This morning, the Minister of Migration and Asylum of Greece, Mr Notis Mitarachi. visited The President of the Republic, Mr Nicos Anastasiades and the Cypriot Minister interior, Mr Nicos Nouris to discuss on the last EU-Turkey meeting concerning refugees in borders and Eagean Sea conflicts. Greece welcomes 77.275 people and 13.650 in Cyprus in 2019.
After the EU-Turkey meeting in Ankara, The EU president of Council said that the discussion was positve. Even if the “Sofagate” happened, a diplomatic discrimination against women.
From left to right: Mr Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council; Mr Recep Tayyip ERDOGAN, Turkish President; Ms Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission.
Charles Michel said that a talking is scheduled between Turkey-Greece-Cyprus and he declared on the belhalf of European Union
“We welcome the continuation of the bilateral exploratory talks between Greece and Turkey, and we welcome the forthcoming visit of the Greek Foreign Minister to Turkey.
On Cyprus, the EU remains committed to the relaunch of the settlement talks. As an active observer, the EU fully supports the UN-led process and we look forward to the informal meeting that will be held in a few weeks time. In recent months, we have witnessed a de-escalation. This is a positive development, which must be sustained and enhanced.
On migration, we appreciate Turkey’s hosting of 4 million Syrian refugees and agree that EU assistance be continued. The Commission will soon present a proposal for the financing for Syrian refugees in Turkey, Jordan, and Lebanon
The European Union has a strategic interest in developing a cooperative and mutually beneficial relationship with Turkey. At the same time, we are determined to defend EU and Member States’ interests and to promote our values.
We extend our hand with our progressive agenda. And it’s up to Turkey to seize this opportunity in a solid and sustainable manner. For its part, the EU is ready to walk the talk. We will assess the progress at our European Council meeting in June.
According to Amnesty international, Turkey announced in February 2021, that it would no longer stop refugees trying to cross its borders into Europe, which have been closed since 2016.
In the last report, EU commission, European Neighbourhood Policy And Enlargement Negotiations provided that
The European Union funds humanitarian projects in Turkey to help vulnerable refugees and their host communities receive the support they need, in close coordination with the Turkish authorities. Furthermore, the EU Facility for Refugees in Turkey was created in 2016 to assist Turkey in its efforts to support refugees. Under the Facility, the EU has invested €2.4 billion in humanitarian assistance in Turkey. The full operational budget of the Facility €6 billion has been committed and contracted, with more than €4 billion disbursed.
The other hand, the other Direction General “European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations” precises in a public report
The EU’s humanitarian flagship programme in Turkey is the Emergency Social Safety Net (ESSN). The ESSN is a social assistance scheme that helps the most vulnerable among the refugee population meet their daily needs through cash assistance. Since 2016, humanitarian organisations — in collaboration with the Turkish Red Crescent and Turkish government institutions — have been helping refugee families to buy what they need most, via EU-funded debit cards.
The ESSN is the single largest humanitarian programme in the history of the EU and assists more than 1.8 million people. In addition, EU-funded partner organisations have distributed over 700,000 e-vouchers, food parcels or kits with other urgently needed items.To help vulnerable refugees during the coronavirus pandemic, the EU has further adapted its humanitarian response to meet new challenging needs. For example, the EU provided an additional one-off cash payment to help refugees with the devastating economic impacts of coronavirus.
Cyprus and Greece are prepared for the future visit in Ankara Turkey to talk the problem in border with refugees and gas and oil in the Aegean sea.
