Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu(R) and German Chancellor Angela Merkel attend a joint press conference in Istanbul, Turkey, on Oct 18, 2015. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Sunday voiced readiness to work with Germany to prevent illegal migration to Europe, calling for a resolution to the Syrian conflict to stem the crisis. (Xinhua/He Canling)
ISTANBUL, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Sunday voiced readiness to work with Germany to prevent illegal migration to Europe, calling for a resolution to the Syrian conflict to stem the crisis.
The two countries are committed to preventing illegal migration from Syria to Europe through Turkey, Davutoglu and visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters following a meeting in Istanbul.
"Turkey and Germany approved a joint perspective in appealing all the related countries to find urgent solution to the refugee influx," Davutoglu said at a joint press confernce.
He stressed, however, that the migration crisis facing Europe cannot be resolved without a solution to the conflict in war-torn Syria.
EU countries have asked Ankara to keep the Syrian migrants in Turkey and accept the readmission of illegal refugees back to Turkey in return for financial aid and other benefits including an expedited process for Turkey's EU membership and a visa liberalization for Turkish citizens.
Until now 400,000 refugees have illegally crossed the European countries, with 800,000 to one million expected to reach Germany this year.
Turkey has refused to keep Syrian refugees on its territory, insisting on the establishment of a safe zone in northern Syria to host the refugees before they cross the border into Turkey.
"The establishment of secure zone within Syria is Turkey's must," Davutoglu stressed.
Turkey fears that recent attacks by Syrian government forces, the Islamic State (IS) and Russian air strikes on Syria's second largest city of Aleppo would trigger a new exodus of refugees.
"That's why I repeated the necessity of the creation of a secure zone in Syria and keep the refugees inside their country," Davutoglu said.
For her part, Merkel did not refer to the issue.
"We want to prevent the illegal migration and we agreed that the international community must handle the issue seriously," she said.
She also called for a political solution to the Syrian conflict, voicing readiness to help speed up Turkey's EU accession process.
The two premiers said they discussed details on EU's financial aid to Turkey, the issue of visa liberalization and Turkey's accession talks with the bloc, all central issues of an initial agreement signed days ago between Turkey and the union.
With EU already proposing three billion euros in aid, Davutoglu once again stressed the necessity of sharing Turkey's burden of hosting more than two million Syrian refugees on its soil.
Merkel, while praising Turkey's effort in sheltering the refugees, said EU countries would continue to work on the issue.
In response to Turkey's demand for opening six chapters, or policy issues, to accession talks, the chancellor said the EU is ready to open three chapters only. "The rest will come step by step," she added.
Merkel also met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul.
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