Merkel’s ally: EU should honor deal with Turkey

BERLIN

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Bavarian ally has urged EU member states on Tuesday to take rapid steps to share the burden of the refugee crisis with Turkey.

“The big refugee flow from Aleppo is also a test case for Europeans ahead of EU’s Feb. 18 summit,” conservative EU lawmaker Manfred Weber, told Der Tagesspiegel daily.

"We must quickly provide the immediate aid of 3 billion euros [$3.4 billion] which was promised to Turkey for the refugee camps. And EU states should also begin taking refugees based on quotas,” Weber, whose Christian Social Union (CSU) is a junior partner in Merkel’s coalition government, said.

The senior conservative lawmaker, who leads the center-right of the European People’s Party group in the European Parliament, expressed support for Merkel’s call to EU member states, to take in asylum seekers from refugee camps in Turkey, according to quotas.

During her visit to Ankara on Monday, Chancellor Merkel defended her open-door policy for refugees who flee civil war in Syria, but also urged for stronger measures against smugglers to stop illegal migration through the Aegean Sea.

Merkel said a solution to the refugee crisis can only be achieved with closer cooperation between the EU and Turkey, and by EU member states agreeing to accept some of the refugees.

The visit was Merkel’s second bilateral visit to Turkey in five months, amid growing discontent at home, due to record number of refugees coming to Germany.

The EU’s largest economy has taken in a record 1.1 million refugees in 2015, but the refugee influx has strained municipalities and local authorities.

German opposition Green Party co-leader Cem Ozdemir argued that closer cooperation with Turkey would not be enough to find a solution to the refugee crisis, and called on Merkel to exercise stronger pressure on Moscow, to stop its military airstrikes targeting civilians in Syria.

“Merkel and her EU counterparts should travel to Moscow and make it clear that we are not accepting the cynical policy of Mr. [President Vladimir] Putin,” Ozdemir told rbb-Inforadio.

He accused Russia of risking lives of civilians, with its policy aimed at keeping Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in power, and causing tens of thousands of people to flee their country and seek refuge in Turkey and in other European countries.

Russia first began its air campaign in Syria on Sept. 30 of last year.

While Russia claims its campaign is aimed primarily at the Daesh militant group, it has repeatedly targeted civilian areas and the moderate anti-regime opposition groups that control them.