Migrants: Erdogan says he will receive Macron and Merkel in Istanbul on March 17

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Brussels, March 9, 2020. Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD / AFP

Text by: RFI Follow

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French Head of State Emmanuel Macron will travel to Istanbul on March 17 for talks on migrants and Syria with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Prime Minister Boris Johnson may also be present. This was affirmed by the Turkish president on his return from Brussels, where he went on Monday March 9 to meet the main leaders of the European Union.

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With our correspondent in Istanbul, Anne Andlauer

Recep Tayyip Erdogan does not hide it. While the Syrian crisis in Idleb and the refugee issue allow him to increase meetings with European leaders , he does not intend to limit exchanges to these two subjects.

The Turkish president wants a " new era " in his country's relations with the European Union. It calls for a revision of the March 2016 agreement and, to begin with, the application of the commitments that Brussels had made at the time.

In other words, an update of the Customs Union between Turkey and the EU, the lifting of Schengen visas for Turkish citizens, the opening of new chapters in the accession negotiations, the payment of all six billion euros pledged to accommodate refugees and additional funds. Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he hopes for concrete results before the European Council summit scheduled for March 26.

The "one for one" rule

Until then, the Turkish leader repeats: he does not intend to close his border with Greece . He again calls on Athens to open its doors. Recep Tayyip Erdogan even suggests that he will only close this border when European states apply the "one for one" rule. In other words, when, for each Syrian brought back to Turkey from the Greek islands, another Syrian refugee in Turkey will be welcomed in Europe.

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  • Turkey
  • Recep Tayyip Erdogan
  • International Migration
  • Emmanuel Macron
  • Angela Merkel

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