Turkey, EU vow to handle Syrian refugee crisis with agreed action plan

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Thursday that Turkey abides by the joint refugee action plan it signed with the European Union (EU) and will continue to fulfill its part.

Speaking at a joint press conference with visiting European Council President Donald Tusk in the Turkish capital Ankara, Davutoglu said Syrian President Bashar Assad's government and terrorist organizations are the source of the refugee crisis.

"It is the EU and Turkey that are paying the price of this. Turkey and the EU pay great importance to the cease-fire. Unfortunately, violations make the truce fragile," he said.

Turkey will meet the EU's 28 leaders on March 7 for a wide-ranging summit on the worst refugee and migrant crisis facing Europe since World War II. Davutoglu is expected to attend the meeting.

With more than 2.5 million refugees, the most in the world, Turkey is a major transit country for refugees and migrants seeking to enter Europe over the Aegean route.

Under the refugee action plan, the EU agreed to offer three billion euros to Ankara to meet the needs of refugees in Turkey, visa liberalization for Turkish citizens and speeding up EU accession talks in exchange for Turkey's consistent efforts to stop the flow of refugees seeking to enter Europe.

For his part, Tusk said that their aim is to decrease the number of illegal Europe-bound migrants.

"Both Turkey and the EU are working hard on the issue. We need a bit more time," he said. Enditem