Germany to Increase Aid to Turkey in Tackling Refugee Crisis in 2016

The German government intends to increase the amount of its financial assistance to Turkey to solve the migration crisis some 40 percent in 2016, the Federal Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development said on Sunday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — In late November, the European Commission held a joint summit with Turkey. Following the meeting, a deal was agreed upon, under which Turkey promised to prevent refugees currently in the country from traveling to Europe in return for financial assistance and renewed talks on its EU accession.

"We will expand our cooperation with Turkey this year and will increase the amount of assistance from 36 to 50 million euros [$39 to $54]," Gerd Mueller told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper.

Earlier this week, German Chancellor Angela Merkel praised Turkey for its efforts in tackling the ongoing migrant crisis, and signed a joint communique with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, under which the latter emphasized the commitment of the government "to undertaking all possible efforts to substantially reduce the number of irregular migrants in the near future."

Merkel also urged the bloc to provide Turkey with the three billion euros to improve conditions for over two million Syrian refugees, which was promised in November.