“If you look at the European Union countries today, many of them are behind Turkey when it comes to the European Union legislation because Turkey is ahead economically speaking, in terms of the Copenhagen criteria and other factors. If she had gone to Ankara, it would have been a more comprehensive, official visit, but she knowingly chose Istanbul, sending the message to Erdogan and Davtoglu that ‘this is an urgent matter, I came because of the refugee problem, I won’t go into details regarding Turkey’s domestic politics'”.
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The final offer had to be more than the “insignificant and meaningless amount that they proposed before”, he said.
“We have agreed with our Turkish partners that the visa liberalisation process will be accelerated but this does not mean that we will step away from the basic criteria”, he said.
Von Stetten said he was convinced the government had an “effective plan” to deal with the influx of refugees, but added the CDU/CSU parliamentary group would have to react if it turned out in the next few weeks that this assumption was false. Turkey has been left alone in recent years, ‘ he said. She said she was sensitive to concerns in Germany about the need to assert European values in talks with Turkey while also addressing the refugee crisis.
European Union leaders are dropping previously expressed criticisms about Mr. Erdogan’s crackdown on civil society.
He sustained his anti-Western rhetoric, taking a jibe at those who suggested German Chancellor Angela Merkel for the Nobel Peace Prize for opening Germany to so many refugees this year.
“There are four elements”.
French President Francois Hollande explained: “This action plan can be summed up in three big bullet points: the management of the border; the support for Syrians in Turkey; and, lastly, the readmission of Turkish people who want to enter Europe”. They said “progress will be assessed in spring 2016”.
In addition, European Union leaders agreed that they would restart negotiations that have stalled in the past regarding Turkey applying for membership in the EU. Turkey expects five chapters to be opened in the near future. At the news conference, Merkel and Davutoglu said the agreement was not yet finalized. The decision has to be taken formally by member states.
But the backing of Merkel, who visits Ankara on Sunday, is a strong boost to the plan.
“Priorities for Turkey will be to promote dialogue across the political spectrum and society more broadly, to reinvigorate its rule of law reform efforts and to pay particular attention to the respect of fundamental rights in law and in practice”, the Commission said.
He also criticized the EU’s initial proposal on migration, saying it was too security-focused.
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Aid is coming to Turkey, according to a report from BBC News.
