Meeting of Turkish President with President Ursula von der Leyen and President Charles Michel

This evening, the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meet with Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Council President Charles Michel on the EU-Turkey deal and the opening of the Turkish border.

Sergey Lagodinsky MEP, Chairman of the European Parliament delegation to Turkey and Member of the Greens/EFA delegation, comments:

"The Turkish President only has leverage as long as EU governments fail to agree on a fair European system for the distribution of refugees. The German government must lead the way, work for a humanitarian corridor and accept an adequate contingent that goes beyond the previously promised arrangement and effectively remedies the situation."

"The European Union and European governments must do everything in their power to end the humanitarian disaster in Idlib and to exert influence on Russia, which is one of the main parties responsible for the thousands of refugees in Syria through its war crimes and its support for the Assad regime. I hope that it has also become clear to Recep Tayyip Erdogan that his foreign policy shift towards the Kremlin was a strategic mistake. Turkey and the EU are interdependent and must return to a constructive cooperation centred on the humanitarian protection of refugees, human rights and the rule of law."