EU refuted Turkish president's criticism over refugee funding

The European Union (EU) on Tuesday refuted criticism from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who accused Brussels of failing to disburse as much refugee fund as promised.

The saying of that Brussels fell behind its funding obligation was "simply not true," said Margaritis Schinas, the European Commission's chief spokesperson, a day after Erdogan reportedly complained that the EU failed to stick to its commitment.

The EU has mobilised 3 billion euros (3.3 billion US. dollars) to help refugees in Turkey, out of this, about 740 million has been already allocated, Schinas told a regular press briefing, adding that the commission, the bloc's executive arm, was about to adopt a special measure in addition of 1.4 billion euros to help refugees and host communities in Turkey.

Before the end of July, the EU would manage to bring total disbursement up to 2.15 billion euros, which would actually prove that Brussels has respected its commitment, the spokesman stressed.

He pointed out the EU fund was for refugees in Turkey but not for the Turkish government, emphasizing that the implementation of all EU assistance would strictly follow requirements of the EU financial regulation.

During an interview with German public broadcaster ARD on Monday, Erdogan criticized the European leaders were "not being honest."

Brussels agreed to allocate 3 billion euros to help refugees in Turkey in March but only delivered around one to two million euros as a symbolic sum, the Turkish president said. (1 euro = 1.10 U.S. dollars) Endit