EU, Turkey hold summit to address migration crisis

In remarks made to Reuters, EU diplomats have said Turkey, whose decade-old EU accession talks have been stalled in recent years, would see talks on economic cooperation open shortly, but its demands for commitments from the EU to start talks on other issues such as human rights would remain on hold. “This plan will make clear that we have to work together more closely with Turkey for a number of reasons – just think of the civil war in Syria, the fight against Islamic State or the illegal migration”.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, third right, speaks with the media as he arrives for an EU-Turkey summit at the EU Council building in Brussels on Sunday, Nov. 29, 2015.

Davutoglu, who will meet NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Monday, called on European leaders to back Turkey in its stand-off with Russian Federation, which has imposed sanctions on Turkey over the plane incident. “This summit is about wider dimensions, namely re-energising our relations with Turkey including the accession process. I am thankful to all European leaders for this new beginning”, Davutoglu said.

Europe, and no one more than German Chancellor Angela Merkel, is under pressure to manage the biggest influx of people to the continent since World War II, the bulk of them to Germany, where Merkel is pushing hard for a Turkish deal.

Michel says he isn’t ready to free up Belgian money and encouraged Ankara to give Syrians greater access to Turkey’s labor market.

Under the agreement expected at the summit, Turkey will take steps including cracking down on people smugglers and cooperating with the European Union on the return of people who do not qualify as refugees.

However the multi-billion-euro aid package will likely be tied to Turkey’s success in tackling the flow of migrants, while the timeframe of the payout is also still up in the air, European officials said.

He said Brussels was also offering the prospect of easier visa rules for Turkish visitors to the bloc, possibly from late 2016 onwards, but Ankara must first undertake several reforms.

The case for cooperation with Turkey comes against a backdrop of growing security concerns over the migrant crisis, especially after the November 13 attacks in Paris, claimed by ISIS, which left 130 people dead.

Two Turkish journalists charged with “spying” over their reports about Ankara’s alleged arms supplies to Syrian rebels urged the European Union on Saturday not to compromise on human rights and press freedom at the summit.