Erdogan lashes out at EU over refugee crisis

World
Europe

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has lashed out at the EU, saying Turkey did not receive enough support despite all the efforts it has made.

He expressed his anger in a speech at the end of the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany on Saturday.

Erdogan participated in a lot of meetings on the sidelines the G20 Summit. /CGTN Screenshot

"Our spending for refugees has reached 30 billion US dollars, no country around the world has been hosting refugees in such a manner," he said.

"While we are doing all of this, of the three to six billion euros that the European Union has promised, we have so far only received 800 million euros.”

Turkey signed a refugee deal with the EU in 2016 to alleviate the flow of migrants into Europe in return for financial support.

Erdogan called on EU leaders to fulfill their promises.

Russian President Vladimir Putin praised Erdogan for his efforts to bring peace in Syria. /CGTN Screenshot

Erdogan also used his speech to reiterate Turkey's stance on national security – stating Ankara would not allow any terrorist group to settle along its' borders and called for more cooperation in counter-terrorism efforts.

During the meeting with Erdogan, Russian President Vladimir Putin praised his efforts to bring peace to Syria.

“Largely thanks to your position, Mr. President, we managed to dramatically improve the situation in Syria. A serious blow has been dealt to the terrorist groups in this period of time. And the regulation process has seriously moved forward,” said Putin.