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Merkel goes to Turkey to discuss Syria and refugees

Human rights in Turkey will also be part of agenda

© © AP Photo/Axel Schmidt

BERLIN, October 18 /TASS/. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is leaving for Turkey on Sunday. She will visit Istanbul to meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.

Read also

Merkel’s admitting Assad part in talks on Syria correlates with Russia stance

Syria and Europe’s migrant crisis will be the two main items on the agenda.

The German leadership considers Russian air strikes in Syria to be unilateral actions. Turkey is Germany’s NATO partner that borders on Syria. Turkey has deployed the Patriot systems, which are maintained by German servicemen, in its territory to protect itself from Islamic State militants.

As for migrants, they are using Turkey as the main transit country on their way to Europe. Up to 1.5 million migrants, predominantly Syrians and Afghans, are expected to arrive in Germany by yearend.

Merkel considers Turkey to be the key state for reducing the refugee flows. The European Union wants Turkey to register the refugees in its territory thus blocking them the way into the European Union.

Human rights in Turkey will also be part of agenda.

Tags

Syria Refugee crisis Syrian conflict

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