Turkey Arrests Migrants After Agreement With European Union

Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency says authorities in northwest Turkey have rounded up some 1,300 migrants allegedly preparing to make their way into Greece.

During the sweep, authorities also discovered a body which had washed up on the shore, suspected to be that of a migrant.

The migrants will be sent to a detention centre where some could face deportation, Dogan said, without giving details.

In a operation staring before dawn, a 250-strong police team raided eight different locations on the coast around the resort town of Ayvacik, the report said.

It is unclear to what extent Turkey can significantly cut down on the migrant flows to Europe.

The number of migrants and refugees reaching Europe has dropped, according to the United Nations refugee agency.

The EU has identified cooperation with Turkey as the key to tackling the crisis and on Sunday sealed a multi-billion-euro deal with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to do so, as The World Weekly examines.

The EU has also pledged some 3 billion euros ($3.2 billion) over the next year or two to improve the lives of the estimated 2.3 million Syrians now living in Turkey, so that they are less likely to board boats for nearby Greek islands and potentially proceeding on to Europe.

In apparent defiance of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has so far been open towards accepting hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees, Tusk said the priority should be to protect the external borders of the European Union.

However, the UNHCR still called the number “very high” and reported that so far 800,000 refugees had found their way to Europe in 2015 – four times more than the total in 2014.

Germany and Sweden mostlyThe majority of the refugees fleeing wars and economic hard times have sought asylum in Germany and Sweden.

The plan is to “take away some pressure from Turkey in the broader context of re-energized partnership”, a commission spokesperson told reporters Monday.