BRUSSELS (AP) \u2014 The European Union is ready to offer Turkey new incentives to better tackle the Syria refugee crisis, including money, the easing of visa restrictions and better intelligence sharing.<\/p>\n
The offer came in an action plan unveiled Tuesday, which in exchange, would see Turkey improve its asylum and documentation procedures and beef up border security.<\/p>\n
Around 2 million refugees from Syria are currently in Turkey, and tens of thousands of others have entered the EU via Greece this year, overwhelming coast guards and reception facilities.<\/p>\n
The \u201cDraft Action Plan\u201d was presented to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during his two-day visit to Belgium and the EU, but has yet to be officially accepted by Turkey.<\/p>\n
It doesn\u2019t address demands made by Erdogan earlier Tuesday for Turkey\u2019s EU membership process to move ahead more quickly. Nor does it directly address calls he made Monday for European backing for the creation of a safe haven and no-fly zone around Syria\u2019s northern border, which he said are key to ending the refugee crisis.<\/p>\n
However, there could be some wiggle room in the EU pledge to provide assistance aimed at Syria refugees to ensure \u201cthe weakening of push factors forcing them to move towards Turkey.\u201d<\/p>\n
Under the offer, Turkey would receive up to 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) to help manage its refugee crisis, and EU funding to help build six reception centers for refugees in Turkey.<\/p>\n
By accepting the plan and implementing it, Ankara \u201cwould also contribute to accelerate Turkey\u2019s fulfilment of the visa liberalization roadmap benchmarks,\u201d the text said, referring to Ankara\u2019s long-held desire to smooth travel for its citizens.<\/p>\n
The EU is caught in a delicate balancing act, wanting to encourage Turkey to better control its borders amid continued criticism of the abuses of the Kurdish minority there and attacks on the media and justice system.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we want to cope with this problem, Turkey is absolutely a key partner,\u201d European Council President Donald Tusk told EU lawmakers Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know that this is a very dramatic dilemma,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have to try to cooperate with Turkey because in fact we have no other options.\u201d<\/p>\n
During his two-day visit to Brussels, Erdogan warned the Europeans that many more people are likely to flee northern Syria.<\/p>\n
Tusk said that \u201caccording to Turkish estimates, another 3 million potential refugees may come from Aleppo and its neighborhood.\u201d<\/p>\n
He warned that \u201cthe world around us does not intend to help Europe\u201d and that some of the EU\u2019s neighbors \u201clook with satisfaction at our troubles.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tusk also lashed out at countries for failing to fully respect EU asylum and border rules, naming Hungary, Italy, Slovakia and Greece.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to respect commonly agreed rules,\u201d he said, adding that when countries say they intend to flout the laws \u201cthey undermine the essence of solidarity and our community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann arrived on the eastern Aegean island of Lesbos with Greece\u2019s prime minister to see the impact of the refugee crisis and to examine facilities set up to handle the thousands of people who arrive daily.<\/p>\n
Faymann and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras went to the island\u2019s main port Tuesday, where a ferry was preparing to take about 2,500 people to Athens. They were later to tour a reception center set up to register and process arriving refugees and migrants.<\/p>\n
About 400,000 people have reached Greece so far this year, most in small overcrowded boats from the nearby Turkish coast. Most arrive on Lesbos.<\/p>\n
In Britain, the interior minister said she wouldn\u2019t agree \u2014 \u201cnot in a thousand years\u201d \u2014 to a common European immigration policy to deal with the flow of migrants and refugees coming to the continent.<\/p>\n
Home Secretary Theresa May told the Conservative Party conference Tuesday that other European countries should also toughen up, arguing that in the last few years more people had applied for asylum in the EU from Balkan countries \u2014 which have not seen war for years \u2014 than from Syria.<\/p>\n
She said the crisis \u201ccan only be resolved by nation states taking responsibility themselves \u2014 and protecting their own national borders.\u201d<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
Elena Becatoros in Athens, and Jill Lawless in London, contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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