Erdogan announces new summit with Macron and Merkel for next week
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Tuesday a new summit in Istanbul with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel next week, with possible attendance of Britain’s premier, Boris Johnson.
Turkish News Agency Anadolu reports Erdogan saying “We will hold this meeting next Tuesday, following elections in France. If Boris Johnson can make it it will be a summit of four, and if not it will be of three leaders. We will discuss these issues with these leaders.” He was speaking to reporters upon his return from Brussels.
The Turkish president hinted at a new phase in relations with the EU, saying: “We have taken many steps and will continue doing so.”
Reuters reported Erdogan saying he would not stop migrants trying to cross Turkey’s border into Greece despite EU pressure to do so, but he also announced a summit next week in Istanbul with European leaders to seek a solution to the crisis.
Euronews reports that after talks with Erdogan in Brussels, the European Council President Charles Michel said teams headed by the EU foreign policy chief and Turkey’s foreign minister would work “in the next days to clarify the implementation of the deal between Turkey and the EU to be certain that we are on the same page.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that during the talks with Erdogan “there was a clear focus on, ‘Let’s discuss what is fact. Let’s sort out how both sides see the past and how we evaluate the EU-Turkey statement.’”
The Turkish leader left without speaking to the media. Officials from his office described the talks as “productive.”
DW reported that Germany’s government is seeking a “coalition of the willing” to take in the children across Europe. The EU wants to avoid a repeat the 2015 refugee crisis as thousands of refugees and migrants gather at Greece’s border.
