International community has ‘failed in the refugee crisis,’ says top Turkish official

ROME

Turkey's presidential spokesman said Friday that the International community has “failed in the refugee crisis.”

Kalin told the 7th edition of the Rome Mediterranean Dialogue (MED) in Rome that Turkey has hosted 4 million Syrians and noted he talked to his European counterparts to update the 2016 migration deal between Turkey and the EU.

He said €6 billion ($6.7 billion) that was allocated by the EU is nothing if one considers the enormous size of the issue.

"It's practically nothing for millions of refugees for their needs, educational needs, medical needs and everything else," he said.

Let us put aside the debates within the EU, he said, noting that Turkey hopes the migration agreement will be updated.

Meanwhile, stating that the UN-supervised Geneva process on Syria has been rendered dysfunctional by the Assad regime, Kalin underlined that Turkey was trying to engage Russia and Iran, which back the regime, to put pressure on the regime.

The deal was signed March 18, 2016, as the Syrian civil war continued to uproot millions who then began their "journey of hope" to reach the EU.

The agreement contained six key points, including the reinvigoration of Ankara's EU ascension process, modernization of the Customs Union, revival of top-level dialogue, visa liberalization for Turkish nationals, cooperation in managing migration flows and counter-terrorism.

*Writing by Seda Sevencan