European Commissioner For Internal Affairs Visits Turkey With 2-Day Agenda

BRUSSELS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 11th October, 2021) European Commissioner for Internal Affairs Ylva Johansson is paying a two day visit to Ankara to discuss security and migration, the European Commission announced on Monday.

"Today and tomorrow, Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, will be in Ankara, Turkey. The Commissioner will co-chair the first EU-Turkey high-level dialogue on Migration and Security with Minister of the Interior, Suleyman Soylu. The dialogue follows the June 24-25 conclusions of the European Council in which leaders expressed the EU's readiness to engage with Turkey, and discussed holding high-level dialogues with Turkey on issues of mutual interest. The EU-Turkey Statement, the situation in Afghanistan, and migration and security matters affecting the EU and Turkey will be discussed," the statement said.

After the migration crisis in 2015, in which a massive influx of migrants made their way to the European Union from the middle East, Africa and other regions, the EU entered into an agreement with Turkey. The EU-Turkey Statement, which followed the Joint Action Plan, was supposed to stop the flow of illegal immigrants to Europe from Turkey.

In accordance with the agreement, the EU provided financial assistance to Turkey, which received the largest number of refugees. The amount of this assistance is estimated at $6.9 billion.

In spite of criticism, the European Union believes this agreement has achieved positive results. In particular, the mortality rate among migrants has been reduced by reducing the number of migrants to Europe. In addition, European funding has improved the living conditions of refugees and migrants in Turkey.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic and the deterioration of relations with Brussels, in 2020 Turkey refused to accept migrants from the Greek islands and aggravated the situation with migrants on the borders of the European Union.

Following the June EU summit, at which relations with Turkey were discussed in detail, it was reported that the European Commission intends to continue to provide assistance to Syrian refugees in Turkey, as well as in Jordan and Lebanon. Additionally, the EU announced its plan to allocate $3.4 billion to support refugees in Turkey until 2024.