will take.
“And we are not begging for money from the EU. But if there is a serious will to share the burden, than we will have to sit and talk about all of the details of the crisis.”
He told DPA that Turkey was the most affected country by the migration crisis. “We are not exporting a crisis – a crisis has been exported to Turkey. Now, it became a European crisis.”
Currently, more than two million Syrian refugees reside in Turkey after fleeing the civil war which has taken hold in Syria since 2011.
Mr Davutoglu said that Turkey should not have carry the entire burden alone”, adding: “Turkey has spent close to $10 billion (£7 billion) on the refugees. There are many things to be done, together with the EU, together with the international community.”
Last week, Mehmet Simsek, the deputy prime minister, told the Telegraph that Turkey was not an open-air prison for refugees after the deal agreed in November last year.
According to the agreement between Brussels and Ankara, Turkey would take action to stop hundreds of thousands leaving from its western border in exchange for the money as well as the easing of visa restrictions on its citizens travelling to Europe.
Turkey also agreed to a deportation agreement whereby it would take back those migrants who asylum applications were not successful in EU member states.
Credit: The Telegraph (UK)
