EU, Turkey Must Not Let Davutoglu Resignation Affect Refugee Deal – Berlin

The EU-Turkish agreement on refugee swaps must be implemented despite the forthcoming resignation of Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, German Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Schaefer said Friday.

BERLIN (Sputnik) – Davutoglu announced his resignation on Thursday saying he would step down from the post of Justice and Development Party (AKP) leader and consequently the post of the country's prime minister after an extraordinary meeting of party leaders scheduled for May 22.

"The agreement is concluded with governments and states, not with persons. This is key. Everything arranged must be implemented. There are appropriate treaty obligations. We both must work hard on them," Schaefer said at a briefing.

He added that this position was shared by both the German Foreign Ministry and government.

According to the deal with the European Union reached in March, Turkey has pledged to take back all migrants who illegally arrive in EU countries through its territory. In exchange, the European Union will accept approved Syrian refugees accommodated in Turkey on a one-for-one basis, accelerate the Turkish EU accession bid and introduce a visa-free regime between Turkey and Europe.