Merkel optimistic Turkey will cut migrant flows to Europe
German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed confidence after talks with Turkey's prime minister on December 17 that Ankara would do its part to bring about a sharp reduction in the number of illegal migrants entering the European Union (EU).
Describing the talks with Ahmet Davutoglu and nine other EU leaders ahead of a broader summit of the bloc as positive, Merkel also said discussions would continue on a resettlement scheme under which EU countries could choose to take on fixed numbers of Syrian refugees from Turkey.
"This meeting was very good," Merkel said, noting that ongoing talks with Turkey would focus on how to "strongly and significantly reduce" illegal migration as well as a mechanism for legal migration through voluntary quotas.
"Not everyone needs to take part in this process, but it isn't a closed shop either. Every country that wants to participate is welcome," she said.
Germany, by far the top destination for asylum seekers in Europe, has been the driving force behind the voluntary resettlement idea, saying it would help Turkey, as well as EU member states, to have more control over who gets to Europe.
Under pressure at home, Merkel is counting on Ankara to stem the flow of hundreds of thousands of Syrians from Turkey into Greece and onward to Germany and other EU countries.
The meeting at the Austrian embassy in Brussels took place as a report from Luxembourg, in its capacity as president of EU ministerial councils, said there was little evidence Turkey had managed to reduce departures of migrants for Greek islands in the two weeks since it signed an "action plan" with the EU to do so.