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PM Cilos received Turkey's Minister for EU Affairs and chief negotiator with the EU Volkan Bozkir
Romania's Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos on Thursday told Turkey's Minister for EU Affairs and chief negotiator with the EU Volkan Bozkir that Turkey showing it can halt migration is important to European leaders, adding that the migration should be kept in check.
The Government reports in a press statement at his meeting with the Turkish officials, Ciolos discussed Turkey's relationship with the EU, amidst the ongoing major challenge of migration and possible solutions, along with the bilateral ties between Romania and Turkey.
"To European leaders, Turkey showing it can halt migration is important. It is essential that the phenomenon is kept in check and only after that can we talk about how to manage the migrants that are already in Europe," Ciolos is quoted as saying in the statement.
The statement also says that as far as the bilateral relations between Romania and Turkey are concerned, there are solid prospects for trade between the two countries to reach 10 billion US dollars in the near future.
"Turkey has a huge economic and geostrategic potential, also being Romania's number one foreign trade partners outside the European Union," says the Government.
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Turkish minister of EU Affairs Volkan Bozkir stated Thursday that the cooperation scheme on migration has produced results and stressed that more must be done, including involving the international community, as the situation could worsen.
"It is a problem of the whole humanity. (...) If we fail to understand the cause of the problem, how we can solve it, what remedies we can find, to involve the entire international community, we will have a situation where today will be better than what comes next. (...) We must join our forces, reflect together, and Europe must also announce some refugee quotas so as to reduce the pressure. (...) What happens in Syria is actually the source of this illegal migration. (...) If we don't solve it, we will have an even more difficult situation," Bozkir stated at the headquarters of the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs during a joint press conference his Romanian counterpart Lazar Comanescu.
The Turkish official also stated that his country currently hosts 2,600,000 Syrian immigrants and reminded that this was not the first time Turkey was receiving refugees.
"In Turkey we have 2,600,000 guests from Syria. We were very happy to be able to provide them with shelter when they were so affected. It also happened in other occasions, in 1988, when Saddam Hussein bombed Aleppo. Then, 500,000 people came to Turkey and we took care of them for two years. In 1989, [Bulgarian] President [Todor] Zhivkov oppressed a part of Bulgarian citizens of Turkish origin; 250,000 people came to Turkey then and we provided them with a refuge as well. It is a pleasure, I believe, for Turkish citizens, that when the moment comes to help friends and neighbours, to do it. These people are our guests," Bozkir stated.
He stressed that the 2,600,000 Syrian citizens are not economic migrants, adding that they have left their country to save their lives, threatened by terrorist attacks and bombings.
"We must find a solution to the Syrian problem so that these people stop coming to Turkey and in Europe and to find the possibility for them to remain there, to build houses so that they can return to their countries", the minister stated.
According to the Turkish official, his country warned "more than two years ago" that the problem of migration should not be left only to Turkey, as "things will blow up."
"Unfortunately, this is what happened. Now it became a problem for everyone. We are taking a lot of measures and there is now a cooperation scheme to solve this problem. (...) Cooperation gave results, but we must do more," Volkan Bozkir stated.