EU says it expects Turkey to uphold commitments on migrant flows

Turkey has not officially announced a change to its policy on refugees in its country, the European Commission said on Friday, adding that it expected Ankara to uphold commitments it made on controlling flows of migrants to the European Union.

Turkey has committed to end irregular migration flows from Turkey to the EU and ensure improved reception conditions for refugees in Turkey, in exchange for support from the bloc.

“I would like to stress that there was no official announcement from the Turkish side about any changes in their asylum seeker, refugee or migrant policy,” a spokesman for the EU’s executive told a news briefing.

“So from our point of view the EU-Turkey statement … still stands and we expect Turkey to uphold its commitments stemming from this statement. The Turkish authorities officially confirmed there is no change in the official policy … we expect that it will continue to stay so.” [Reuters]