Don’t make Turkey a concentration camp, says PM

ISTANBUL: Turkey wants fresh funding from the European Union in exchange for stopping migrants streaming to Europe but should not be expected to turn itself into a “concentration camp” for refugees, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Monday.

Europe, struggling with the arrivalof hundredsof thousands of people in the biggest migration movement it has seen since World War 2, is dangling the prospect of financial aid and faster EU membership in front of Turkey in the hope of winning its help in stemming the influx.

Both President Tayyip Erdogan and Davutoglu, whose AK Party faces a general election on November 1, are keen to avoid any impression of weakness in dealing with European nations they say have only just realised Turkey’s value in the migrant crisis and are digging in their heels on the funding issue.

“We can’t accept this idea that ‘we’ve given this to Turkey, and Turkey is satisfied, so all migrants should stay in Turkey’,” Davutoglu said.

“Nobody should expect Turkey to become a country housing all migrants, like a concentration camp.”

A large number of the migrants are Syrians fleeing their nation’s civil war adjacent to Turkey.

Merkel on Sunday offered Turkey the prospect of support for faster progress on its bid to join the EU, and an accelerated path to visafree travel for Turks. REUTERS