UK First Country to Pledge Funds to Turkey in Effort to Curb Refugee Influx

Britain became the first country to offer financial aid to Turkey as part of a 3-billion-euro (about $3.2 billion) EU deal that aims to cut the inflow of refugees into Europe with Ankara’s help, The Guardian reports.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Turkey will help protect EU borders, and is expected to agree to resettle refugees that have managed to get to Europe from Turkey in exchange for the funds that will be distributed over the course of two years.

British Prime Minister David Cameron has already offered 400 million euros to Turkey as part of the plan, making the United Kingdom the first and only country to make a financial pledge under the deal, The Guardian said on Thursday.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced on Thursday that the European Union and Turkey are expected to hold an urgent summit on migration in Brussels in the coming weeks.

Turkey is a key transit country for thousands of refugees fleeing conflicts in Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East. The European Union has been pressing Ankara to stem the outflow of migrants through its northern border into Europe.