Turkey pours cold water on EU migrant plan
The EU's much-hyped deal with Turkey to stem the flow of migrants looked shaky on Friday after Ankara said Brussels had offered too little money and mocked Europe's efforts to tackle the refugee crisis.
Just hours after the European Union announced the accord with great fanfare at a leaders' summit, Ankara said the plan to defuse a crisis that has seen some 600,000 mostly Syrian migrants enter the EU this year was just a draft.
Cracks in the deal emerged as Bulgaria's president apologised after an Afghan refugee was shot dead crossing the border from Turkey.
In the latest in a series of jabs at Europe over the crisis, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ridiculed the bloc's efforts to help Syrian refugees.
"They announce they'll take in 30,000 to 40,000 refugees and then they are nominated for the Nobel for that. We are hosting two and a half million refugees but nobody cares," Erdogan said.
The Turkish leader also challenged the EU to take Ankara's bid for EU membership more seriously.
"They keep saying 'We can't do without Turkey.' It's very clear but they are not being clear. Then why don't you let Turkey in the EU?" he asked.
His Foreign Minister Feridun Sinirlioglu heaped scorn on the EU's proposals of financial help, calling the offer "unacceptable" and saying his country needed at least three billion euros ($3.4 bn) in the first year of the deal.
The foreign minister added that the latest action plan is "not final" and merely "a draft on which we are working".
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