Turkey to host Germany and France at migrants summit

Istanbul

Turkey hopes a new deal with the EU on refugees will be agreed before the end of this month after a row between the two sides led to thousands of migrants attempting to make their way into Europe.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that he was due to meet Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel, French leader Emmanuel Macron and possibly UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson at a summit in Istanbul on March 17.

He said Turkey would not be closing its western border for the time being, instead repeating a previous comment that Greece must open its own gates. Mr Erdogan made the remarks to journalists on his way back from Brussels where he had met senior EU officials to discuss the crisis at Turkey’s border with Greece.

The meeting followed a decision by Ankara last month to stop preventing migrants from crossing over its western border with Greece. Around 30,000 migrants attempted to get into the EU in just over one week. Greece and the EU sent reinforcements to the border, which saw clashes as security forces used tear gas to hold back migrants trying to cross.

In an interview with Anadolu News Agency, Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said a previous deal struck between Ankara and Brussels to prevent migrants trying to get into the bloc needed to be updated in light of a crisis in Idlib, northern Syria.