Turkey accuses EU of not respecting refugee deal

Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has accused the EU of failing to provide the financial aid agreed in the refugee deal between the two sides.
Under the deal, Turkey has promised to stop the flow of migrants travelling to the EU, which in return has promised to reexamine membership talks for Turkey’s EU accession.
“Now it is 2020 and we still have not received the first €3 billion in its entirety,” Cavusoglu said, referring to the aid the bloc had promised in both 2016 and 2018.
His warning came ahead of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s official visit to the country. She is expected to meet with Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan on 24 January.
Cavusoglu has also accused the EU of not respecting other parts of the deal: “We are sticking to the deal and we take all refugees back, who are sent back to us. What about the EU? There has been no expansion to the customs union, and no further discussions about our membership of the EU”, he said.
Recently, German media reported that the EU has cut pre-accession aid to Turkey by 75%. The EU has denied the claim.
The EU has repeatedly warned Turkey of possible sanctions over its illegal gas drilling off the coast of Cyprus. Turkey claims it is drilling within its territorial rights and that Turkish Cypriots have the same rights as Greek Cypriots.