European Union member states and German government officials in particular have been demanding the financial aid to the Erdoğan regime be cut for a while now. European Commissioner for Budget and Human Resources Günther Oettinger spoke to Der Spiegel in the issue to be published on Saturday to clarify the matter.

Oettinger mentioned the refugee deal signed between the EU and the Turkish government last year and said: “EU member states should provide more money for the continuation of this deal.” The EU official stated that at least 2 billion Euros more should be provided, and added that a total of 3 billion Euros have been allocated by the end of this year.

“MEMBER STATES SHOULD GIVE THE REMAINING SUM”

Oettinger stated that a draft plan has been prepared to give Turkey 3 billion Euros in the second phase in 2018 and said, “The member states are obliged to provide the rest of the funds.” According to information Der Spiegel gathered from authorities in Berlin, the Merkel government has taken action to cut off the financial aid for Ankara planned as part of the accession process in the first phase.

But it is also known that for the continuation of the refugee deal, money flow proportional to their budgets from Germany and other member states must continue. This is believed to be the reason behind the EU Commissioner for Budget’s warning.

Since March, the EU has provided 23 million Euros to the AKP regime, and the Merkel government has taken action to cut off the rest of the aid planned for this year. The EU allocated a total of 4 billion 450 million Euros for Turkey between 2014 and 2020, and now wants to make cuts to the remaining sum as part of the sanctions Germany wants to impose against Turkey.