EU minister welcomes EU funds for refugees, criticizes modality

Turkish European Union Minister Ömer Çelik has welcomed the EU's aid program of 3 billion euros for refugees in Turkey but expressed criticism over the mechanism of delivering those finds through international organizations.
"Because delivering the aid through non-governmental organizations delays the process," Çelik said, while speaking at a joint press conference with Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides 

The European Union will deliver its largest ever humanitarian aid program for refugees in Turkey, Stylianides told Hürriyet Daily News, adding however they could only provide humanitarian assistance through international humanitarian organizations. 

"This is a principle in [the] humanitarian field. This is our obligation. It happens in this way in Africa and in Asia, now even in Greece, which is a member state of [the] European Union," he said. 

Of the total 3 billion euros in EU funds, 1 billion was earmarked for humanitarian assistance through humanitarian organizations, while the remaining 2 billion euros will be delivered through state channels and pipelines, he said.

International agencies, U.N. agencies and NGOs were contracted for these funds and the vast majority of the total goes through the World Food Programme (WFP), UNICEF and the UNCHR, Stylianides stated.

They cannot directly flow the money to Turkish government institutions because of specific requirements, the commissioner said.

"We have discussed with the minister [Çelik] that this project is real evidence that we utilize Turkish organizations. Without the contribution of Kızılay [the Turkish Red Crescent], definitely we'll not be in this very productive moment in order to launch this largest ever...