EU, Turkey seek better ties at refugee summit

BRUSSELS — European Union leaders and the Turkish prime minister sealed a joint summit with a commitment to re-energize Turkey’s long-stalled membership talks and bolster their resolve to deal with the Syrian refugee crisis.

The 28 EU leaders were leaning hard on Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to stem the flow of migrants seeking a better future in Europe’s heartland, and European Council President Donald Tusk said the latest estimate showed that “approximately 1.5 million people” had illegally entered the bloc this year, a lot coming through Turkey.

It left the EU in need of help from Ankara, even if their recent relations have been sown with discord. On Sunday, however, Tusk and Davutoglu completed what they called a breakthrough summit to put relations on an even keel again.

Both sides got concessions: The EU desperately needs Turkish help to contain the flow of migrants into the bloc, and Turkey resuscitated long-mothballed hopes to join a bloc in which it would, by population, become one of the biggest member states.

French President Francois Hollande said Sunday that the EU will need to monitor Turkey’s commitments “step by step,” deal with the migrant crisis, fight extremism and help end Syria’s political crisis. He said any funds for a $3.2 billion package to help Turkey deal with the migrants on its territory will be released progressively as the commitments are checked. Davutoglu said that money wasn’t earmarked for Turkey per se but to fund assistance for the refugees on Turkish soil.