EU aid to Turkey will not solve problem totally: UNDP

Vahap Munyar – ISTANBUL

AA photo

The 3-billion-euro support promised by the European Union to Turkey to ease the economic burdens of the around 2 million refugees in the country was not enough to solve the problem totally, according to Kamal Malhotra, the resident representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Turkey.

“We are closely watching the talks between the [Turkish] government and the EU,” said Malhotra. 

“Firstly, the 3 billion euros from the EU to Turkey will not solve the problem totally,” he told daily Hürriyet. 

Gülçin Salıngan from UNDP Istanbul Private Sector Center added a refugee stays in a country up to 17 years on average. 

So far the EU has not scheduled the financing of the 3 billion euros in initial aid to Turkey, which was decided upon at a meeting with the bloc members and Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu on Nov. 29. 

However, Germany has promised to provide a 500 million euro portion. 

Malhotra also said the UNDP was receiving good support from the Turkish government and recalled that the U.N. body carried its regional center from Slovakia to Turkey last year. 

The U.N. operates with a nearly 1,000-person staff based in Istanbul, Ankara, Şanlıurfa, Gaziantep and Hatay.