Friday, 28 Jun 2024

EU should stop ‘stringing Turkey along’ over migrant deal, foreign minister says

The European Union should stop “stringing Turkey along” over helping out with the millions of migrants on its territory, the country’s foreign minister said Tuesday, a day after the two sides agreed to review a 4-year-old deal aimed at stemming refugee flows to Europe.

Mevlut Cavusoglu said the EU has to take “sincere” steps to help Turkey manage the flow of migrants, including finding ways to ensure Syrian refugees can return home.

The minister spoke a day after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held a meeting with top EU officials in Brussels during which the sides agreed to review their 2016 deal on migrants.

The meeting was called after thousands of migrants massed on Turkey’s border with Greece, following the Turkish government’s decision to open its borders to migrants wanting to cross into Europe. Greece has deployed riot police and border guards to prevent the crossings, sparking clashes between migrants and Greek security forces.

Erdogan has demanded that Europe shoulder more of the burden of caring for Syrian refugees on Turkish territory — thought to number more than 3.5 million. Turkey is accusing the EU of not meeting its obligations under the 2016 agreement, including failing to pay money promised to Turkey to stem the flow of migrants to Europe.

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