Davutoglu Confident of Migration Deal with European Union Ahead of Talks

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu expressed confidence Friday that he could finalize a contentious new plan with the European Union aimed at stemming migration flows to Europe, as he arrived to hear the proposal agreed by the bloc's leaders.

    The plan is the EU's latest effort to end a surge of migrants and asylum seekers that saw more than 1 million people reach European shores last year. Most crossed the Aegean Sea from Turkey to Greece, aiming to then move on to wealthy northern countries, dpa reported.

    The EU wants to recruit Ankara's help in dissuading migrants from crossing the Aegean and instead having them wait to be resettled in an orderly fashion out of Turkey. "I am sure we will be achieving our goal to help all the refugees, as well as to deepen Turkish-EU relations," Davutoglu said in Brussels, while stressing that these issues are not a trade-off.  "For us, for Turkey, the refugee issue is not an issue of bargaining but an issue of value - humanitarian values as well as European values," he added. 

    On Thursday, the EU's 28 leaders agreed on their common negotiating position, during eight hours of summit talks ahead of Davutoglu's late-night arrival in the Belgian capital.

    Negotiations kicked off Friday with a meeting of Davutoglu with EU President Donald Tusk, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency.

Source : QNA