Migrant crisis: EU leaders meet with focus on Turkey

European leaders are to discuss measures to ease the region's migration crisis, with Turkey the focus of their efforts in Brussels.

Nearly 600,000 migrants have reached the EU by sea so far this year.
Turkey is hosting some two million migrants, most of them fleeing the war in neighbouring Syria.

Ahead of the summit, German Chancellor Angela Merkel stressed the need for a joint EU effort to tackle the crisis and said Turkey played a "key role".

"Most war refugees that come to Europe travel via Turkey. We won't be able to order and stem the refugee movement without working together with Turkey," she told the German parliament on Thursday morning.

BBC Europe correspondent Chris Morris says most EU leaders are convinced that efforts to contain the migration crisis will not succeed without closer co-operation with the Turkish government.

But, he adds, Ankara wants plenty in return - more financial aid to ease the strain of hosting refugees, as well as visa liberalisation and progress on Turkey's stalled application for EU membership.

About 2.2 million people have fled to Turkey in more than four years of conflict in Syria, where militants from the Islamic State group control swathes of territory.

BBC