EU leaders praise Turkey for its treatment of refugees. Turkey "is an example for the whole world on how we should treat refugees".

European leaders say a new deal with Turkey to stop refugees and migrants from making dangerous journeys is working.


German Chancellor Angela Merkel and EU officials visited a refugee camp in southeastern Turkey on Saturday in an attempt to bolster the controversial deal.

Merkel, accompanied by Donald Tusk, EU president, and Frans Timmermans, European Commission vice president, visited a camp in Nizip - near the Syrian border and about 40km east of Gaziantep - to inaugurate an EU-funded project in support of Syrian children and hold talks with Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkish prime minister.

Tusk praised Davutoglu and his government, saying his visit to the camp had shown him that Turkey "is an example for the whole world on how we should treat refugees".

Tusk said the EU will spend €1bn ($1.1bn) this summer on projects to improve the lives of Syrian refugees.

In a deal agreed to last month, the 28-member EU is offering Turkey a package of incentives - from billions in refugee aid to progress on visa-free access to the bloc for Turkish citizens - in exchange for help in returning refugees.

• 'Real way forward'

Al Jazeera's Andrew Simmons, reporting from the Nizip camp, said Tusk was accompanying Merkel as a "series of issues needed to be discussed" regarding the deal.

"Even if the deal sees Turkey receiving $3bn and visa-free access for Turkish citizens to Europe works out, in two years' time there will be another $3bn for Turkey to be spent on housing refugees," he said...
 [aljazeera.com]
24/4/16
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Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu(L), German Chancellor Angela Merkel and top EU officials are welcomed while they visit a local Syrian refugees camp in Gaziantep in Turkey on April 23, 2016. Merkel and top EU officials arrived in Gaziantep on Saturday as part of the one-day visit to the border town to discuss migrant crisis and the EU-Turkey deal.
   Photo: Xinhua

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