Erdogan to hold EU talks in Brussels today

ANKARA: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he will hold talks in Brussels on Monday (today) as he called on Greece to “open the gates” for migrants at Turkey’s border trying to get to Europe.

“I will have a meeting with European Union officials tomorrow (Monday) in Belgium,” Erdogan said during a speech in Istanbul on Sunday. He added he would discuss the migration issue after Turkey opened its borders. “I hope I will return from Belgium with different outcomes.”

Turkey’s decision to open its border sparked an escalating row between Ankara and Brussels, as well as a war of words between Turkey and Greece. Erdogan will meet European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels.

They will “discuss EU-Turkey matters, including migration, security, stability in the region and the crisis in Syria,” Michel’s spokesman, Barend Leyts, said on Twitter. Turkey repeatedly rails against what it describes as unfair burden-sharing, since around four million mostly Syrian refugees live in Turkey.

In 2016, Turkey and the EU agreed a deal whereby Brussels would provide billions of euros in aid in exchange for Turkish authorities curbing the flow of migrants. But Ankara has repeatedly accused the bloc of not fulfilling promises made as Europe suffered its worst refugee crisis since the Second World War. Over a million people fled to the continent in 2015. Erdogan’s top press aide Fahrettin Altun has said one of the unmet conditions was that the EU would take in refugees from Turkey.

During the same televised speech, Erdogan urged Greece to open its border after clashes in recent days between migrants and Greek police. “Hey Greece! I appeal to you... open the gates as well and be free of this burden,” he said, adding: “Let them go to other European countries.”

Thousands of migrants massed on the land border with Greece after Turkey last month said it would no longer prevent people from leaving the country. Erdogan also criticised the West’s silence after Greek authorities used tear gas and water cannon during skirmishes with migrants.