Refugee crisis main topic at Turkish-EU meeting

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu is to discuss the refugee crisis with European officials in Brussels today, the Anadolu Agency reported yesterday.

The meeting will discuss the issue of returning refugees who have headed to Europe from Turkey, follow up on the €3 billion previously pledged to Syrian refugees in Turkey, discuss the Turkish membership of the EU and the waiver of the Schengen Visa for Turkish citizens.

President of the European Council Donald Tusk is due to chair the meeting while EU leaders and senior officials will be in attendance. Davutoglu is scheduled to meet President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz before the official meeting.

At the end of November, Turkey agreed with the EU that the latter issues a report in March relating to the waiving of visas for Turks visiting the EU.

Based on that agreement, Turkey will accept the return of refugees setting off from Turkey to the EU countries in June 2016. The agreement also included re-opening talks relating to Turkey’s admission to the EU.