BERLIN – On Monday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel stated that she understood that Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan expected more European help with dealing with the refugee crisis, but Merkel also added that he should not use refugees to show his dissatisfaction.
Over 10,000 migrants, from Syria, other Middle Eastern states and Afghanistan, arrived in Turkey’s land borders with the European Union’s Greece and Bulgaria since last Thursday Ankara announced that it would stop keeping them on its territory.
“I understand that Turkey is facing a very big challenge regarding Idlib. Still, for me it’s inacceptable that he – President Erdogan and his government – are not expressing this dissatisfaction in a dialogue with us as the European Union, but rather on the back of the refugees. For me, that’s not the way to go forward.”
– Angela Merkel, German Chancellor
Merkel mentioned that the EU and Turkey must resume talks on the refugee agreement and that Germany will be willing to offer bilateral support to Turkey.
(Photos syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field.