European Union–Turkey relations

Turkey sees its EU membership as a "strategic goal," said Ibrahim Callen, spokesman for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

A substantial portion of the funds promised by the European Union (EU) to help Syrian refugees in Turkey is still not being used actively to meet their needs, Turkey's EU Ministry said on Saturday.

Turkish EU Minister Omer Celik said on Monday that Turkey's relation with EU was not "a relation of neediness but a win-win relation", Anadolu Agency reported.

Speaking to lawmakers during a 2018 budget debate, Celik said that there was a consensus in parliament for Turkey's EU membership. "This is pleasing for the country's interests," he said.

The Turkish government has slammed Austria’s new coalition government over its program vowing to end Turkey’s accession process to the European Union and to find allies within the EU to this end.

More than 30 million foreign nationals entered Turkey in the first 11 months of 2017, according to data compiled from Turkey’s migration authority has said.

 In a bid to avert a rerun of the refugee crisis of 2015, when Greece was overwhelmed by a deluge of migrants from Turkey, the government is planning to amend a law governing the process of granting asylum to refugees with a bill expected to go to Parliament next week, Ekathimerini reported.

In a bid to avert a rerun of the refugee crisis of 2015, when Greece was overwhelmed by a deluge of migrants from Turkey, the government is planning to amend a law governing the process of granting asylum to refugees with a bill expected to go to Parliament next week.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit to Greece is taking place at a time of his choice. It is probably related to Turkey's difficult relations with the majority of European Union member states, as well as with the United States and the resulting diplomatic isolation.

A total of 55 projects worth 1.78 billion euros have been contracted as a result of the 2016 EU-Turkey migrant deal, in which Brussels promised to speed up the allocation of three billion euros of migrant aid to the country.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said on Nov. 8 that financial support the EU promised to Turkey will be “fully respected.”