Turkey, EU work to speed up flow of European funds for Syrian refugees

Turkey and the European Commission have begun technical work to overcome bureaucratic obstacles and accelerate the release of 3 billion Euros to Syrian refugees, Deputy Prime Minister Veysi Kaynak announced Dec. 26.

"We are now working on it," Kaynak told the Hürriyet Daily News during a visit to the Doğan Media Center on Dec. 26. 

The decision to work on the matter was taken during Kaynak's meeting with the European commissioner responsible for humanitarian aid and crisis management, Christos Stylianides, and the head of the EU delegation in Ankara, Ambassador Christian Berger, in the southeastern Anatolian province of Kahramanmaraş around 10 days ago. 

The EU has agreed to deliver 3 million euros to Turkey in a bid to provide humanitarian support to Syrian refugees being sheltered on Turkish territories as part of a migrant deal that was signed on March 18. Turkey has accused the EU of taking too long to release the funds, with the EU responding about the need to follow proper bureaucratic procedures. 

"I told them that there is a risk of creating a lost generation which could pose a threat not only to Turkey and Syria but to all of Europe," Kaynak said, intimating that the delay in providing the necessary education and other social and economic services to Syrian youth could work as a recruitment tool for various terrorist organizations. 

"They say, 'We have released 2.4 billion euros.' We say, 'We have only received a small part of the 3 billion euros.' In fact, both are true. They have their own producers, we have our own. Therefore, we need to find a formula," said the deputy minister. 

The EU is trying to move in line with their regular producers under very irregular conditions, Kaynak said. "If we continue...