Turkey will be the focus of a meeting of European leaders in Brussels on Thursday, with the European Union (EU) keen for Ankara to implement measures to help deal with the refugee crisis, the BBC reported.
Some 710,000 refugees have crossed the EU's external borders from January to September, the EU's border agency Frontex said on Tuesday, compared to 282,000 in the whole of last year. Turkey is currently hosting more than two million Syrian refugees, according to the UNHCR, and also functions as a key transit country for refugees seeking to enter Europe from the Middle East and North Africa, particularly via the Greek islands such as Lesbos, according to the International Organization for Migration.
At the meeting, members of the European Council are expected to press for Turkey to sign up to a joint action plan that was delivered by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on October 6.
Under the plan, the EU would commit a further 1 billion euros ($1.15 billion) to help Turkey to deal with the influx of refugees and would assist the Turkish Coast Guard with patrolling its borders and combating people smuggling. In return, Turkey would prioritize the opening of six refugee reception centres, co-funded by the EU, as well as streamlining asylum procedures.
However, the BBC reported that Ankara is expected to request its own demands, including speeding up progress towards visa-free travel for Turkish citizens within the so-called Schengen area.
In a letter to Council members sent ahead of the meeting, European Council President Donald Tusk called Turkey Europe's "biggest transit country" for refugees. He also warned that the continent must take steps to prepare for waves of "millions of potential new refugees" coming to Europe in the spring of 2016.
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Conor is a staff writer for Newsweek covering Africa, with a focus on Nigeria, security and conflict.
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