re"We had the opportunity to see first hand the practical realisation of part of the EU-Turkey Agreement," explained Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday at a joint press conference with the European Council President Donald Tusk and the Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu. They visited a refugee camp close to the city of Gaziantep, and opened a child protection centre financed by the EU.

"We do not want refugees to have to take illegal routes," explained Angela Merkel. Syrian refugees should also have "more opportunities close to their home" she stressed. The cooperation between the EU and Turkey is also designed to give them this option.

The EU-Turkey Agreement also aims to address education, said the Chancellor. Many Syrian children are already being given schooling in the refugee camps. Many others live outside the camps, and they are now being addressed by EU projects. She expressed her happiness that the EU had identified new projects eligible for assistance with such speed.

Turkey, has taken in around three million Syrian refugees, more than any other nation, pointed out the Chancellor "That is why it is vitally important that the EU accept its responsibility in this context, and Germany is happy to do that in its capacity as an EU member state," underlined Angela Merkel.

Progress on fighting illegal migration

Great progress has already been made in the fight against illegal migration. "We will remain in dialogue," said the Chancellor. Speaking for the German side, she added, "We will of course respect our part of the commitments entered into."

At the press conference, the issue of freedom of the press and freedom of opinion in Turkey was raised. The Chancellor stressed, "Values like freedom of the press and freedom of opinion are indispensable for us, as we have repeatedly underscored in our conclusions and in talks with the Prime Minister at European Council level." Angela Merkel added, "The very fact that we now speak so often with one another – much more often than we used to – obviously also means that we address these issues and that we discuss them."

"Today we looked at our work and we have seen that a lot has already been achieved, " said Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu. "We have managed to reduce the number of refugees. In this we must thank the mechanisms in Europe and our cooperation with Greece," he continued. "It is our overriding goal to ensure that no more lives are lost at sea and that legal migration channels are established".

European Council President Donald Tusk also underlined the major progress that has been made since the EU-Turkey Agreement was concluded. With a view to the projects they had visited, he declared, "Turkey is the best example of how refugees should be treated."

Concrete assistance on the ground

Almost three million Syrian refugees are living in Turkey, many of them in camps close to the Syrian border. One of these refugee camps is near the city of Gaziantep, about sixty kilometres from the border.

One integral part of the EU-Turkey Agreement concerns assistance to help improve the situation of Syrian refugees in Turkey. To this end the EU is financing projects that benefit refugees. Turkey is receiving an initial sum of three billion euros for specific refugee projects, including improving health care and enabling children to attend school.

"We in the European Union want to share the burden through our agreement with Turkey," said Angela Merkel a few days earlier in the Dutch city of Eindhoven. The Chancellor also pointed out that Turkey, with 75 million inhabitants, was already sheltering some three million Syrian refugees. "The European Union, with a population of 500 million, has probably not even taken in one million," said Angela Merkel.

An overview of the Agreement concluded by the EU and Turkey on 18 March 2016:
• The business model of human traffickers in the Aegean is to be destroyed and irregular migration from Turkey to the European Union sustainably reduced.
• All irregular refugees arriving in Greece as of 20 March will be returned swiftly to Turkey.
• In return, the EU will admit one refugee fleeing the Syrian civil war for every illegal Syrian refugee returned to Turkey (also known as the 1:1 scheme).
• Turkey will work with the EU to improve humanitarian conditions for Syrians. Turkey will initially receive three billion euros for concrete refugee projects, for instance to enable children to attend school and to improve health care.
• Logistical and human resources support for Greece, including interpreters and border management staff, as well as support to help Greece care for the refugees in Idomeni will be provided through the emergency aid programme.
• Visa requirements for Turkish citizens will be lifted by the end of June 2016, provided Turkey has met all benchmarks by that date.
• Negotiations about Turkey’s accession to the EU will be accelerated and continued as part of an open-ended process.