Turkey’s Erdogan Leaves EU Talks Without Agreement on Refugees

Source:Bloomberg Date:10Mar2020

Talks between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the European Union over the fate of refugees in his country ended in failure Monday with no clear agreement over what should happen next on an issue that has further strained relations.

 Neither side seemed happy with the result of a near two-hour meeting in Brussels, with Erdogan leaving without speaking to the media, and senior EU officials warning there was a lot still to discuss, as they demanded Turkey continue implement their 2016 migrant deal.
This is Bloomberg’s interpretation, but FT is slightly more positive

EU leaders have vowed to work with Turkey to prevent renewed tensions at their shared border and revive a 2016 migration deal between the two that has slid close to collapse.

Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, said she and Charles Michel, her European Council counterpart, had spoken “plainly and . . . openly” with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey at emergency talks in Brussels on Monday.

Ms von der Leyen said the two sides would attempt to “fill in the missing pieces” in the 2016 agreement struck to curb migration from Turkey to the EU, which came under severe pressure last month after Mr Erdogan said he had “opened the gates” to Europe.