Turkey- Merkel to travel Ankara to discuss Syria refugee crisis

2/5/2016 12:20:06 PM

(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) German Chancellor Angela Merkel will travel to Ankara on Monday for talks on Syria andthe refugee crisis her spokesman announced Friday.

“The visit will take place as part of the intensified dialogue between Germany and Turkey in recent months” government spokesman Steffen Seibert told a press conference in Berlin.

“The main focus of the visit will be the ongoing implementation EU-Turkey action plan” he said referring to the agreement between EU and Turkey on Nov. 29 to reduce the refugee influx to Europe and improve conditions of Syrian refugees in Turkey.

Merkel’s unexpected visit comes amid growing worries in Ankara over a new refugee influx from Syria after Russian and Syrian air forces stepped up their airstrikes inAleppo.

Germany which accepted 1.1 million refugees in 2015 fearsa new refugee wave due to intensified fighting in areas controlled by the opposition.

Seibert said Merkel and Davutoglu decided on the visit during their meeting in London on Thursday on the sidelines of the Syrian Donors’ Conference.

He said the leaders will review all aspects of the EU-Turkey action plan and will also discuss recent developments in neighboring Syria and military operations by Russia and the regime.

“There has been a strong consensus in London yesterday; what is happening in Aleppo can only be seen with greatest concern” Seibert said.

“The governments that bear responsibility for the bombings in Aleppo bombings that target civilian population are apparently willing to take the risk of failure of efforts for a political solution. This should not be the case” he warned.

“As Syria peace talks entered into a temporary pause this period should be used to think about ways to improve the humanitarian situation ways to reach a ceasefire and make progress towards political solution. This is our call to all parties” he said.

The Geneva talks were suspended Wednesday due to intensified fighting in the countryuntil Feb. 25 with UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura saying “more work” was needed.

Turkish Prime Minister Davutoglu said Thursday that due to military offensive of pro-Assad and Russian forces tens of thousands of Syrians are on their way towards Turkey from camps to the north of Aleppo.

Since Sept. 30 of last year Russia -- a close ally of the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad regime -- has targeted a number of civilian areas in Syria according to U.S. officials.

In a recent report the Syrian Network for Human Rights asserted that Russian airstrikes had killed 583 people -- the vast majority of whom were civilians -- in the Syrian cities of Idlib Aleppo Hama and Homs and in rural areas such as Lattakia andDaraa.

While Russia says the airstrikes target positions held by the Daesh militant group some members of the western NATO alliance say Russia is targeting moderate opposition groups opposed to Assad.

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